THIS is the shocking moment a wedding descends into chaos after a bride is splattered with paint as her sister-in-law fires back with her side of the wedding war.
Gemma Monk was about to tie the knot with her childhood sweetheart, Ken Monk, at Oakwood House in Maidstone, Kent, after the couple had saved for years to pay for their big day.
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Gemma Monk, 35, was doused in black paint as she was about to walk down the aisle Credit: Cover Images
Antonia Eastwood says she acted on the ‘spur of the momen Credit: Cover Images
Gemma, left, stands in her stained dress following the attack Credit: Not known, clear with picture desk
But she was forced to switch dresses at the last minute after she was set upon in a revenge attack in May 2024.
The mum-of-two had been wrongly accused by her sister-in-law, Antonia Eastwood, of trying to trip her up at her own wedding the year before.
It was that grudge that led to Eastwood sabotaging Gemma’s wedding as an act of revenge, leaving her face and £1,800 wedding dress covered in black paint.
Two bridesmaids were also caught in the crossfire.
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Eastwood, 49, is married to Gemma’s older brother Ashley and neither had been invited to the ceremony due to the ongoing family feud.
The mental health worker narrowly avoided jail time when she appeared at Maidstone Crown Court to face charges of criminal damage.
Now, Eastwood, who likes to go by the name of Toni, has given her side of events.
While she is sorry for the notoriety, she has little remorse for what she did and still doesn’t know why she did it.
Eastwood told the Daily Mail: “I feel ashamed of myself. It’s not me. I’ve never been in trouble with the police before. Ever.”
She added that on the day she was sentenced she had a “full-blown” panic attack and was petrified she’d get banged up.
Eastwood claimed that she had acted on the “spur of the moment” and wasn’t sure why she had thrown the paint.
Wedding guests rush over to see what’s going on Credit: Not known, clear with picture desk
Two men chase after the attacker Credit: Not known, clear with picture desk
Gemma’s paint-stained wedding dress can clearly be seen as she walks down a corridor Credit: Not known, clear with picture desk
She’s led into a room to get changed Credit: Not known, clear with picture desk
She also claimed that Gemma had tried to sabotage her wedding the year before by trying to trip her up as she walked down the aisle, something Gemma dismissed as nonsense.
Eastwood also claimed the paint had been in the car purely by coincidence.
She said her daughter Hollie had just given birth to their first grandchild and she had been using the child-friendly paint to do the granddaughter’s hand and footprints.
Eastwood said: “I saw her [Gemma] get out of her car – she was a few yards away. Then I just shouted to her and threw the paint. It hit the back of her dress.”
Gemma was left smeared in paint and a fight broke out.
The father of the bride, Jason, had just dropped Gemma off at the door and was parking his Range Rover when he saw what was going on.
In his haste to race over, he accidently left his car in reverse which then crashed into a brick wall.
Eastwood was given a 10-month prison sentence at Maidstone Crown Court last week which was suspended for 12 months and ordered to carry out 160 hours of unpaid work after pleading guilty to two offences of criminal damage.
She was also handed a ten-year restraining order and told to pay £5,000 in compensation: £4,000 to Gemma and £1,000 to Oakwood House.
Judge Oliver Saxby KC disbelieved Eastwood’s claim the paint-throwing was an acto of impulse, saying she had set out to “wreck” Gemma’s big day.
He described it as “horrid and nasty and mean”.
Gemma was about to marry her childhood sweetheart Ken Monk when the attack happened Credit: Cover Images
