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Repaired Paddington Bear statue unveiled in Newbury after vandalism


People cheer statue’s return in Berkshire town, while two RAF engineers have been sentenced for offence

On Wednesday morning, a repaired statue of the Peruvian ursine was unveiled in Newbury, Berkshire, after it was damaged by two Royal Air Force engineers out on a bender. Daniel Heath and William Lawrence, both 22 and engineers at RAF Odiham in Hampshire, were sentenced for the offence at Reading magistrates court in March with the judge telling the men they were “the antithesis of everything Paddington stands for”. Photograph: Mathilde Grandjean/PA Michael Bond, the author and creator of Paddington, was born in Newbury and the court heard this added to the cultural significance of the statue.

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