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Shoplifting TV chef Antony Worrall Thompson accuses media of going over the top

By Hamish Mackay

January 17, 2012 | 2 min read

Disgraced celebrity chef Antony Worrall Thompson had said he would rather have gone to prison than endure the media coverage following his arrest for shoplifting.

The Ready Steady Cook star said he felt he had been put in the “modern day stocks”.

The 60-year-old former I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! Contestant gave his first interview since the incident on Irish television while on a visit to Dublin.

He said thousands of people had logged on to his website to give their support but contrasted that to his treatment by some sections of the media.

“What I’ve suffered this week is worse than doing a prison sentence,” he claimed.

“I would rather have been fined or gone to prison because the Press have been extraordinary.

“It’s just been beyond any relationship to the crime. I mean I wasn’t charged. I was given a rap on the knuckles. I did a crime – I appreciate that. It was very, very stupid and I am very, very embarrassed.”

However, he did not think his actions warranted front-page coverage.

“There are people dying or being murdered and we are pushing them to the side of the page. Is that really right?”

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