A man has pleaded not guilty to damaging a stone sculpture outside the BBC headquarters in London, which cost over £150,000 to repair. David Chick, 58, from Bozeat in Northamptonshire, is accused of vandalising the Grade II-listed statue on Portland Place in central London in May 2023. The sculpture depicting Prospero and Ariel from Shakespear’s The Tempest was commissioned by the BBC and carved by Gill, a popular 20th-century artist. After Gill died in 1940, his diaries revealed startling accounts of sexual abuse against his daughters.
Chick was already charged with a previous incident in 2022 in which he allegedly damaged the same statue. Judge David Tomlinson agreed to merge the two cases at a plea hearing at Southwark Crown Court. ‘They are two offences of not just the same or very similar nature but, in effect, identical offences,’ the judge said.
Chick appeared in court wearing a black jumper with a red Spiderman logo and only spoke to confirm his name and to plead not guilty to causing criminal damage exceeding £5,000. Judge Tomlinson granted Chick bail and ordered him not to come within 100 meters (328 feet) of the statue.
The statue, installed in 1933, portrays a young, nude male figure with an older male figure in the background. The artwork is considered a London landmark. The towering figure of Prospero, standing 10 feet tall, is shown releasing Ariel into the world, a powerful representation of guidance and liberation. Ariel, the ethereal spirit of the air, was chosen as a fitting emblem for the enigmatic and transformative nature of broadcasting, symbolizing its ability to traverse boundaries and connect distant realms. As the BBC explains on its website, this imagery captures the essence of a medium that defies limits and carries voices across the unseen waves of the air.
Born in 1882, Eric Gill was a sculptor and typographer who created large sculptures for Westminster Cathedral and the original London Underground headquarters. He also designed the widely used Gill Sans typeface. But his personal life was marred by controversy following a biography that was published in 1989 detailing his diaries, which included admissions of sexual abuse, an incestuous relationship with his sister and other disgusting with a family pet. Despite his artistic talent, Gill’s personal life has raised questions about the separation of an artist’s work from their character.
A trial date was set at the same court for 6 May next year.
Top Photo: Eric Gill Prospero and Ariel from Shakespeare’s The Tempest © Artlyst 2025