Patrick Thelwell guilty after throwing eggs at King in York

Outside York Magistrates' Court, Patrick Thelwell, 23, said he had “no regrets” about his actions on November 9 at Micklegate Bar and had “no apology” for the King.

The court had heard that as well as throwing five eggs at the King, he had also insulted the King and claimed that Charles III was “not his king”.

Thelwell had told police that if he “didn’t get him (the King) someone will get him next time” and “that’s what he deserves, it’s the only justice victims of colonisation will ever get,” prosecutor Michael Smith told the court.

Patrick Thelwell, who threw eggs at King Charles, found guilty of 'threatening behaviour' (Image: PA) (Image: PA)

Passing sentence, senior district judge Paul Goldspring said: “This was a gratuitous malicious act, particularly the pejorative remarks about the king. The level of violence was low.”

He said the egg throwing had been pre-planned and targeted at the King and had alarmed people.

He made Thelwell subject to a 12-month community order with 100 hours’ unpaid work and ordered him to pay £600 prosecution costs and a £114 statutory surcharge.

Thelwell told the court he had no income and owed £10,000 in rent. He hoped to get work as a gardener. Outside court he said he was relieved not to be going to jail.

He gave his address in court as campus student accommodation at the University of York but also said he was “no longer a student”.

He denied a charge of threatening words or behaviour but was convicted after a trial.

The court then heard he had two previous convictions related to Xtinction Rebellion protests and was in breach of a conditional discharge for one of them. 

King Charles III reacts after an egg was thrown his direction as he arrived for a ceremony at Micklegate Bar in York in November. Picture: PA (Image: PA)

He didn’t dispute the facts as presented by the prosecution, but claimed he was justified in what he did.

He disputed the court’s right to try him because he was prosecuted in the name of the King.

But the judge rejected his claims quoting law and how the legal system had evolved over centuries to the point where the King’s role in justice was purely symbolic.

Thelwell alleged he had not committed a crime because he had acted “out of necessity” and out of self-defence for millions he alleged were at risk through the British State’s domestic, international and climate change policies.

But the judge said the defence of necessity could only be used where action was needed to prevent immediate risk to others and that did not and could not apply in this case.

Thelwell claimed that he had used lawful violence and alleged that he didn’t have to obey the laws of the British state because of the way it was behaving.

Mr Smith said: “The law applies to him as it does to everyone else.”

In written evidence, Thelwell claimed that he had the right to protest under human rights legislation.

Police detaining protester Patrick Thelwell after he threw eggs at King Charles III. Picture: PA (Image: PA)

But the judge said by breaching the law under which he had been charged his actions had gone beyond legal protest.

The King and Queen Consort had arrived in the city on November 9 last year to unveil a statue of the late Queen at York Minster, and were being welcomed by local dignitaries at Micklegate Bar when Thelwell threw five eggs which “came very close to hitting King Charles.