UK woman admits 'milkshaking' hard-right Farage

LONDON: A woman on Monday pleaded guilty to assault after throwing a milkshake at the hard-right Reform UK leader Nigel Farage during the general election campaign.

Victoria Thomas Bowen, 25, doused the anti-immigration lawmaker as he left a pub in the seaside resort of Clacton, east of London, on June 4.

Anti-immigration politician Farage was elected as the town's member of parliament at the July 4 election.

Thomas Bowen initially denied the charge and criminal damage to a jacket belonging to Farage's security officer, but changed her plea at the latest hearing in London.

Judge Tan Ikram adjourned sentencing until December 16 but called her actions “an unprovoked, targeted attack” on “an elected member of parliament”.

“All options” were being considered as a punishment, he said, while releasing Bowen on unconditional bail.

Thomas Bowen, a self-styled “content creator” and model on the subscription website OnlyFans, was arrested shortly after the incident.

She told police that she did not agree with Farage's political views and had seen an opportunity to act as he left the pub, Westminster Magistrates Court was told.

“She states she did not regret her actions,“ her lawyer told the court, but she changed her plea to guilty to put the incident behind her, and after receiving “very severe threats”.

Detective Chief Inspector Rob Huddleston, from Essex Police, said after the case: “It is vital that democracy is allowed to take place and we police without fear or favour.”

“Disagreeing with someone’s political views is not an excuse to use violence or intimidation.”

A week after the milkshake attack, Farage had a coffee cup and another item thrown at him as he campaigned from an open-top bus in Barnsley, northern England.

A 28-year-old man was sentenced to six weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months.

Farage also sustained another “milkshaking” during the 2019 European election when he was leader of Reform UK’s forerunner, the Brexit Party.

The word “milkshaking”, to denote the act of dousing a public figure in milkshake, was officially recognised by Collins Dictionary that year.