A man who yelled “respect the vote” as he struck Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn while clutching an egg has been jailed for 28 days.
John Murphy admitted assault over the March 3 attack, which took place at the Muslim Welfare Centre in Mr Corbyn’s constituency and has forced a review of his security.
Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot jailed Murphy, 31, from Barnet, north-west London, for 28 days.
She told Westminster Magistrates’ Court: “An attack like this is an attack on our democratic process.”
CCTV footage released after the hearing shows Murphy calmly walking up behind a seated Mr Corbyn before thumping him on the side of the head. He was then restrained.
Mr Corbyn had gone to the centre with shadow home secretary Diane Abbott after visiting north London’s Finsbury Park mosque, which was the site of an anti-Muslim terror attack by far-Right extremist Darren Osborne in 2017.
Malik Aldeiri, Murphy’s lawyer, blamed the “frustration and anger borne out of the political situation we find ourselves in”.
“He felt he was making a statement. He believes his civil rights were violated and this was a demonstration by him against what he says is a failure by Parliament to adhere to his democratic vote,” Mr Aldeiri said.
In a statement he wrote before being sentenced, Murphy likened himself to civil rights protesters and said he was “perfectly happy to go to jail”, adding: “I’d rather be a rebel than a slave.”
