No jail for police bill protester who smashed MP's office windows while staff inside
A protester who deliberately smashed windows at an MP's office while staff were inside has been given a suspended jail sentence.
Wayne Robert Powell used a hammer and chisel to smash 16 panes of glass at the Welshpool office of Conservative Montgomeryshire MP Craig Williams on July 7.
He warned the staff inside before smashing the glass and then rang police to tell them what he had done, saying it was in protest over the proposed Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.
The 53-year-old defendant, from Bryn u Gog, Machynlleth, was sentenced to two months in prison, suspended for a year, at Welshpool Magistrates Court on Tuesday,.
Staff said it had been a miracle that none of them had been injured by flying glass.
Powell, who had pleaded guilty to criminal damage at an earlier hearing, was also ordered to carry out 100 hours unpaid work in the community and told to pay £1,500 compensation for the damage.
"There is a difference between peaceful protest and criminal damage and this was pre-meditated criminal damage carried out with a high degree of planning which caused serious distress," the chairman of the magistrates said.
"Yes, by all means peacefully protest, we all have things that we are not happy about in society, but this was criminal damage."
Prosecutor Helen Tench said the incident happened at Mr Williams’ office, in the High Street, at 3.30pm.
“He had a metal chisel and a wooden mallet and was heard telling people to ‘get back from the window’ prior to using the items. Sixteen panes of glass were smashed in total," Ms Tench said.
Office manager, James Llewellyn, said razor sharp shards of glass flew on the desks, floors and chairs.
When he saw one of the staff had a dog he stopped, telling police that he did not want to scare the animal.
When officers arrived, Powell gagged himself with black tape saying he was protesting against the gagging of peaceful protest.
In a letter to the court, Mr Llewellyn said all the staff had been in fear and that he had flashblacks about the day.
After the murder of MP Jo Cox, he said staff were worried about attacks on the offices of MPs.
The office, a listed building, has not been able to open since the damage because of the work involved in replacing the windows.
Mr Owain Jones, for Powell, said his client was a keen protester.
He said he had warned staff to step back before his actions, which he said had been low-level criminal damage.
He said Powell had also thanked police for the way they had handled his case.
A small group of placard-holding supporters waited outside the court for Powell.
A letter being handed out to passers-by said: "If we don't act we will be allowing a law that will limit our freedoms and that of our children."
