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Suspended sentence

Racist who filled Muslims’ shoes with ham as they prayed in a mosque walks free from court

By
July 19, 2013
Racial Conviction, religiously aggravated harassment, Suspended sentence

A racist thug who stuffed ham into the shoes of Muslim worshippers at a mosque has escaped a jail term.

Jamie Knowlson, 30, also draped slices of the meat – which Muslims are banned from eating – on railings outside the mosque as his victims prayed inside.

He was then caught on CCTV hurling abuse at worshippers after they confronted him over his sacrilegious act.

Islam teaches its followers to avoid pig meat as it makes them impure and unclean.

Knowlson initially told police the stunt was a drunken joke but later admitted that he was fully aware of the offence his actions would cause.

He pleaded guilty to causing racially or religiously aggravated harassment and could have been jailed for up to two years.

But walked free from Bristol Crown Court with a suspended six-month prison sentence because he had returned to the mosque to apologise for his actions.

Sentencing, Her Honour Judge Carol Hagen said: ‘It is difficult to imagine a more offensive incident.

‘Not only the fixing of meat to railings but aggravated, in my view, that members of the mosque were inside praying at the time.’

The court heard that Knowlson, from Kingswood, Bristol, targeted the Al-Baseera mosque in the St Judes area of the city which is used by more than 2,000 Somali Muslims every week.

He crept to the mosque from nearby Redwood House homeless shelter on January 9 this year – putting ham in footwear and on railings outside the building as worshippers prayed.

CCTV footage showed him returning to the shelter, where he was confronted by the mosque’s caretaker Abdi Djmaa.

As Mr Djmaa returned to the mosque he heard shouts of ‘the next visit will be harder’, ‘bad meat’ and ‘girls’ coming from the direction of the building

David Hunter, prosecuting at Bristol Crown Court, said it had been a premeditated attack specifically targeted at the Muslim community.

The court heard that shamed Knowlson had returned to the mosque to apologise after the hate crime.

Ian Halliday, defending, said: ‘This was a brutal, misconceived, drunken prank.’

He returned to the mosque and offered his apologies in person.

Knowlson sat in tears as he was handed a six-month suspended sentence and 150 hours of unpaid work.

A second man is due to stand trial in connection with the incident later this month.

After sentencing, Mubarak Mohamud, one of the three imams at the Al-Baseera mosque, claimed the inflammatory act had upset the Muslim community.

He said: ‘There wasn’t anger, people were more upset and shocked.

‘We don’t eat pork and we are banned by our faith from eating it, as it makes us impure when we are going to our prayers.

‘We don’t hate the man – we just suppose he doesn’t know us.’

Knowlson refused to comment after leaving court.

Daily Mail

Drunken Bristol father of six who groped a teenage girl gets suspended sentence

By
July 19, 2013
sex abuse, Suspended sentence

A FOOTBALL hooligan who groped a 14-year-old girl on a bus has been handed a suspended prison sentence.

Drunken Kevin Jenkins, 45, sexually assaulted the schoolgirl as she made her way home from the ice rink in Bristol city centre.

Jenkins asked the teenager to eat a Malteser out of his hand before grabbing her thighs and buttocks as she walked past, Bristol Magistrates’ Court heard.

The court was told the assault, which Jenkins admitted at an earlier hearing, had left the girl feeling withdrawn, frightened and embarrassed.

Father-of-six Jenkins targeted the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, at 10.45pm on January 16 after drinking heavily with a friend.

Neil Treharne, prosecuting, said Jenkins put his leg across the gangway of the bus to stop the girl passing then told her she could only get by if she ate one of his Maltesers.

When she refused, he asked her to eat it from his hand before forcing the chocolate into her mouth, the court heard.

Mr Treharne said that as he allowed the teenager to pass him, Jenkins rubbed the girl’s thighs and buttocks with his hands before telling her to “jog on”.

The court was told the teenager now suffers with anxiety and had felt “physically sick” on seeing Jenkins at a bus stop since the attack.

Mr Treharne said Bristol Rovers supporter Jenkins, of Mancroft Avenue, Lawrence Weston, had 17 offences to his name and had been made the subject of a football banning order.

Victoria Ellis, defending, said her client was ashamed and disgusted by his actions. She said: “He has six children and if something like this happened to one of his own daughters he would be horrified. He has a very sketchy memory of that night and the only way he can explain his behaviour is that he had consumed an extremely large amount of alcohol.”

