The appellant had smashed a statue of Lady Thatcher on loan from the House of Commons to the Corporation of London Art Collection. He was charged with an offence under section 1 of the 1971 Act, providing: ‘A person who without lawful excuse destroys or damages any property belonging to another’ He argued that he had a lawful excuse, because he was seeking to draw attention to his strongly and sincerely felt concerns that the policies of the United Kingdom and certain other Western countries were leading the world towards its destruction.
Held: The trial judge was right to direct the jury that the appellant’s explanation of his conduct did not fall within the reach of what was capable of being a lawful excuse within the meaning of the statute. He was however wrong to go on to direct a verdict of guilty.
Judges:
Lord Judge LCJ, Swift, Maddison JJ
Citations:
[2008] EWCA Crim 3055, [2009] 2 Cr App Rep (S) 25, [2009] Crim LR 369
Links:
Statutes:
Crime
Updated: 24 July 2022; Ref: scu.341711
