Two animal rights demonstrators have avoided jail after destroying almost £1,000 worth of cheese at Selfridges in a dairy industry protest.

Portuguese psychology student Sofia Fernandes Pontes, 28, and photographer Stephen Bone, 42, poured milk on the floor of the department store and Fortnum & Mason on October 7, 2022. 

They both admitted two charges of criminal damage and theft at Southwark Crown Court.

The pair went to Fortnum & Mason and collected 19 bottles of milk before pouring them on the carpet.

They then went to Selfridges and repeated the action, pouring 18 bottles over a cheese display, destroying nearly £1,000 worth of cheese. 

Both Pontes and Bone were arrested the next day at an Animal Rights protest. 

The carpet at Fortnum & Mason had cost £100,000 the year before and there were concerns it would have to be replaced.

Bone will be required to do 100 hours of unpaid work, with Pontes doing 40, along with 10 days of rehabilitation requirement due to her ‘unremorseful’ attitude. 

Bone and Pontes pouring bottles of milk over the cheese display at Selfridges worth nearly £1,000

Bone and Pontes poured 19 bottles of milk over the carpet in Fortnum & Mason 

Louis Maskall, prosecuting, said: ‘Both participated in brazen protests at Fortnum & Mason and Selfridges.

‘In Fortnum & Mason they put 19 bottles of milk into baskets and then poured the milk on the carpet. They then walked out of the shop and went to Selfridges.

‘They took 18 bottles of milk which they took and then poured over a cheese display, before once again leaving the store.’

They had not paid for the bottles of milk, so £72.52 worth of theft was one of the charges they admitted, a court heard.

They also caused £972 worth of damage to the cheese display in Selfridges.

‘The carpet had been laid the previous year at a cost of £100,000 it was thought originally that the whole carpet would have to come up but it was in the end able to be cleaned for a value of £272,’ added Mr Maskall.

Pontes, a psychology student at London Metropolitan University is originally from Madeira and has ‘no remorse’ for her actions.

Also known as ‘fifi’ on her Instagram account, the Zumba instructor has been posting activism-related content since August 2021. 

According to Pontes’ LinkedIn profile she is an ‘environmentalist helping families and planet’ and the founder of Parezy, an app described as a ‘virtual one-stop service provider for families with children in the early years sector’.

Alex Shanks, defending Pontes, said: ‘It was originally her intention to take photographs and not be involved in the action herself, but once other people dropped out she took up that role herself.

‘Pontes has already been punished for her actions in that she has a criminal conviction on her record, something that may already be a problem for her career in the future.’

Portuguese psychology student Sofia Fernandes Pontes, 28, avoided jail and was given a community order 

Bone went on a two-month spree of animal rights activism in 2022, and was arrested with a drill outside an Actimel yoghurt factory around the same time.

His barrister, Richard Davies said: ‘These are now old matters of over two years in age, he has not reoffended since.

‘These offences all relate to a spate of two months of offending, and before that as a middle-aged man he was of previous good character.’

Bone has an eight-year-old child and was visibly shaking as the judge delivered sentence.

Passing sentencing, Judge Adam Hiddleston told the pair: ‘Your actions caused not only that damage but also considerable inconvenience to the owners and to members of the public.

‘I have no doubt that none of this was of any concern to either of you.

‘I doubt that either of you care to that nor to the anxiety you may have caused to members of the public.

Judge Hiddleston acknowledged that both defendants had committed the crime to raise awareness for their cause, but he added that he did not regard that a’s in any way a positive feature’.

He said: ‘Mr Bone I am satisfied that the appropriate sentence in your case is one of a high level of a community order.’

Turning to Pontes, he added: ‘You are now 28 years old and have by virtue of these convictions effectively thrown away your future, and possibly permanently damaged your prospect and ambition to work in the law in the future.’

Pontes, of Islington, admitted two counts of criminal damage and theft on the day of trial and received a one-year community order requiring 40 hours of unpaid work, 10 days of rehabilitation requirement, and exclusion from the Picadilly Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason stores.

Bone, of Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, admitted the charges at an earlier hearing and received a two-year community orders, requiring 100 hours of unpaid work and exclusion from the Piccadilly Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason stores.

Both will also pay £645.15 compenstation the two shops

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