Man denies damaging BBC's Eric Gill statue

A man has pleaded not guilty to attacking a statue outside the BBC headquarters, causing more than £150,000 worth of damage.

David Chick, 58, of Bozeat in Northamptonshire, is accused of damaging the Grade II listed statue in Portland Place in central London in May 2023.

The statue, which depicts Prospero and Ariel from William Shakespeare's play The Tempest, was created by Eric Gill.

Gill was among the most prominent sculptors of the 20th Century. After his death in 1940, his diaries revealed he had sexually abused his daughters.

Mr Chick was already facing trial for criminal damage to the same statue during a previous incident in 2022.

Judge David Tomlinson granted an application by prosecution barrister Nathan Palmer to join the two matters together during a plea hearing at Southwark Crown Court.

"They are two offences of not just the same or very similar nature but, in effect, identical offences," the judge said.

The defendant, who wore a black jumper with a red Spiderman logo in the dock, spoke only to confirm his name and deny causing criminal damage to property over £5,000.

The judge released Mr Chick on conditional bail and ordered the defendant not to go within 100m (328ft) of the statue.

A trial date was set at the same court for May next year.

Born in 1882, Gill became an influential artist who created several large sculptures for buildings in central London including Westminster Cathedral and the original headquarters of the London Underground.

He was also the designer of Gill Sans, a widely used British typeface.

In 1989, a biography was published detailing diary entries in which he described sex abuse committed against his two eldest daughters, an incestuous relationship with his sister, and sex acts carried out on his dog.

The statue outside Broadcasting House, installed in 1933, features the characters Prospero and Ariel from Shakespeare's play The Tempest. Ariel, a spirt of the air, is depicted as a young naked male.

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