A 34 year-old man from Brynaman has appeared before Swansea Crown Court after entering guilty pleas to six offences under Section One Malicious Communications Act and four offences of Inciting Racial Hatred under the Public Order Act.

Jonathan Jennings called for Muslims to be sterilised, gassed, or killed on sight

Jonathan Jennings called for Muslims to be sterilised, gassed, or killed on sight

Jonathan Jennings used social media platforms such as GAB and YouTube to post anti-muslim and anti-government messages and often targeted prominent left-leaning politicians and individuals, frequently referring to murdered MP Jo Cox in his on-line posts.

Jennings was sentenced to 16 months in prison.

Speaking after sentencing, Detective Superintendent Jim Hall of the Wales Extremism and Counter Terrorism Unit said: “We are committed to tackling all forms of extremism which has the potential to threaten public safety and security. Such was the strength of evidence of Jennings’ activities that he entered guilty pleas to all of the offences.

“There have been a number of successful prosecutions over recent years and this is testament to the work of police teams up and down the country.

“Nobody is better placed to detect something that is out of place in their communities than the people living in them. To effectively combat the terrorism threat the police, businesses, government and the general public need to work together.

“Anyone who sees or hears something that could be terrorist-related should act on their instincts and call the police in confidence on 0800 789 321.

Visit gov.uk/ACT for more information, including how to report extremist or terrorist content that is online.

South Wales Guardian

Sirrs was jailed for more than 12 years for his part in horrific racist attacks on Middle Eastern immigrants in Hull

Drug dealer Christopher Sirrs has this week been orders to pay back £3,000 from his ill-gotten gains – but he hides a shocking racist past.

Sirrs, 44, was one of two racist ringleaders who led a violent neo-Nazi campaign against asylum-seekers in Hull 14 years ago.

Sirrs was handed a 14-and-a-half year sentence which was cut to 12-and-a-half years on appeal, while his thug cohort Ben Povey was handed a 19-year sentence reduced to 15 years on appeal.

Bloodthirsty guttersnipes

During sentence, the judge at the time described them as “bloodthirsty guttersnipes”.

Povey and Sirrs mowed down an Iraqi asylum-seeker, sending him flying into the air “like a rag doll” and shattering his leg in three places. Later Povey, when asked about the attack, said to his girlfriend: “They should all die.”

Mugshots of Christopher Sirrs (left) and Ben Povey who was jailed in 2004 for racial violence

Mugshots of Christopher Sirrs (left) and Ben Povey who was jailed in 2004 for racial violence

It was just one of a serious of violent scenes which brought Hull’s racial tensions to melting point in the searing heat of July 2004.

Gang warfare

The city had become a battleground as gangs clashed in the streets, brandishing lead pipes, baseball bats, Samurai swords and planks of wood studded with nails. Cars were set alight with petrol bombs.

Judge Tom Cracknell said at the time the men were sentenced: “I regard Sirrs and Povey as very dangerous young men. They have not shown one moment of remorse about their conduct.”

Christopher Sirrs

Christopher Sirrs

The pair had joined the Hull Cruise Club – a group which spent its evenings driving souped-up cars around the streets.

Sirrs, then 30, was adept at manipulating younger members of a club which until then was described by police as a “nuisance rather than a menace”.

Thug who thinks he has a brain

Detective Inspector Mark Smith, the officer in charge, speaking after the men were sentenced said: “Sirrs is just a thug who thinks he has a brain.

“He likes to have people around him, likes to have muscle, and he seems to command respect among this element. [He] wouldn’t think twice about just petrol-bombing your house or car.”

Trouble flared in 2004 when a group of immigrants began driving their cars around the same area as the club. A minor clash led to a series of battles with cars being rammed or smashed up with baseball bats.

In mid-July Povey smashed the windscreen of a Vauxhall car driven by immigrants while Sirrs threw a petrol bomb at the vehicle. They pursued it with Povey swinging a Samurai sword from the open sunroof.

Mowed down

A few days later, two immigrants made the mistake of parking their car in the area before going out to a nightclub.

They returned in the early hours to be met by a gang hurling racist abuse because they believed they were among a group of Kosovans who had damaged the club’s cars.

One was hit with a baseball bat and the two fled up the street, with Sirrs and Povey in pursuit.

The car being driven by Sirrs, with Povey as passenger, crossed the central reservation and ploughed into the other man, sending him flying into the air, before driving off. Other members of the gang stayed to abuse the Iraqi with racist taunts as he lay there injured and in pain.

The attack led to further tension as members of the local immigrant community clashed violently with the gang members.

