A woman who threw a milkshake over Nigel Farage during the general election campaign has been spared jail.
Victoria Thomas Bowen, 25, was handed a 13-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, at Westminster Magistrates Court on Monday.
She has also been ordered to do 120 hours of unpaid work, 15 days of rehabilitation and pay the Clacton MP £150 in compensation for the incident as well as £17.50 to James Woolfenden, Farage’s security guard.
OnlyFans model Thomas Bowen, of Clacton, threw a milkshake at Farage outside the Moon and Starfish Wetherspoon’s pub in Clacton-on-Sea on 4 June.
The Reform UK leader was launching his parliamentary campaign in the Essex constituency at the time..
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 judgement, 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.”
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