Charlie Gilmour, son of Pink Floyd guitarist Dave Gilmour and a history student at Cambridge University, received a 16-month jail sentence for violent behavior during a protest last year. Thousands of students staged protests against the increase in university tuition in London’s Trafalgar Square and Parliament Square in December.

Gilmour, 21, and some other protesters broke away from the demonstration to attack a convoy transporting Prince Charles and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall. He leaped onto the hood of a Jaguar in the royal motorcade and threw a trash bin at the car, and a photograph was taken of him swinging from one of the flags on the Cenotaph, a memorial to dead British war veterans.

He also broke into a store by kicking in a window and stole a mannequin’s leg. Though hanging from the flag was offensive, it was not part of his violent disorder charge, unlike his kicking in store windows with a violent crowd. Lord Justice Anthony Hughes said there was “a serious mob disorder.”

There were times during the demonstration in Parliament Square where Gilmour was a in a good mood before his violent rampage. He was seen shouting good-naturedly and reciting poetry. However, he later tried to set some newspapers on fire in the Supreme Court’s doorway, but was “dissuaded and scampered away.”

Gilmour had been in jail since July, where he was at first sentenced for “outrageous and deeply offensive behavior,” and pleaded guilty to violent disorder. However, he disputed the 16-month long sentence.  Evidence showed that Gilmour was under the influence of drugs and alcohol, and he claimed to have taken LSD and Valium before going on a rampage.

Despite hearing that Gilmour had “successfully reformed and rehabilitated himself” and had dealt with “underlying drug and alcohol problems,” the judge still upheld the sentence. The Court of Appeal commented on Friday, saying that the decision was not “manifestly excessive (nor) wrong in principle” and that the judge at Kingston was “entitled to come to the conclusion which he did.”

Hughes, one of the appeals judges, stated, “We do not believe that violence in this context and of the kind displayed by this defendant can normally be met by other than significant sentences of immediate custody, even for those of otherwise good character.”

Gilmour’s parents were not present at the Court of Appeal for the day of the sentencing.

Image Courtesy of   http://www.facebook.com/pinkfloyd

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About the author

Amanda Bohannon
I currently live in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S.A. I am a student at Louisiana State University and am working towards two Bachelor of Arts degrees in English and French. I enjoy reading, writing, and playing video games in my spare time.