Witness intimidation

Sirrs and Povey had also tried to intimidate witnesses. Povey fire-bombed a car belonging to the family of a witness while both telephoned him to get him to change his statement.

Povey was convicted of causing Mr Mohammed grievous bodily harm with intent by a jury at Hull Crown Court. He was also jailed for making petrol bombs, intimidating witnesses, arson, violent disorder and possession of an offensive weapon.

Sirrs was jailed for grievous bodily harm, which he admitted, and convicted of possession of a Samurai sword and nail-embedded pickaxe handle, making an explosive substance, violent disorder and perverting the course of justice.

Others were also jailed following that summer of madness for assaults, arson, making explosives and violent disorder.

Sirrs has continued his life of crime and is back in jail after admitting possession of amphetamine with intent to supply and possessing criminal property.

Hull Daily Mail

Scots 'Nazi dog' film maker Mark Meechan's appeal refused

Scots ‘Nazi dog’ film maker Mark Meechan’s appeal refused


A MAN who was fined after filming a pet dog giving Nazi salutes has failed in an attempt to appeal his conviction.

Mark Meechan, 30, was ordered to pay £800 after recording his girlfriend’s pug, Buddha, responding to statements such as “gas the Jews” and “Sieg Heil” by raising its paw.

He was found guilty of breaching the Communications Act by posting material that was “grossly offensive” and “anti-Semitic and racist in nature”, in an offence aggravated by religious prejudice, following a trial at Airdrie Sheriff Court in April.

Meechan, of Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, raised more than £193,000 through a crowdfunding page to pay for legal fees to fund an appeal against his conviction and sentence but has now revealed that it has failed at the first hurdle.

His lawyers took the case to the Sheriff Appeal Court in Edinburgh but a panel of sheriffs refused to grant leave to appeal.

The case did not make it to a full hearing as it was refused at the ‘sift’ stage where sheriffs review bids to appeal and determine whether they have any merit.

YouTube prankster Meechan, who claimed the video was a joke and that he was exercising his right to freedom of speech, has said his legal team will now refer the case to the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, who review potential miscarriages of justice.

Earlier this week, he vowed to go to prison rather than pay his fine if the appeal process was unsuccessful.

In a video posted online about the appeal decision, he said: “My appeal has been completely rejected.

“Scottish appeal courts work on a sift process where you get two chances to submit your appeal and it can be rejected at that stage on the grounds that there is absolutely no hope in hell of your appeal being successful.

“Mine was rejected on both stages. Apparently what happened to me is completely inarguable.

“I believe I have suffered a miscarriage of justice and my lawyers are going to submit that to the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission.

“Hopefully the commission will agree and ask the appeal court to accept my appeal case.

“I never even got a hearing, I just got two rejection letters.”

He added: “I’m obviously not happy about the fact that I’m going to jail but I’m more than prepared to do it for what I believe in.

“I absolutely refuse to sacrifice my principles just so I can get an easy time under a law I shouldn’t even be getting charged under in the first place.”

The Sheriff Appeal Court confirmed Meechan’s bid to appeal had been refused last month.

The original clip was viewed more than three million times on YouTube and sparked a debate over free speech, with comedians Ricky Gervais and David Baddiel defending Meechan.

During an interview on BBC Radio Scotland on Tuesday, Meechan claimed people should be allowed to say whatever they want, no matter how offensive, and it should not be a criminal offence.

He claimed Sheriff Derek O’Carroll, who presided over his trial, was from an older generation and didn’t understand his sense of humour.

He said: “The judge was a lot older, he’s from a different generation. There are jokes you would tell your friends but you would never repeat them to your grandmother.

“He was judging it from the era of comedy that he grew up with.

“One of my main gripes with the case is I was being judged by a man who doesn’t understand my world. I think that’s what has given me the biggest bee in my bonnet with regards to the judge’s decision.”

Meechan also said that since his conviction he has been unable to find work and has been subjected to violent threats on the street.

He has said any money left over for his legal challenge will be donated to charity.

The Herald

Arthur 'Misty' Thackeray got numbers from slimming world posters and an advert in a shop window

Arthur ‘Misty’ Thackeray got numbers from slimming world posters and an advert in a shop window

The former chairman of UKIP in Scotland has been given a final opportunity to comply with a court order or face jail.

Arthur “Misty” Thackeray, 57, admitted making a string of vulgar phone calls between October 2007 and December 2015 involving 10 different women.

He took the numbers from slimming world posters and an advert in a shop window.

But after being sentenced to a community payback order with various conditions he was back in the dock for a review of his court order.

Glasgow Sheriff Court heard he had not been fully compliant with the order.

And it emerged he told his supervising officer that the phone calls were “consensual”.

