An anti-vaccinator who attacked two Covid sting clinics with stones he picked up from a beach was declared “arrogant” by a judge today, who jailed him for criminal damages. Paul Leonard Edwards, 58, was told he could not “intentionally go out and break the law to impose his views on others” when a 21-month sentence began.
The court heard that he had caused damage estimated at £ 11,000 by throwing stones at the windows. The judge said that Edwards from Warrington, Cheshire, has no right to try to impose his views on the dangers that he believes are hidden in the Covid-19 vaccine.
Edwards failed to convince the jury at Mold Crown Court that he was justified in committing criminal damage last year at two separate vaccination sites against Covid in North Wales. A separate issue of general assault was excluded from the minutes after the jury could not reach a verdict.
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Edwards, who chose to represent himself after telling the court he no longer trusted his lawyer, attacked two sites in the region offering important vaccinations in the fight against Covid-19. The court heard he caused more than £ 11,000 in damage during the two incidents, North Wales Live reported.
Prosecutor Anna Price said that despite all his efforts, Edwards caused a limited interruption in the introduction of vaccination in December 2021. He caused less than £ 1,000 in damage to the vaccination center in Llandudno, using stones he took from a nearby beach. .
His actions affected some other smaller businesses in downtown St Asaph OpTIC, where about 25 windows were broken and in need of repair. However, Ms. Price confirmed that only one of these windows was in the vaccination center itself.
Edwards arrives in court (Image: Hadyn Iball / North Wales live)
Edwards, who was heard by the court believing that communist China had a personal interest in destabilizing Western society, sought to reduce his sentence. However, his appeals failed when Judge Rhys Rowlands said nothing but imprisonment could be justified for his actions last year, when health workers tried to ensure that the most vulnerable in society had access to the vaccine – hailed as a “rescue” line “back to normal.
He said: “I have no doubt that you support and obviously still maintain true and strong views that have been critical of the official policies and laws introduced by all four national governments to protect the population as a whole from the effects of the pandemic. you have the right to maintain what are sometimes called anti-vaxx views.
“What you can’t do is deliberately go out and break the law to impose your views on others. In this case, try to prevent other people – many of whom are probably elderly or otherwise. vulnerable – to receive their injections.
“I have no doubt that these people would be worried and would look at these injection appointments as a lifeline that allows them to achieve a certain degree of normalcy in their lives. To try to prevent them was not just wrong, but I dare say arrogant. ” “Serious” and must therefore have “serious consequences”.
Damage caused to one of the centers (Image: Ian Cooper)
He received a total of 21 months in prison on both counts of damages.
Following the verdict, the health council issued a joint statement from President Mark Pauline and CEO Joe Whitehead, saying: “This man’s actions have caused great concern among our staff and could seriously delay a life-saving vaccine for many. The constant and dedicated work of our vaccination teams meant that we were able to continue with the vaccination program, despite these senseless actions.
“We pay tribute to them for everything they did then, during the peak of the pandemic, and we continue to do so now. We thank the North Wales Police for their quick response twice and for helping to prevent any further disruption to our vaccination program.
“We would also like to thank the security staff and our hosts at both centers for helping us continue to do this vital work. Finally, we will reiterate that attacks on our staff, our premises or our partners are completely unacceptable and we will always seek full protection of the law when such incidents occur. “
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