Caught on camera: Ex-serviceman fined for kicking poppy wreaths off Cenotaph memorial

This is the shocking moment a former serviceman was filmed on CCTV kicking poppy wreaths off a Cenotaph memorial.

Peter Lear was filmed for 10 minutes as he systematically kicked the wreaths around the ground in the early hours of the morning.

The 49-year-old suffers from PTSD and could be heard muttering about ‘Home Office corruption’ during his appearance before Bristol Magistrates Court.

Lear, of Knowle, Bristol, admitted a charge of criminal damage and was fined £250.

When asked if he was a British national, he replied ‘I was’ and added: ‘The way I have been treated over the past decade is disgusting.’

When District Judge Lynne Matthews asked him: ‘Are you an English national?’, Lear replied: ‘No I’m bl***y not.’

The defendant was reprimanded for swearing in the courtroom.

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Jeremy Oliver, prosecuting, described how the incident took place at 6.30am in the centre of Bristol on February 25.

He said: ‘A street cleaner working in the city centre said he spotted a male kicking the poppies on part of the Cenotaph.

‘He had been watching the man for a while, and he said he found the male’s behaviour disturbing and it caused him distress.

‘He called 999. The male was kicking the poppy wreaths for approximately ten minutes, and he saw another male filming him.’

Lear interrupted to say: ‘It looks as though I’m brushing them off the step with my foot.

‘It doesn’t look like I’m actually kicking them.’

Matthew Coner, defending, urged the court to give Lear a conditional discharge, saying: ‘He was in the Armed Forces and is diagnosed with PTSD.

‘He has a personality disorder and was sectioned recently.’

Sentencing, Judge Matthews said: ‘These are placed in the centre in memory of the great sacrifice men and women made for this country…

‘You trampled over the poppies and you trampled over people’s feelings.’

As well as the £250 fine, Lear was also ordered to pay £85 costs and a victim surcharge of £30.