Magistrates handed Jenkins a 10-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, and ordered him to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work.

He will be added to the sex offenders’ register and was told to take part in a 12-month community order, attend a programme for substance-related crime, pay £250 in compensation to the girl and £60 court costs.


This is Bristol

Man photographed with stick moments before attack on Kingston Mosque is spared jail

By
July 18, 2013
criminal damage, Fined, Jailed, Public order offence, Racial Conviction, religiously-aggravated offence, Suspended sentence
Henry Hunter

Henry Hunter

A teenager found guilty of violent disorder following an attack on Kingston Mosque has been spared jail.

Henry Hunter, 19, was convicted last month after a gang of young men laid siege to a mosque in East Road, having previously attended a protest march against Muslim extremism, in November 2010.

But he was acquitted of racially aggravated criminal damage.

At Kingston Crown Court this morning, Hunter, from Ashford in Middlesex, was sentenced to six months at a young offenders’ institute, suspended for 12 months.

He was fined £1,000, given 250 hours of unpaid work, and handed a four month curfew order banning him from leaving his home on Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights.

Hunter was also given an exclusion order banning him from Kingston town centre for a year.

Before the sentence was passed, Hunter’s solicitor Michael Green told Recorder Roderick Fletcher that Hunter was a young man of previous good character who had not been in trouble before or after the mosque attack.

Mr Green said Hunter’s attitude had changed considerably in the two years since the attack, and he was now also holding down a job as a fork lift truck driver.

He contrasted Hunter’s police record with those of Martin Pottle and Alfie Wallace, who, along with David Morris, were all jailed for the attack in April.

Mr Green said Pottle had four previous public order offences and had been sentenced to six months in prison for affray in 2010.

Wallace had convictions for violence, robbery, criminal damage, assaulting a police officer and racially aggravated offences.

Mr Green also pointed to the fact Hunter handed himself into the police voluntarily, after his picture appeared on the front page of the Surrey Comet in the wake of the convictions of Pottle, Wallace and Morris.

Mr Green said: “This is a young man who handed himself into a police station after his picture was published in the Surrey Comet on the same day.

“His attitudes have changed considerably, his personal circumstances have changed considerably.

“He hopes to be given the opportunity to carry on working. Things have changed in terms of his employment, and in terms of his attitude.

“There are no new offences. The author of the pre-sentence report has spoken to the police and there is no suggestion he has been involved in any previous activity.”

Sentencing Hunter, Recorder Fletcher said: “You surrendered voluntarily to the police, you are currently in employment and you have a stable home environment.

“You’ve made important changes to your lifestyle and attitude in the past two years.”

“I’ve felt able to take a different course in your case to the course taken regarding Mr Pottle and Mr Wallace.

“Mr Pottle was substantially older than you, and Mr Wallace was marginally older than you.

“Both were convicted of two offences – violent disorder and religiously aggravated damage to property and both had relevant previous convictions.

“In these circumstances I’ve taken what could be considered as an unusual course in relation to your sentence.”

Surrey Comet

Nottingham pig’s head mosque race abuse men sentenced

By
July 18, 2013
EDL, English Defence League, Fined, Racial Conviction, Suspended sentence

Three men have been fined for placing a pig’s head near the site of a proposed mosque in Nottinghamshire.

Wayne Havercroft, 41, of Bestwood Village, was fined £585 by Nottingham magistrates for racially aggravated public order offences.

Nicholas Long, 22, of Arnold, and Robert Parnham, 20, of Clifton were fined £300 over the incident in West Bridgford in June.

The court heard “No mosque here, EDL Notts” was sprayed on the ground.

In July, Christopher Payne, 25 of Hucknall was given a six-week suspended sentence and fined £335 and given 100 hours of community service for the same offence.

Crown Prosecution Service spokesman Brian Gunn said: “This kind of targeted abuse based on the grounds of religion or race has no place in our community.”

Mr Gunn added: “The actions of this group were highly offensive and would obviously have caused significant distress to the community in West Bridgford had it not been discovered at an early stage.”

The court was told the men had been drunk at the time and had since said they were ashamed of their behaviour.

BBC News

Man threw bottle as EDL protested at army parade

By
July 18, 2013
affray, EDL, English Defence League, Suspended sentence

A MAN who took aim with a bottle as English Defence League supporters clashed with young Asians during an army parade has escaped being jailed – despite being sentenced for affray days before the clash.

