Moment wedding turns to chaos when bride is covered in black paint by sister-in-law

This is the shocking moment a wedding was thrown into chaos after the bride was covered in black paint by the groom’s sister – who has now given her side in the row.

Gemma Monk, 35, was ambushed by Antonia Eastwood just as she was arriving for her ceremony at Oakwood House in Maidstone, Kent.

Footage of the incident showed Gemma’s £1,800 white dress being stained with black paint just after she got out of a Range Rover at the registry office.

While the incident happens off camera, a CCTV clip caught someone throwing flowers at Eastwood as she runs away.

Gemma is then shown looking distraught as she was led down a hallway into the registry office.

The attack was the result of a family feud, in which Gemma was wrongly accused by her brother’s wife of having ruined her big day in 2023.

As well as wreaking her bridal dress, the paint caused more than £5,000 of damage to the Victorian venue.

Eastwood, who is married to Gemma’s older brother Ashley, insisted she did not know why she carried out her attack.

The 49-year-old, who is also known as Toni, told Daily Mail: ‘I feel ashamed of myself. It’s not me. I’ve never been in trouble with the police before. Ever.’

She described having a ‘full-blown’ panic attack on the day of her sentencing, saying she was petrified of being sent to prison.

Eastwood claimed that she had acted on the ‘spur of the moment’ and wasn’t sure why she had thrown the paint, which she said was already lying around in the car.

Gemma managed to tie the knot to her husband Ken two hours later with the help of a replacement dress fetched by an usher.

But the couple were forced to abandon plans for a dream honeymoon in the Maldives.

They also have not celebrated their wedding anniversary as the date brings memories of the trauma, but plan to hold a new ceremony in the future to renew their vows.

In a victim impact statement read out at Maidstone Crown Court, Gemma said the attack had ‘changed her outlook on life’ and had left her with a mental scar.

Eastwood’s explanations were rejected by Judge Oliver Saxby KC, who described her actions as ‘horrid, nasty and mean’, concluding that she had set out to wreak Gemma’s big day.

He said: ‘There is a lingering suspicion that even if you do trigger regret now, it’s been a while coming, that deep-down for some time you thought she deserved it.’

Judge Saxby spared Eastwood jail time, citing her previous good character and a shortage of prison space in line with sentencing guidelines.

Eastwood was given a 10-month prison sentence suspended for 12 months and a 10-year restraining order after pleading guilty to two charges of criminal damage.

She was also ordered to complete 160 hours of unpaid work as well as pay £5,000 in damages, £4,000 to her sister-in-law and £1,000 to Oakwood House.

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