A teaching assistant and Black Lives Matter protester who threw metal fence pieces at police officers on Downing Street has been spared a prison sentence.
Shayden Spencer, a special needs teaching assistant who hurled a series of metal fence parts during an attack on Downing Street last summer, was spared from prison today.
Mr Spencer was caught on CCTV launching parts of the fence during an angry mob protest on June 3rd last year, stirred up by the Black Lives Matter movement.
The 20-year-old defended his position, saying he “got carried away without thinking” and just wanted to “raise a voice for racial rights in a peaceful manner”. He claims he became carried away at the protests.
After arriving at the Courthouse late, due to sleeping through his alarm, Mr Spencer admitted the accusations of violent disorder.
Prosecutor Tyrone Silcott told the Court: “The defendant is seen clearly to walk towards the waist-height barrier and throw a piece of barrier that had been broken up. He then returns 55 seconds later and does exactly the same thing.”
Silcott then examined Spencer’s defence, saying: “He said he could not give a reasonable excuse why he took part in the disorder, but expressed serious regrets for his actions.”
The Judge spared the Mr Spencer from prison, noting that he had “the potential for a bright future”, but had unfortunately been “swept away with events”.
Sentencing, he said: “You are plainly someone who has the potential for a bright future. I suspect you know how close you came to ruining that in just less than 60 seconds of behaviour.”
Mr Spencer was instead given an eight-month sentence, suspended for a year, and handed a £300 fine. The Judge also sentenced him to 80 hours of unpaid work and a 15-day rehabilitation requirement.
