Protester Patrick Thelwell escapes jail and fine for throwing eggs at King Charles but ends £500 in PROFIT after crowdfunding supporters for ‘prison money’
- Thelwell shouted obscenities at the King during a walkabout in York last year
- He raised more than £500 from crowdfunder for his costs and ‘support in jail’
- Judge ordered £5 fine, so Thelwell has said he will donate any profit to charity
A green fingered protester who threw ‘at least five eggs’ and shouted abuse at King Charles has escaped prison and a large fine – ending up £500 in profit with donations from supporters to his ‘prison money’ crowdfunder.
Patrick Thelwell, 23, accused the King of being friends with paedophile Jimmy Savile and was found guilty of threatening behaviour and ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work.
The former University of York student was arrested by police in the crowd as bystanders rushed to protect the King and his wife the Queen Consort last November during a visit to York.
During his sentencing, former gardener Thelwell asked the judge if he needed any work done when asked how likely it is he would get a job in the next six weeks.
Michael Smith, prosecuting, had previously told York Magistrates Court the eggs thrown by Thelwell ‘passed over’ the King and narrowly missed him.
At court, Thelwell gasped in relief on being told he had dodged custody.
Patrick Thelwell (pictured outside York Magistrates’ Court) has been found guilty of threatening behaviour after throwing eggs at King Charles
The court heard Thelwell shouted ‘King Charles is a paedophile’ as he threw five eggs at the new monarch
Footage caught the moment the eggs flew past King Charles as he was greeted by city leaders in the centre of York last year
Announcing the guilty verdict, Senior District Judge Paul Goldspring said people could have been ‘harmed by the eggs’, but told him: ‘I will put your mind at rest. I am not going to send you to prison.’
Thelwell set up a fundraiser on Paypal which had raised £577 as of around around 5.30pm this evening. He said he expected to go to jail, adding: ‘The money will be used to pay my fine & to support me whilst in jail.’
However, the judge spared him a custodial sentence and reduced his fine to just £5, leaving him with a potentially more than £500 profit from his fundraiser.
After his sentencing, Thelwell announced on Twitter at around 4.20pm: ‘My crowd-funding will cover my costs, since that is what it was set up for. The rest will be donated to a local refugee charity.’
He asked followers for advice in what York or North-East based charities to donate to.
During the incident Thelwell shouted obscenities as he hurled the eggs and as police arrested him.
Mr Smith said he shouted ‘paedophile’, ‘King Charles is a paedophile’ and ‘friends with Jimmy Savile’.
The court found Thelwell had ‘pre-targeted the King on the day’ and ‘intended his behaviour to be threatening’.
The judge also ruled the student intended to cause King Charles and others that immediate unlawful violence would be used against him and others.
After his sentencing, Thelwell announced on Twitter at around 4.20pm: ‘My crowd-funding will cover my costs, since that is what it was set up for. The rest will be donated to a local refugee charity’
He said: ‘The defendant had sought to characterise the throwing of eggs as non-violent. His conduct has gone beyond what would be seen as reasonable. He accepts it was low level violence.
He underlined to the defendant that the court system is entirely independent from the King.
He said: ‘The monarch is left with an entirely symbolic role in the justice system. He is not involved in the actual administration of justice. He was not called or required as a witness.
‘The defendant had sought to characterise the throwing of eggs as non-violent. His conduct has gone beyond what would be seen as reasonable. He accepts it was low level violence.
‘The facts of the case are not in dispute. The Crown’s case is it is entirely clear that motivated by hostility towards the monarchy he threw eggs at King Charles.
‘The defendant’s evidence in chief is largely irrelevant. He accepted he threw five eggs and they came very close to hitting King Charles, and an egg was recovered from him while he was being restrained shouting ‘He is not my king. This is fascist country’.
Sentencing was adjourned for a short while to allow Thelwell to consult with a probation officer about what work he could do.
The debt ridden student was landed with a £714 legal bill after losing the case and immediately asked the judge if he had any gardening work because he was skint.
He was also ordered to pay £600 court costs, plus a £114 surcharge, but because of his financial circumstances he was ordered to repay just £5 a cost.