The court heard that as a result of his attitude, he is unsuitable for a sex offenders’ programme.

‘One final opportunity’

Sheriff Martin Jones QC asked defence lawyer Craig Broadley: “Is he willing to accept that this is why he’s here?

“All these women, obviously having made complaints to the police?

“Is he deluding himself about whether or not these were consensual in nature?”

The sheriff added that the order was a “direct alternative to prison”.

He added: “I can easily revoke the order if he’s not complying and impose a custodial sentence.”

Mr Broadley confirmed Thackeray was aware he must engage fully.

He also told the court his his client would make a proper effort to comply.

The sheriff added: “I’m giving him one final opportunity, I expect to see an acceptance on his part, working with his supervising officer and changing his attitude.”

Thackeray will return to the court next month.

‘Violated and alarmed’

The calls were made from his home in Glasgow’s east end, at 1 Colme Street, Edinburgh and “elsewhere”.

UKIP Scotland leader and MEP David Coburn’s office is at the same address in the capital.

Thackeray pled guilty to nine charges of intentionally sending, or directing “sexual verbal communication” between 1 December 2010 and 19 December, 2015.

The women’s ages ranged from 25-year-old to 66 at the time of the offences.

He was handed a community payback order with the conditions he will be supervised for three years, will carry out 270 hours of unpaid work within nine months and will be on the sex offenders’ register for three years.

BBC News

Lois Evans and Emma Storey, were yesterday jailed for imprisoning a man and subjecting him to what a judge described as a "terrifying" ordeal, during which he was battered with a hammer

Lois Evans and Emma Storey, were yesterday jailed for imprisoning a man and subjecting him to what a judge described as a “terrifying” ordeal, during which he was battered with a hammerL



TWO women who tied up and tortured a man are behind bars for what a court heard was “horrific humiliation”.

Emma Storey filmed friend Lois Evans repeatedly batter their victim with a hammer as he begged his grinning attacker to stop.

Evans threatened to use a power drill on his kneecaps and feet, and screamed at the Islam-convert: “We don’t like Muslims over here, you know. I f***ing hate them.”

Footage of the distressing attack was shown at Teesside Crown Court where Evans, 30, was jailed for three years and four months and Storey, 35, got two years and eight months.

Evans – said by a judge to be “glorifying” in the torture of the 23-year-old – later told police she felt possessed.

At one point, she threatened to kill the man, and Storey “baulked”, saying: “I agreed to this, but not to bury a body.”

During his ordeal, the victim also had some of his hair cut out, and Polyfilla put in his mouth by Evans, who told him: “Eat this. You chat a load of s***.”

Earlier, Storey shoved a rag in his mouth to gag him, as her friend produced a range of tools to threaten him with – a saw, wrench, screwdriver and the drill as well as a golf club.

In an impact statement, the victim said: “I lay awake at night thinking about why I didn’t fight back, and how humiliated I felt and still feel.

“I would have loved to have been in the army, but this makes me feel I would be no good if I can let two girls beat me up like this.

“I am constantly paranoid about what’s going on around me and who is around me.”

The women, from Guisborough, east Cleveland, had to be separated by security guards in the dock after a fight in the cells before the case. There had also been trouble between the pair while they were on remand at Low Newton in Durham.

Storey wept in the dock as her phone footage of the attack was shown in court, while Evans watched without showing any emotion.

Storey’s lawyer, Gary Wood, told the court that the mother-of-three has had a ten-year amphetamine addiction and had been drinking with her friend on the night.

“She encouraged with words spoken and filmed this horrible incident using her mobile phone, which she accepts makes her equally guilty,” he said.

“On behalf of the defendant, I am instructed to apologise to all parties in this case, in particular the complainant for everything that transpired.”

Stephen Constantine, for mother-of-two Evans, said: “She seems to have flown completely out of her mind. She told the police that she appeared as though she was possessed.

“This is a young lady who doesn’t ordinarily behave like this. She simply snapped and did a lot of things she bitterly regrets.”

Th court heard that Evans was annoyed at continued unwanted attention from the man, visited him in the early hours of April 5 and ordered him into a car to go to Storey’s home.

The victim was said to have been frightened, but wrongly believed that Storey would stop anything happening to him, said prosecutor Emma Atkinson.

Towards the end of his ordeal on the video, he can be seen on the floor where it looks as though he is being kicked by Evans.

He managed to escape, but was still bound and had Polyfilla in his hair. He suffered extensive brushing to his arms and legs and a black eye, said Miss Atkinson

Evans, of Woodhouse Road, admitted false imprisonment, religiously-aggravated assault occasioning actual bodily harm and making threats to kill.

