A portrait valued at over $260,000 of Queen Elizabeth was defaced as it hung in the Westminster Abbey back in June. Tim Haries, undeniably, jumped a cordon and wrote the word “help” in purple spray paint on the painting by Ralph Heimans. Committed Fathers4Justice protester Haries, who was found guilty of defacing the work this week, claims that he only wanted to bring attention to his civil rights as a father. This comes hot on the heels of an ugly poster campaign by the Uk based group, that accused famous Hollywood actresses of being bad mothers.
Haires chose to represent himself in court. The angry father pleaded not guilty to the charge of causing £5000 damage to the artwork. Haires tried to explain his plight as an abused father to the jury (Daily Mail):
'The pain of losing my children has been like a living bereavement for me. I believe that contact denial is a hate crime and an abuse of children's fundamental rights.”
While his peers might have agreed, they didn’t think that excused the act. After being found guilty, Haires immediately requested the reinstatement of his lawyer. He is currently scheduled to be sentenced on February 5.
This is just one more misguided, mean spirited act that was intended to bring people around to the Fathers4Justice mindset.
Over the holiday, the group circulated offensive posters of famous hollywood mothers including: Halle Berry, Kim Basinger, Katie Holmes and Kate Winslet.
The poster campaign pictured the women accompanied by baseless accusations with the phase “Bad Mother” underneath.
Maybe people would be more likely to care about their cause if they didn’t piss them off first.
The real question here is, what does any of this have to do with the queen?
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