A woman who threw a milkshake over Nigel Farage during the general election campaign has been given a 13-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months.
Victoria Thomas Bowen, 25, was also ordered to do 120 hours of unpaid work, 15 days of rehabilitation and pay the Clacton MP £150 in compensation for the incident during her sentencing at Westminster magistrates court on Monday.
Thomas Bowen, of Clacton-on-Sea, was charged with assault by beating after throwing a milkshake at Farage outside the Moon and Starfish Wetherspoon’s pub in Clacton on 4 June. The Reform UK leader was launching his parliamentary campaign in the Essex constituency at the time.
The OnlyFans model was also charged with criminal damage after causing harm to a jacket worn by a Farage security guard, James Woolfenden. She was ordered to pay Woolfenden £17.50 in compensation for the milkshake splatter.
Thomas Bowen must also pay a £154 victim surcharge and £450 in costs.
The deputy senior district judge Tan Ikram said: “The victim in this case was out campaigning that day … He describes a container and a liquid substance hitting his face. This was humiliating and it was in the full glare of cameras, and the video of the incident has been distributed. At the time a witness said you shouted: ‘You fucking cunt’, or something similar.
“This was not just an attack on him but, on my judgment, an attack on our parliamentary democracy. A clear message must go out. Public debate must not be shut down by criminality such as this.”
In a victim impact statement, Farage said: “Immediately after the incident I felt humiliated. The assault was broadcast on national and international media outlets and was therefore seen by many people. I was deeply thoughtful for some time afterwards that next time it may not be a milkshake.
“Incidents like this put people off standing for public office and are bad for our democracy.”
The court heard Thomas Bowen had read in a social media post that Farage would be in Clacton that day. She had bought a McDonald’s milkshake and, when she saw him leaving the pub, decided to throw it over him because she “had the opportunity”.
In a police interview after her arrest, Thomas Bowen said she threw the drink over Farage because she “didn’t agree with his views”. She told officers she thought Farage would be able to afford the damage and she did not regret her actions.
She initially denied the charges but changed her plea to guilty at the start of the trial in late October.
