Lizzie Purbrick, a former champion equestrian, admitted in a British court that she scrawled rude messages inside her lover's house in pig's blood as revenge for an affair.
She said she discovered her partner, conservative member of Parliament David Prior, was sleeping with another woman. So in May, she let herself into his South London home, armed with the blood.
Purbrick turned herself into police quickly, and confessed to the crime in court on Tuesday. She called the blood-spraying act "cathartic."
She has been sentenced to 120 hours of community service.
The Telegraph reports on her crime:
"Purbrick, 63, who was part of Great Britain's equestrian team in the 1980 Moscow Olympics, took revenge on her lover, Lord Prior of Brampton, after catching him in the arms of another woman."After obtaining eight litres of pig's blood from a friend who was a butcher, she let herself into his south London flat and used a garden sprayer to paint the words "whore", "lady slut" and "big d*** lord" on the walls. "She also drew a penis on the floor before emptying the remainder of the pig's blood everywhere and then leaving a cheque for £1,000."
Purbrick "played loud music" as she sprayed the blood around, and selected pig's blood on purpose because Prior "liked pigs," the BBC reports.
Her defense attorney, Simon Nicholls, tells NPR there was "no dispute about the pig's blood" or the writing on the walls.
His argument in her defense, he said, was that this was a "one-off incident" — a hot-blooded crime, not a cold-blooded one, if you will.
As a result, he argued, a restraining order was not necessary. The judge was not convinced and imposed the restraining order anyway.
Nicholls also apologized in court for his client appearing in pink shorts and a white T-shirt. He tells NPR that she couldn't find an Uber or a cab, and had to walk "a significant distance" from the London Underground station to the courthouse.
She arrived just in time for the trial, without enough time to change into the more formal clothes she brought with her, he said.
Purbrick spoke to reporters outside the courtroom (after she had changed into a dress) about the relationship, her crime and her sentence.
"We were together for eight years," Purbrick said, according to the Telegraph. "I was all set up to be Lady Prior."
She called the judge a "sweetheart," the BBC reports, expressing relief that she didn't have to go to jail:
"Purbrick said she was due to catch a flight to South Africa, where members of her family live and where she plans to spend much of her time. Asked about what that meant for her impending community service, she joked: 'I think I've got two years to do 20 hours - I didn't listen to be honest.' "
Prior, the member of Parliament whose home was defaced, is a former investment banker and corporate lawyer who was an adamant remainer, meaning he lobbied for the U.K. to remain in the European Union.
Purbrick competed in the 1978 world equestrian championships, and in 1981, she was part of an equestrian team that won gold at the European Championships.
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