Not guilty of vandalising masterpiece because he is mentally ill

A homeless man who scratched a £24m masterpiece with a drill bit after a voice in his head told him to has been cleared of criminal damage because he was mentally ill at the time. Keith Gregory, 63, made a 100cm by 65cm x-shaped scratch to Thomas Gainsborough’s ‘The Morning Walk’ in front of shocked art lovers causing £50,000 of damage. A wing of the National Gallery containing classic British paintings was evacuated for two hours after Gregory slashed at…