Man, 28, who threw espresso cup at Nigel Farage is spared jail
A man who threw a coffee cup at Nigel Farage during his General Election campaign trail has been spared jail.
The Reform UK leader was on top of a party battle bus in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, when Josh Greally, 28, launched a cup and another object at the politician.
Greally has now been sentenced to six weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months, after a district judge said the offence was serious enough to merit a jail term, but there was a ‘realistic prospect of rehabilitation’.
Greally, who wore a black face mask throughout the hearing, pleaded guilty to a public order offence over the incident on June 11 in Barnsley town centre, where he flung a cup at Mr Farage, who was making a speech from the open top deck of his bus.
Josh Greally, 28, who threw a coffee cup at Nigel Farage during his General Election campaign trail has been spared jail
Farage had been campaigning on top of a party battle bus in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, when Greally launched a cup and another object at the politician
Greally, pictured launching a coffee cup at Farage before then reaching for another object
Greally was sentenced to six weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months, after a district judge said the offence was serious enough to merit a jail term, but there was a ‘realistic prospect of rehabilitation’
Barnsley Magistrates Court heard Greally then reached into a bin and took out another object, which he also threw towards the bus.
Neither of the objects hit the Mr Farage, who was elected MP for Clacton.
The court heard Greally then ran away despite members of the public attempting to apprehend him, but was chased and found by police a short time later.
He had travelled to the event as part of a group and played a ‘prominent role’, a judge said.
District Judge James Gould said Greally’s target had been a politician campaigning ‘in our democratic country’.
He told the defendant: ‘Politicians know they will face robust opposition, but that must never spill over into violence or intimidation.
‘That is not the pursuit of free speech, it is an attempt to silence voices of opposition.’
Greally is understood to have travelled to the event as part of a group and played a ‘prominent role’
The 28-year-old ran away despite members of the public attempting to apprehend him, but was chased and found by police a short time later
Police officers escorting Greally after he launched the cup. He has been given a suspended prison sentence and ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work
In mitigation, the court heard Greally, who has no previous convictions, had attended protests before but ‘this seems to be the first time he has stepped over the line and found himself in trouble with the authorities’.
The court heard he currently worked in a bar but had a Master’s degree and an interest in film and television, and writes reviews for a website.
In a character reference submitted to the judge, a former lecturer described Greally as ‘compassionate and caring’.
In addition to the suspended sentence, Greally, of Damsbrook Drive, Clowne, Derbyshire, was ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work, 20 rehabilitation activity days and pay £85 court costs and a surcharge of £154.
Mr Farage, speaking while campaigning in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire at the time, said the incident was ‘pretty nasty’.
But, he vowed not to be ‘bulled or cowed’ after the incident in which he said he thought he had been pelted with wet cement.
Following the incident, politicians from other parties joined Mr Farage in condemning ‘violence’ towards general election candidates.
Former Home Secretary James Cleverly said: ‘There must be no place for violence and intimidation in our politics and these actions should be condemned by everyone.’
It comes after an OnlyFans model Victoria Thomas-Bowen, 25, accused of throwing a banana milkshake at Farage during the general election campaign denied assault by beating and criminal damage in court in July.
Victoria Thomas-Bowen appearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in July
Farage had a banana milkshake thrown at him in Clacton – after being mobbed by crowds in what he described as the ‘most patriotic’ town in Britain
Thomas-Bowen, who was arrested for allegedly throwing a milkshake over Farage, is an OnlyFans model
She pleaded not guilty to the charges after the Reform UK leader was drenched with the McDonald’s drink as he left the Moon and Starfish Wetherspoons pub in Clacton-on-Sea in Essex on June 4.
The 25-year-old claims she has pocketed £40,000 from extra subscribers to her channel since she was arrested.
The blonde bombshell, though, denies it was a publicity stunt and says she only plotted to chuck milkshake over Mr Farage an hour before he exited the pub.
The former catholic school student and mother-of-one appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on July 16 in a tight black dress and leather jacket, with her blonde hair down in waves and sunglasses on top of her head.
