A Fathers4Justice campaigner appeared in court yesterday accused of defacing a portrait of the Queen in Westminster Abbey.
Tim Haries, 41, from Doncaster is alleged to have smuggled a can of spray paint into the abbey before defacing the picture.
He appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court charged with criminal damage of more than £5,000. He did not enter a plea.
He was released on conditional bail until a hearing at Southwark Crown Court on June 28, but banned from London in the meantime.
The painting, by Ralph Heimans, which was put on public display last month. It is valued at around £160,000 and called The Coronation Theatre, Westminster Abbey: A Portrait Of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, has been removed from public display for repairs.
Haries allegedly shouted 'Fathers4Justice!' when he was arrested.
Chief magistrate Howard Riddle released him on conditional bail but said he must stay outside the M25 after police raised concerns that he would join an apparent Father's Day protest in the capital planned for Sunday.
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