A man who threw a banana and salted caramel milkshake at doused Brexit leader Nigel Farage has escaped imprisonment after admitting to the “politically motivated” attack.
Paul Crowther, 32, pleaded guilty to assault and criminal damage after spattering Farage with the Five Guys beverage in late May while he was campaigning for candidates from his Brexit Party.
Sentencing him on Tuesday, a judge ordered Crowther, of Throckley in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, to complete 150 hours of community service and pay a £350 ($440) fine to cover damages for suit cleaning, a lapel microphone, distress, and inconvenience.
At the time of the incident, Crowther told reporters he threw the milkshake as “a right of protest against people like him.” He added: “The bile and the racism he spouts out in this country is far more damaging than a bit of milkshake to his front,” Crowther said.
Farage said: “I won’t even acknowledge the low-grade behaviour that I was subjected to this morning, I won’t dignify it, I will ignore it. Perhaps keep buying new clothes and carry on.”
The judge called the assault “an act of crass stupidity.” Prosecutors argued that the split-second shock of the attack could have led Farage to think the £5.25 ($6.59) milkshake was “something more sinister.”
“I am concerned because of the behaviour of individuals like this, the normal democratic process cannot continue in a lawful and peaceful manner,” the Brexit leader said in a victim statement.
A GoFundMe page entitled “Get Paul Crowther his milkshake money back” raised £1,705 ($2,140).
Crowther’s defense attorney, Brian Hegarty said his client now regrets the decision and has lost “his good name” and job as a technical adviser at Sky television. He contended that if the assault had been carried out on anyone else, Crowther would have received only a warning.
