Two Christ Church students have been fined £175 each for adorning the Mercury statue with Chelsea paraphernalia, following their team’s qualification for the Champions League Final on Tuesday.
In the early hours of Wednesday morning, in response to Chelsea’s victory, undergraduates Theo Oulton and James Ware jumped into the pond surrounding the famous Mercury fountain in Tom Quad. They waded up to the figure, and wreathed it with a Chelsea football team flag. They then proceeded to add a woolly Chelsea hat to the 84 year old statue.
When asked to explain his actions, Oulton told Cherwell how he and Ware “proudly…front-crawled into the middle [of the pond] holding aloft the mighty blue. [We] climbed up, covered ourselves in cuts in the process [as] the Chelsea boys would have done, no less, and crowned Fernando’s shrine.”
The two were eventually identified by Oulton’s wallet, which was left at the scene. The disciplinary action that followed was swift, and has been deemed “harsh” by many students.
The Junior Censor at Christ Church, David Nowell, defended the action taken by the college, citing the possible peril which the boys might have brought upon both themselves and the statue.
He stated that “the statue concerned is fragile and potentially dangerous to access”, and refuted claims that the pair had been punished for what was called by some an essentially “harmless act”.
The celebrated Mercury fountain is also home to a large koi carp, donated by the Empress of Japan and reported to be worth a small fortune, the safety of which may also have been a cause of concern. Oulton commented that he had to overcome his “chronic fear of fish” in order to carry out the feat.
Nowell added that “the ‘adornment’ of the statue was only one of a number of disciplinary matters taken into consideration” when a suitable punishment was being decided upon.
Oulton and Ware received receipts detailing the breakdown of their £175 fines. They were each charged £75 for the actual stunt, and £25 for each offence of being drunk, failing to respond to the fire alarm, “causing a disturbance/playing music at 5am,” and being “not suitably dressed” in public.
The overwhelming reaction from students has been one of amusement at their actions and sympathy for the boys. Tyler Alabanza-Béhard, a first year student at Christ Church, remarked, “Everyone knows that Mercury is a massive Chelsea fan, so it was great at last to see some pride on his part.”
Another Christ Church fresher commented, “My morning walk across the prestigious Tom Quad in the rain was somewhat improved by the sight of Mercury showing his support for Chelsea’s victory, much to the confusion of several hundred Chinese tourists”.
Oulton expressed no regret for his actions, commenting simply that, “The lads deserved nothing less. Torrrrreeeeeeees!!!”. Ware stated that he was “still too ecstatic to comment”.
Sam Cato, a student at New College, similarly judged it “the perfect way to celebrate Chelsea’s win”, and a St Catherine’s fresher was likewise impressed, commenting, “LOL top banter!”
However, not everyone was as sympathetic. A fresher at Lady Margaret Hall commented, “Whilst their endeavour and commitment merits respect, I cannot help but express disappointment that they failed to realise that the only team’s flag worthy of adorning such a venerated statue is Everton’s. Huzzah!”
