Edward Woollard, the student who admitted to throwing a fire extinguisher off the roof of the Conservative Party headquarters, was sentenced to 32 months in prison earlier today. The now-infamous incident took place during the violence that erupted in the wake of the first London protest against tuition fees on 10 November.

Edward Woollard was one of more than 60 protesters arrested after footage emerged of him throwing the fire extinguisher off the seven-story building. The act became a focal point for the condemnation of protester violence, because of its potentially fatal consequences for the crowd of hundreds gathered below.

The judge, Geoffrey Rivlin QC, said "It is in my judgment extremely fortunate that your actions did not result in death or very serious injury either to a police officer or fellow protester". He did, however, praise his mother, who broke down into tears when the verdict was announced, for encouraging Woollard to come forward and plead guilty, a fact that he said had been favourably taken into account in the sentencing.

Woollard, 18, was on his first unsupervised trip to London and had been hoping to become the first in his family to attend university. He claimed that his actions were the result of high spirits and poor judgement. “When I was told I had potentially endangered people, I felt sick,’ he said. “I was absolutely not intending that anyone in anyway would be hurt”, adding “I regret bitterly what I did”. His barrister Hossein Zahir told the court "It's a genuine tragedy for him... In a matter of few seconds he jeopardised his future prospects and brought havoc to his own life and the lives of those he loves."

When delivering the sentence of 2 years and 8 months in a young offenders institution, the judge said "The right of peaceful protest is a precious one. Those who abuse it and use the occasion to indulge in serious violence must expect a lengthy sentence of immediate custody."

NUS President Aaron Porter condemned the violence at the time, saying "This action was by others who have come out and used this opportunity to hijack a peaceful protest". However, controversy ensued, and was echoed in the reaction to later student protests, over whether the violence was the work of a ‘nihilistic’ group hoping to hijack the protest or a legitimate mass reaction to an emotional issue.

Speaking to the Times this week, Woollard’s mother said “I believe he deserves to be punished. I just hope it is the right punishment...He has got a lot to give, he has got a lot to learn. I hope he has got the chance to continue his education and it hasn't ruined his life.”