The court heard has given up his studies and is no longer at university and owed £10k in unpaid rent. ‘Because I thought I was going to prison,’ he said.
Asked by the judge what the chances were of having work in six weeks, Thelwell, a former self employed gardener, asked: ‘I don’t know. Do you need any gardening work done?’
The judge replied: ‘Surprisingly not.’
Thewell has two previous convictions, the first in 2019 for failing to comply with conditions imposed at public assembly.
Thelwell, who is a student of the University of York, represented himself in court
He was given a 12 month conditional discharge over the incident imposed over an Extinction Rebellion demo near Marble Arch.
The offence also took place during a two year conditional discharge imposed in May 2021 for a protest outside a printing works at News international at Knowsley, Liverpool on Merseyside.
Extinction Rebellion protesters claimed the papers were not printing the truth about climate change.
He glued himself to the roof of a van blocking the road before releasing himself in September 2020.
He was convicted of obstructing the highway and admitted breaching the two year conditional discharge.
During the current trial, CCTV and police bodycam footage was played to the court, showing the egg-throwing incident and the aftermath.
The court heard Thelwell was heard to say ‘I threw eggs at him because that’s what he deserved. It’s the only justice the victims of colonialisation will ever get.’
Adding: ‘Did I get him? I didn’t get him. Someone will get him.’
Plain-clothed officers in the crowd were the first to grab the protesters before uniformed police also swooped, the court heard.
Thelwell was handcuffed and arrested by officers.
A sixth unbroken egg later fell out of his pocket before he was driven to the police station.
When questioned by police he refused to comment.
Thelwell denied a public order offence of using threatening, words or behaviour
PC Adam Steventon, who arrested Thelwell, said he was shouting ‘f*** the King’ and so he put his hand over his mouth to silence him as families were close by and upset by what the protester was saying.
He said people were ‘angry’ at what happened. ‘There was a lot of angry people there. One gentleman said ‘you’ve ruined this for everybody.”
When he was being taken out of his police station cell, an officer commented on the high heel on Thelwell’s shoes.
Thelwell replied ‘I know it’s so I could see him through the crowd’ and made a throwing gesture, said Mr Smith.
Thelwell commented that it ‘was a joke.’
In his defence Thelwell told Senior District Judge Paul Goldspring he was acting ‘out of necessity’ and he had not carried out unlawful violence.
‘The violence I was accused of is throwing an egg,’ he said.
‘If that amounts to unlawful violence then the violence carried out by the British state is at such a severe level I can’t be held accountable for my crime while the crimes of the British state go unpunished.’
Thelwell, who was representing himself in court, asked PC Steventon in cross examination if he had seen the crowd pulling his hair and shouting ‘for him to be killed’ and ‘for his head to be put on his spike’.
The officer replied: ‘No’.
Protesters outside York Magistrates’ Court, where Patrick Thelwell was found guilty of threatening behaviour
He also claimed the officer had repeatedly pushed his head into the ground but the officer denied this, adding: ‘Anything we did towards you was done with absolute minimum force.’
After viewing a video of the incident, PC Steventon added: ‘I did put my hand on his head as he shouted these obscenities but I don’t think anyone would say I did this with any degree of force.’
Thelwell claimed his actions towards the King were ‘lawful violence’ and he did not resist arrest.
Thelwell, who is doing a masters in international relations delivered a speech to the court about the ‘obscenity of the monarch flaunting their wealth and power in the City of York.’
Thelwell said ‘millions of people’ agreed that ‘my actions were just, moral and necessary.’
He claimed the British state was committing ‘tyrannical state violence’ and ‘crimes against humanity’ through its economic and climate policy.
He also criticised the government’s policy to deal with illegal immigration, claiming the UK was ‘creating concentration camps’ at home and in Rwanda.
Questioned by the District Judge, he admitted throwing the five eggs at the King and accusing him of being a ‘paedophile.’
He also admitted committing ‘low level violence.’
Nick Price, Head of the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, said: ‘Thelwell showed no remorse after his arrest and continued to reinforce his intent to hit HM the King with the eggs. This threatening behaviour is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.
‘The CPS remains committed to upholding the rule of law and ensuring that justice is served in all cases, regardless of the identity or status of the victim or defendant.’
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