Son of Pink Floyd star jailed for rampage at student fees protest

Charlie Gilmour admitted violent disorder after joining thousands demonstrating in London’s Trafalgar Square and Parliament Square last year.

During a day of riots he was seen hanging from a Union flag on the Cenotaph and leaping on to the bonnet of a Jaguar car that formed part of a Royal convoy. The 21-year-old also hurled a rubbish bin at the vehicle.

The court heard the Cambridge University student had turned to drink and drugs after being rejected by his biological father, the writer Heathcote Williams, and had taken LSD and valium in the hours leading up to the violence.

Gilmour’s rock star father and mother Polly Samson watched from the public gallery as their son was told he must serve half the jail term behind bars.

Passing sentence at Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court in Surrey, Judge Nicholas Price QC accepted that his antics at the Cenotaph on Whitehall did not form part of the violent disorder, but accused him of disrespect to the war dead.

“Such outrageous and deeply offensive behaviour gives a clear indication of how out of control you were that day,” he said. “It caused public outrage and understandably so.”

Gilmour, who apologised afterwards for his behaviour, had claimed he had not realised the significance of the Cenotaph – an excuse the judge scoffed at.

“For a young man of your intelligence and education and background to profess to not know what the Cenotaph represents defies belief,” he said. “You have shown disrespect to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, to those who fell defending this country.”

Gilmour, from Billingshurst, West Sussex, also kicked at the window of Topshop’s flagship store on Oxford Street and ended up in possession of the leg of a mannequin during the riot on December 9.

Minutes earlier he had joined a mob attacking a procession of three royal cars, one containing the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall, as it made its way up Regent Street. The Jaguar carried royal protection officers accompanying Charles and Camilla as they were chauffeured to a Royal Variety Performance in a Rolls-Royce.

Gilmour’s barrister, David Spens QC, insisted his client was “ashamed of himself” for his behaviour, which was sparked by his “intoxication by drink and drugs”.

Giving a frank account of Gilmour’s personal problems, Mr Spens told the court this had been precipitated by an “emotionally painful” meeting that summer with Mr Williams, his natural father.

“In his words, he spent most of the week ‘tranquillised out of my mind’,” he said. “This young man has had to cope with the pain and considerable emotional upheaval of having a biological father who rejected him for no good reason and has continued to reject him throughout his life.”

The court heard that by the time of the protest, his dependence on drink and drugs had spiralled out of control but he turned over a new leaf the next day, when faced with the consequences of his actions.

“He ceased to take drugs from the morning of December 10 when he woke up,” Mr Spens said. “What happened the day before was starkly displayed in the newspapers and presented to him and it would seem the events of December 9 gave him the slap in the face he needed to realise he was trapped in this dangerous spiral.”

Despite his problems, Gilmour had a glowing academic and employment record, among his achievements were a scholarship to Sussex public school Lancing College, four A grades at A-level, a place to read history at Cambridge, and a high 2:1 in his first-year university exams, the court heard.

He had also spent six months of his gap year working for homeless charity Crisis.