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Two men responsible for brutally mutilating a Paddington Bear statue have been dished out a fitting punishment by a judge who called the pair the “antithesis” of what the iconic bear stands for.
Two Royal Air Force (RAF) engineers, Daniel Heath and William Lawrence appeared at Reading Magistrates’ court and both admitted committing criminal damage to the statue that had become a landmark in Newbury, the hometown of the bear’s creator, Michael Bond.
According to an article from the BBC, District judge Sam Gooze gave the pair a 12 month community order consisting of unpaid work. They were also ordered to each pay £2,750 in order to cover the costs of repairing Newbury’s most treasured landmark. That’s a pretty hefty fine to pay but I guess you can’t put a price on a British icon. To be honest, they were lucky they didn’t get life behind bars!
The judge had a few stern words for the pair
Upon sentencing, Gooze addressed the criminals and told them something no British person ever wants to hear.
“[Paddington] represents kindness, tolerance and promotes integration and acceptance in our society… On the night of the 2nd of March 2025, your actions were the antithesis of everything Paddington stands for.”
Absolutely chilling. Speaking as a Brit myself I can tell you, being told you’re the “antithesis” of Paddington Bear is worse than death – in fact, I’d go as far as to say it’s even worse than missing the tea alarm. No doubt these words will haunt both men until the day they die.
But the judge wasn’t done, as he told the two men that their “actions lacked respect and integrity, two values you should uphold as members of the armed forces.” A spokesperson for the RAF confirmed that they were aware of the outcome of the trial but that disciplinary action against the men would be a private matter.
A brief rundown of the crime
During the dead of night on March 2nd, 2025, Heath and Lawrence were caught on CCTV trying to lift the statue off the bench. The pair were reportedly drunk after a night out in town. Although they weren’t strong enough to remove Paddington from his bench they were able to break the statue at the seam essentially tearing poor Paddington in half.
Heath and Lawrence were then seen walking away from the scene of the crime with their mangled prize. Afterwards they got a taxi back to RAF Odiham.
The statue was then listed on Facebook marketplace as confirmed by Thames Valley Police, although it was recovered soon after from Lawrence’s car.
The defendants’ lawyer stated that both were “extremely ashamed about their actions,” and so they should be. The moral of the story here? Nobody messes with Paddington Bear.