Daniel Groves, 23, of Kettlewell Close, Warwick, pleaded guilty at the crown court in Leamington to a charge of affray and was sentenced to six months in prison suspended for two years.

He was given 18 months supervision, banned from all pubs and clubs for three months and made subject to a 8pm to 6am electronic-tag curfew for the same period.

The court heard that Groves had convictions for affray and public order offences and four days before the clash had been given a community sentence for an affray in Warwick town centre.

Prosecutor Vicki Lofrese said in September the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers were on parade in Nuneaton when police spotted English Defence League (EDL) supporters heading towards a pub.

She said: “Large banners were being paraded and slogans shouted from members of that group, including ‘I am English ’til I die’ and ‘St George in my heart.’

“Police saw a group of about 20 in the drinking area outside singing the same slogans and ‘Taliban scum’ as a group of young Asian men began to congregate outside.”

As the tension mounted and police struggled to keep them apart, Groves was spotted throwing the bottle, which smashed near the Asian youths, and he was arrested after a struggle.

He claimed the Asians were planning to attack them, denied being a member of the EDL but said he believed in its policies and was “against radical Muslims”.

Groves said that the EDL protected British troops by providing a target for those protesting against them.

Peter Freeman, defending, said: “Nuneaton is a long way from Warwick, but this was a trip with his friend whose cousin was in the regiment.

“He is standing there chatting with a bottle in his hand. He is about five rows back, and something triggers him to lob the bottle.

“ He does not know whether it was a coin or a pebble, but something struck him and he lost his rag.

“He says it is not right that people can turn up and shout abuse at our soldiers, but he never went there looking for trouble.”

Mr Freeman said Groves has had “a glowing report” from his probation officer.

Mrs Justice Macur told Groves: “I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt that this offence was not racially or religiously motivated – but you are running out of chances.”

The Courier

Man threatened to set fire to Wrexham mosque

By
July 18, 2013
EDL, Suspended sentence

A MAN was abusive and threatening to two British Muslims outside Wrexham’s new mosque and threatened to burn it down.

David Jared Evans, 36, sent texts to people suggesting a visit to the mosque in the former Miner’s Institute and a demonstration and said flare throwers made “good legal weapons”.

Evans received a suspended sentence after he admitted using threatening, abusive and insulting language and behaviour towards Abdulla Anwar which was racially and religiously aggravated. He had a similar previous conviction in 2006 after he abused a black woman.

Judge Niclas Parry, sitting at Mold Crown Court, said North Wales was becoming a cosmopolitan area and the courts would do everything they could to ensure people lived in harmony.

The judge said Mr Anwar and a colleague had approached Evans outside the mosque and offered him help.

“For that, they were subjected to a torrent of disgraceful abuse,” the judge said.

The comments were religiously and racially aggravated, persistent and escalated to threats of violence.

“Wrexham is a cosmopolitan town,” he said. “North Wales is becoming a cosmopolitan area.

“The courts will do everything they can to ensure people live in harmony in a cosmopolitan society.

The comments Evans had made generated hatred which had to be stamped out.

“You come into this case as a racist individual,” said the judge, but he was prepared to accept Evans had changed following his experiences in custody.

“Your future behaviour will show if I am right,” Judge Parry told him.

A prison sentence was inevitable but the judge took into account Evans had already served the equivalent of a six month sentence on remand.

He had pleaded guilty and rather than sending him back into custody for what could only be a matter of weeks he believed it would be better to tackle his “intransigent attitudes”.

Evans, of High Street, Rhos, received a 36 week prison sentence, suspended for a year.

He must carry out 200 hours unpaid work and attend an offending behaviour programme run by the probation service specifically to address his racially motivated behaviour.

“I think that will benefit you,” the judge told him.

Evans was also made subject of a two month 7pm-7am curfew at weekends and Judge Parry told him to pay £500 towards prosecution costs and £150 compensation to Mr Anwar.

A restraining order was made which bans him from going to the mosque or approaching Mr Anwar.

Elizabeth Bell, prosecuting, said on September 10 Evans was taking photographs of the former Miner’s Institute in Grosvenor Road, which had been bought by Wrexham Muslim Association and turned into a mosque.

He saw the two men outside and said to them: “This is a disgrace, you using this place. You’re probably just making your bombs here.”

Evans then used a racist term and asked them why they did not go home. Both men had been born in the United Kingdom.

