Dad who defaced Queen’s portrait loses appeal bid

A DONCASTER Fathers4Justice campaigner who defaced a portrait of the Queen with paint in Westminster Abbey has lost a challenge against his six-month jail sentence.
Fathers for Justice campaigner Tim HariesFathers for Justice campaigner Tim Haries
Fathers for Justice campaigner Tim Haries

Tim Haries, 42, of Bellis Avenue, Doncaster, who told jurors he vandalised the picture to highlight the “social justice issue of our time”, was present in court to hear the dismissal of his case by Lord Chief Justice Lord Thomas and two other judges at the Court of Appeal in London.

Haries had denied a charge of causing criminal damage of more than £5,000, but was found guilty at London’s Southwark Crown Court in January and sentenced last month.

The father-of-two smuggled a can of purple spray paint into the Abbey on June 13 last year before writing the word “help” on the painting.

The judges ruled today that his sentence was “fully merited”.