Sir Iain Duncan Smith ‘frightened’ as traffic cone ‘slammed’ on his head by protestors

On Nov 14, 2022

Sir Iain Duncan Smith has claimed he was “frightened” and feared for his wife after a traffic cone was “slammed” onto his head.

The former Tory leader was giving evidence in court today (Monday, November 14) at the trial of Elliot Bovill, 32.

Bovill denies common assault following the alleged incident in Manchester city centre on October 21 last year.

Sir Iain, 68, said he was subjected to a “cacophony of sound” from a group of “threatening” protestors as he walked with his wife Betsy and her friend, Primrose Yorke, from the Midland Hotel to the Mercure Hotel during the Conservative Party conference.

The MP said he told the group “you are pathetic” after the traffic cone was “smacked down” onto his head.

‘This, I felt, was threatening, it’s as simple as that,’ Sir Iain told the court
(Image: Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The protesters “frightened those with me, and myself”, he told Manchester Magistrates’ Court.

Sir Iain said: “I have seen a lot of protests in the course of my time as a politician.

“I’m normally not overly concerned.

“People normally make their points, but not in a threatening way.

“This, I felt, was threatening, it’s as simple as that. I think they set out to be threatening.

“It was threatening, it was abusive and my wife and her friend felt that particularly.”

Bovill, of no fixed address, is also on trial with Radical Haslam, 29, from Manchester, and Ruth Wood, 52, from Cambridge.

The former Tory leader said he feared for his wife after a traffic cone was ‘slammed’ onto his head (stock)
(Image: Getty Images)

Haslam and Wood both deny using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent to cause harassment, alarm or distress.

The court was shown CCTV footage of the moment the cone was put on Sir Iain’s head.

Describing the moment, he continued: “I got a traffic cone slammed on to my head.

“I got three-quarters of the way across and I felt this blow on the back of my head and neck.

“I could feel something going on to it which knocked my head forward.

“I didn’t know who had done it. ‘You are pathetic’, I said, and I dropped the cone.”

Sir Iain added: “It had been smacked down on my head quite hard.

“They are proper traffic cones and have to weigh a certain amount.”

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