Mr Anwar, who was left feeling frustrated and distressed, took a photograph of Evans and the defendant did likewise.

When Mr Anwar refused to give Evans his name, he said: “I will be back with my friends. We will give you a good seeing to,” and before leaving threatened to set the place on fire.

Arrested the following day, pictures of the mosque were found on his mobile phone along with a racist song.

A text message was found which he had sent to another man asking him if he was “up for a visit to the mosque tonight?” Another asked a third man if he wanted to join in a demo against the mosque.

One text made reference to a flame thrower making a great legal weapon.

Interviewed, he denied the offence and made no comment when questioned about the text messages.

Evans pleaded guilty after asking the court for a sentencing indication.

Andrew Green, defending, said Evans now realised it was a deeply unpleasant incident.

He had been disciplined in work but as far as he was aware his job was still available to him.

The Leader

Woman bit police officer after arrest

By
July 18, 2013
actual bodily harm, assault, EDL, Suspended sentence

A WOMAN attacked several police officers, biting one, after her arrest during an English Defence League rally, a court heard.

Police initially went to the aid of Antonia Claire Evans, who was suffering a suspected broken arm after a scuffle during the demonstration, in November last year.

However, Durham Crown Court heard that a stand-off developed, before the officers tried to lift Evans out through the crowd.

Rachel Masters, prosecuting, said Evans shouted and swore and, despite her injury, lashed out at the officers with her injured arm.

She punched another officer in the groin and headbutted a third after they tried to pin her to the ground.

Amid efforts to put her into a police van, to remove her and place her in a cell at a police station, she continued to struggle, biting a custody officer’s index finger.

Miss Masters said the officer had to hit her three times to make her release her grip.

The officer’s finger was cut by the bite, while another officer lost clumps of hair grabbed by Evans during the struggle.

Miss Masters said the arrest at the rally, in Preston, Lancashire, was the culmination of a series of incidents involving Evans.

It included biting a security guard in the chest on June 3 as he tried to detain her outside the Tesco shop in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, on suspicion of shoplifting.

In a further incident, in October, she set a Staffordshire bull terrier and an alsatian on her then partner as he left her home in Newton Aycliffe after a row.

Miss Masters said both dogs attacked and bit the man several times, while she landed several punches.

Evans, 24, of Mellanby Crescent, admitted four charges of assault causing actual bodily harm, three of common assault and being the owner of a dog dangerously out of control.

Julie Clemitson, for Evans, said she has spent 123 days in custody, during which time she has progressed with psychiatric assistance.

Judge John Evans said that because of the time she had spent in custody, he could pass a prison sentence of 51 weeks, suspended for two years.

She must undergo 12 months of probation supervision, to include sessions addressing alcohol misuse, while continuing to receive psychiatric help.

She was also banned from owning dogs for seven years.

Northern Echo

Five in court after Blackburn EDL rally

By
July 18, 2013
assault, EDL, English Defence League, Jailed, Suspended sentence, threatening behaviour

AN English Defence League supporter attacked a police horse, punching it eight times during last month’s demonstration in Blackburn.

Robert Gavin Tromans was one of five people to appear at the town’s magistrate court on Friday in connection with disorder during the rally.

Tromans, 29, of Beverley Road, West Bromwich, attacked the horse as police formed a mounted cordon to control a crowd on Northgate.

He pleaded guilty to using threatening behaviour and was remanded on bail for the preparation of a pre-sentence report with a warning a custodial sentence could not be ruled out.

Andrew Church-Taylor, defending, said Tromans, a former soldier, was a supporter of the EDL but not a member and had attended the rally with an organised coach party.

“His intention was to get back to his coach and not to cause any trouble,” said Mr Church-Taylor.

Also appearing in court was David Monks, 34, of Haydock Street, Bolton, who pleaded guilty to using threatening behaviour.

He was made subject to an electronically monitored curfew between 8pm and 6am for 91 days.

The court heard a man attending the rally in Blackburn was punched unconscious by fellow supporters after heckling one of the speakers.

Catherine Allan, prosecuting, said CCTV of the incident showed Monks throwing a punch but it did not show whether it connected.

“The other man was in fact punched unconscious but not necessarily by this defendant,” said Miss Allan.

Lisa Swales, 27, of Eastfield Gardens, Bradford, pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer during the rally.

She suddenly lunged forward and grabbed his testicles, the court heard.

She was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months, made subject to community supervision for 12 months with a condition she attends the stop binge drinking programme.

