Judge Reprimands Thieves in Bear Statue Heist: ‘Your Actions Were the Antithesis of Everything Paddington Stands For’

During a night in the English town of Newbury, two men approached a statue of the beloved British children’s book character Paddington Bear. The installation depicted the fuzzy bear sitting on a park bench while wearing his signature outfit—a red bucket hat and a blue coat—and eating his favorite food, a marmalade sandwich.

Security camera footage showed the two men kicking, yanking and prying the statue on March 2. Eventually, they ripped the bear from the park bench, hailed a cab and left, reports the London Times’ Ali Mitib.

Police later identified the culprits as Daniel Heath and William Lawrence, a pair of 22-year-old engineers with the British Royal Air Force. They found the statue in Lawrence’s car at their base, RAF Odiham.

Both men pleaded guilty to criminal damage this week and have apologized for their actions. But that didn’t stop judge Sam Goozée from reprimanding the men at their sentencing hearing.

“Paddington Bear is a beloved cultural icon with children and adults alike,” said Goozée, a judge in the Reading Magistrates’ Court, according to a copy of his comments released by the court. “He represents kindness, tolerance and promotes integration and acceptance in our society. His famous label attached to his duffle coat [says] ‘Please look after this bear.’ … Your actions were the antithesis of everything Paddington stands for.”

The judge sentenced the men to 150 hours of community service for their “act of wanton vandalism,” reports the Guardian’s Amelia Hill. They’ll also each be required to pay £2,725 (over $3,500) for the statue’s restoration.

“Your actions lacked respect and integrity, two values you should uphold as members of the armed forces,” the judge added.

The statue was one of nearly two-dozen placed throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland last year to help drum up interest for the new movie Paddington in Peru. The live-action animated film stars Ben Whishaw as the voice of the title character.

The new movie—like the other Paddington flicks—is based on the children’s series by the late British author Michael Bond about a polite Peruvian bear who is adopted by a London family. Bond died in 2017 at the age of 91.

Bond was born in Newbury, so the Paddington statue heist caused “a great deal of upset within the community and local businesses,” according to a statement from Trish Willetts, the chief executive officer of the Newbury Business Improvement District, which was read aloud in court, per Newbury Today.

“The Paddington Bear statue is a beloved part of Newbury so we did everything we could to locate it and bring the offenders to justice,” said Alan Hawkett, an inspector with the Newbury Neighborhood Policing Team, in a statement.

The broken statue enjoyed a brief stay at Newbury’s police station before investigators handed it back to the Newbury Business Improvement District for repairs.

The district plans to fully restore the statue and place it back on the park bench, located outside the Camp Hopson department store on Northbrook Street.