Man in court accused of throwing egg at peer

A man accused of pelting Baroness Warsi with eggs will appear in court today.

Gavin Reid, 23, of Green Close, Luton, will go on trial at City of Westminster Magistrates' Court, in London, charged with an offence under the Public Order Act.

Lady Warsi, now chair of the Conservative Party, was visiting Luton on November 30 last year when she was attacked.

Then shadow minister for community cohesion and social action, she was touring the Bury Park area with a Tory election candidate when she was hit with at least one egg which soiled her jacket.

After the incident, she conducted a question and answer session with residents with egg still in her hair.

Lady Warsi, who became minister without portfolio in May, is the first female Muslim Cabinet minister.

The Dewsbury-born former solicitor replaced Eric Pickles as chair of the Tory party after the general election.

Nigel Huddleston, the Conservatives' prospective Parliamentary candidate for Luton South who was with Lady Warsi at the time of the egg attack, was defeated in the election by Labour candidate Gavin Shuker.