Men who broke Paddington Bear statue ‘antithesis’ of what he stands for – judge

The pair carried the statue through the town and into a taxi, which took them back to their base at RAF Odiham, the court heard

Screen grab taken from undated video issued by West Berkshire Council of the Paddington Bear statue on a bench in Newbury, Berkshire Picture: West Berkshire Council/PA

The actions of two British Royal Air Force engineers who broke a newly-installed Paddington Bear statue in half before stealing it were “the antithesis of everything Paddington stands for”, a judge said.

Daniel Heath and William Lawrence, who are both 22 and work as engineers at RAF Odiham in Hampshire, UK, had been drinking when they damaged the statue at 2am on March 2, after a night out.