A man who vandalised a well-known statue in a York park has been jailed for 10 weeks.

It cost £570 to repair the damage Ryan Darius Day caused to the statue of Queen Victoria in West Bank Park in Holgate, York Magistrates Court heard.

The statue is owned by City of York Council.

Day, 35, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to causing criminal damage to the statue on August 13 intending to damage it or being reckless as to whether it would be damaged. He had previously denied the charge.

The court told him he had to be jailed because his offence was serious and it was aggravated by his criminal record.

In addition to the jail sentence Day was ordered to pay a £154 statutory surcharge to support victim support services nationwide. Everyone sentenced by a criminal court in England has to pay the statutory surcharge.

He was not ordered to pay anything towards compensating the council for the money it paid out.

The statue was created by York sculptor GW Milburn and funded by a public subscription. The original plan was for it to stand in The Guildhall, but sometime in the last century it was moved to West Bank Park.

It was renovated shortly before lockdown because it had become stained, discoloured and hidden by undergrowth.