Lizzie Purbrick

{{short description|British equestrian}} {{BLP sources|date=June 2008}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}} {{MedalTableTop|}} {{MedalSport|[[Equestrianism|Equestrian]]}} {{MedalCountry| {{GBR2}} }} {{MedalCompetition|[[European Eventing Championships|European Championships]]}} {{MedalGold|[[European Eventing Championships|1981 Horsens]]|Team eventing}} {{MedalBottom}} '''Elizabeth Mary Josephine Purbrick''' (née '''Boone'''; born 16 May 1955 at Warren Farm, [[West Acre]], [[Norfolk]]) is a winner of an Armada Dish at the [[Badminton Horse Trials]] in 1984<ref>[http://www.badminton-horse.co.uk/history/armada_dishes.aspx Armada Dish winners] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080505054805/http://www.badminton-horse.co.uk/history/armada_dishes.aspx |date=5 May 2008 }}</ref> having competed several times with several mounts including Peter the Great and in many different events. In 1978 she went as an individual to the World Championships at Lexington, Kentucky but finished a poor 16th. There were no less than 22 retirements on the cross country phase. She was part of the British team{{Citation needed|date=June 2008}} selected for the [[1980 Summer Olympics|1980 Olympics]] which [[Great Britain at the 1980 Summer Olympics|the British team]] attended in part, the British government taking no official position on the US-led boycott. In 1981 she was a member of the team that won a European Gold Medal at Horsens, Denmark.

After moving to [[South Africa]], Purbrick retired after being ousted by the UK equine institutions.{{Citation needed|date=June 2008}} There on a small farm breeding horses, she also coached young people in horsemanship and maintained a [[parrot]] sanctuary. After her marriage broke down she returned to the UK, engaging again with the horsemanship community, and also became involved in a personal relationship with Conservative peer [[David Prior, Baron Prior of Brampton|Lord Prior]].

In 2018, after Purbrick had seen Prior in the company of another woman, she entered his home in [[Kennington]], [[South London]] with a key that he had given her, and then daubed graffiti on the walls in pig's blood.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jul/17/ex-olympian-admits-daubing-tory-peers-home-with-pig-blood|title=Ex-Olympian admits daubing Tory peer's home with pig blood|website=[[TheGuardian.com]]|date=17 July 2018}}</ref>

In a later High Court case, she admitted one charge of criminal damage. District judge Susan Green described the "series of highly abusive slogans" as "quite appalling", and sentenced Purbrick to 120 hours' community service and imposed a [[restraining order]]. She appeared on ITV Daytime show ''[[This Morning (TV programme)|This Morning]]'' on 30 July 2018.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-44862013|title = Ex-Olympian Lizzie Purbrick sentenced for pig's blood revenge|work = BBC News|date = 17 July 2018}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Purbrick, Lizzie}} [[Category:British event riders]] [[Category:1955 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:British female equestrians]]