Susan Bowden, defending, said Swales had attended the demonstration with a group of friends but wasn’t involved with the EDL.

Thomas James Ferguson pleaded guilty to using threatening behaviour after being ordered to leave the rally.

He was drunk, became abusive and swung a punch at an officer before he was arrested.

Ferguson, 22, of Cherry Tree Guest House, Islington, Blackburn, also pleaded guilty to theft from a shop and two offences of failing to answer bail.

He was jailed for 28 days.

Patrick Joseph Doyle, 48, of Cobourg Close, Blackburn, pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer in the execution of his duty.

He had caught the officer on the temple and knocked his helmet off, the magistrates were told

Lancashire Telegraph

Byker EDL firework thug gets suspended sentence

By
July 18, 2013
assault, EDL, English Defence League, Suspended sentence

AN EDL thug who stormed a peaceful protest before hurling a lit firework has walked free from court

English Defence League member Anthony Crawford

English Defence League member Anthony Crawford

Anthony Crawford sparked pandemonium when he lobbed the explosive at anti-jubilee protesters as they gathered for a rally in Newcastle city centre.

It landed in the hood worn by Barnaby Drew, from Byker, Newcastle, who was left with burns after it exploded on his shoulder and set fire to his hair.

The 19-year-old’s pals patted down his body to stop it spreading, and the force of the blast burned a hole in his jumper. He was left partially deafened when the firework perforated his eardrum.

But now, after admitting one charge of assault by beating, Crawford, 22, of Elmway, Chester-le-Street, County Durham, has escaped a prison term after magistrates handed him a 15-week suspended sentence.

And they ordered Crawford to pay his victim £150 in compensation for the terrifying incident. Crawford joined a group of EDL protesters at the Rose & Crown pub, on Newcastle’s Newgate Street, for a pre-arranged meeting on June 4.

Later he sparked mayhem when he threw two bottles and the firecracker as trouble flared during scuffles in front of shoppers at Newcastle’s Grey’s Monument where the EDL and anti-jubilee protesters clashed.

Sue Baker, prosecuting, told Newcastle Magistrates’ Court: “He’s thrown two bottles of water at the protestors and then a firework which caused minor injuries to Barnaby Drew.”

Crawford’s legal team told the court he was handed the lit firework before throwing it into the crowd and he had not intended to cause injury.

Crawford, who works two days a week as a volunteer, admitted one charge of assault by beating and one count of using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent to cause fear or provoke unlawful violence.

He was handed two 15-week sentences to run concurrently, suspended for 12 months.

He was also ordered to carry out 100 hours’ unpaid work and was made the subject of a 12-month supervision order.

Chronicle Live

Three sentenced for their parts in EDL protest disorder in Leicester

By
July 18, 2013
Suspended sentence

Three men were sentenced yesterday for their part in the public disorder which accompanied the English Defence League protest in Leicester.

Two of the men, who denied having any official political affiliation with the EDL, were among a group hurling missiles at the Independent Arts Centre Fabrika, in Humberstone Gate.

Christopher Chapman (22), of Armdale Drive, Netherhall, Leicester, was handed a 12-week suspended prison sentence, by city magistrates.

Unemployed Chapman pleaded guilty to causing £1,000 worth of damage to doors and windows at the venue and using threatening words and behaviour which caused people to fear for their safety

At a previous hearing, Chapman’s solicitor said he was “politically naive” and was still “suffering the effects” of the previous night’s drinking.

Andrew Millard (27), of Bradmore Grove, Birmingham, was ordered to do 100 hours unpaid community work.

Millard, who has a five-year banning order from football grounds for hooliganism, admitted a charge of attempting to damage the arts centre with a large wooden pole.

Ian Johnson, prosecuting Millard, said the group attacked the building after spotting members of the media covering last October’s protest from first floor windows. CCTV cameras filmed Millard picking up a large wooden pole, throwing it at the building but missing.

Chris Stewart, in mitigation, said: “It was a pathetic and half-hearted attempt.”

Ryan Stapleford, of Ashby Road, Ibstock, was ordered to do 200 hours unpaid work in the community after admitting to launching a “flying kick” on a Muslim man on the afternoon of the EDL demonstration.

The 18-year-old, who was filmed on CCTV attacking the man outside Benny’s Chicken, in Granby Street, claimed he had been defending a friend who had persuaded him to accompany him to the protest.

This is Leicester