Student gets 32-month jail term for throwing fire extinguisher

Reuters/London

Edward Woollard arrives at Southwark Crown Court in London yesterday. A student, he faces up to 32 months in jail after throwing a fire extinguisher from a roof during a riot

A student was jailed for 32 months yesterday for throwing a fire extinguisher from the roof of the London tower block that houses the Conservative Party’s head office during protests against tuition fees late last year. 

Edward Woollard, 18, from Hampshire, pleaded guilty to violent disorder after hurling the empty extinguisher from the seventh floor of the Millbank Tower, near the Houses of Parliament.

The extinguisher landed in a courtyard where hundreds of student protesters and police were standing.

"It is deeply regrettable, indeed a shocking thing, for a court to have to sentence a young man such as you to a substantial term of custody,” Judge Geoffrey Rivlin told Southwark Crown Court, according to the Press Association.

"But the courts have a duty to provide the community with such protection from violence as they can and this means sending out a very clear message to anyone minded to behave in this way that an offence of this seriousness will not be tolerated.”

The A-level student will serve at least half of his sentence in a young offenders’ institution. About 55,000 students took part in the Nov 10 demonstration against government plans to triple university tuition fees.

A small group took part in the protests at Millbank Tower, smashing windows and spraying graffiti in the foyer.