Storey, also of Woodhouse Road, pleaded guilty to false imprisonment and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Judge Deborah Sherwin told the pair: “Each of you have the capacity to be violent bullies when the need, in your eyes, arises.

“It is nothing short of miraculous that his injuries were not worse.”

Neither woman had any previous convictions, the court heard.

The judge told Evans: “It is alarming that you can behave in such a way and you have it in you to act like this.”

She told Storey: “Yours was a secondary role, but in filming it, you were encouraging and egging on Miss Evans in what she was doing.”

When Miss Atkinson was about to play the footage, she warned the court several times: “It’s distressing to watch.”

After hearing screams from the victim, a couple – believed to be the victim’s parents – left the courtroom, but later returned.

Sobbing Storey shouted from the dock: “Marie, I’m sorry.”

Judge Sherwin said: “I have seen the clips and it is quite clear he is begging you to stop, he was cowering away and was clearly terrified.”

Northern Echo

THE arrest of the man at the head of a massive paedophile network led police to a pervert in Coventry, it has emerged.

Roderick Rowley, who stood as a candidate for the BNP in Coventry’s Woodlands Ward in the local elections in 2004, was jailed for 15 months in December after sending obscene images involving children.

The 51-year-old admitted 14 charges of making indecent photographs, four of distributing them and one charge of possessing an image for distribution.

Rowley was arrested at what was then his home in Knightlow Avenue, Willenhall, Coventry, in February last year.

Police tracked down Rowley after arresting Oliver Smith in January last year.

Smith, aged 39, formerly of Rotherfield Road, Sheldon, Birmingham, was the head of a huge child pornography network.

Smith was jailed for three years and nine months on Monday for making, distributing and possessing more than 2,000 images of children.

He traded pictures with more than 630 people.

Smith had been found guilty of four charges of making indecent photographs, four of distributing and two of possessing them.

Birmingham Crown Court was told he sent 1,848 pictures and film clips involving children as young as three months.

Sentencing Smith, Judge Phillip Gregory said: “I cannot describe the utter vileness of the photos you considered it appropriate to investigate, download onto your computer, store, and distribute to other like-minded people interested in such gross sexual contact with young children.”
Coventry Evening Telegraph

From 2006

A MAN has been told to keep his bulldog muzzled after it attacked a spaniel in the Coppergate Centre.

Sam Rogers, prosecuting, said David Tysall and his wife were out shopping with their cocker spaniel Larry when they saw a white and brown dog run up to it, leap on to its back, pin it to the ground and grip the back of its neck.

A group of people, including the attacking dog’s owner, ran up and pulled it off.

Mr Tysall told the owner: “Your dog tried to kill mine.”

Ms Rogers told York magistrates when Mr Tysall said he would phone the police the owner “became quite aggressive towards him, appearing to be drunk. It made the situation worse.”

Andrew John Waterson, of Hardisty Mews, off Leeman Road, York, admitted not keeping his dog under proper control, theft of alcohol, theft of £7.95 of food from the Spar store in Lowther Street on April 8, and obstructing police.

Ms Rogers said in separate incidents on the same day, Waterson had stolen alcohol from the Spar store on Heslington Road and struggled when police arrested him at 9.50pm on Walmgate for aggressive behaviour.

Waterson was ordered to do 12 months’ supervision, including work on controlling his drinking, 100 hours’ unpaid work, to pay £7.95 compensation to the Spar shop in Lowther Street, and to pay £85 prosecution costs. In addition to the muzzle order he was ordered to keep his dog on a lead within the city’s Bar Walls.

His solicitor, Martin Hawes, said Waterson’s dog Tofu had been on a lead in Coppergate Centre on April 27, but it had snapped when it pulled on it.

Tofu was an “Irish breed bull dog”, not a pit bull terrier, and was very good with people. However, it didn’t get on with other dogs. It had not gone for the front of the spaniel’s neck. He had since bought a muzzle for the dog.

Waterson had depression and drank to cope with emotional family issues he was facing. He had a damaged right arm and the police had caused pain when they grabbed it to arrest him.

York Press

AN ACCRINGTON dog owner who let his pets foul outside the council’s main office building has been told to pay more than £500.

Nigel Hesmondhalgh was convicted after council staff spotted one of his three dogs — none of which were on a lead — defecating in the garden area outside Scaitcliffe House, in Ormerod Street.

The 41-year-old, who lives in Ormerod Street, also allowed one of the dogs to foul on a grass verge further up the street, Blackburn Magistrates’ Court heard. He did not pick the mess up on either occasion.

The incidents were caught on CCTV and Hesmondhalgh was issued with two fixed penalty notices, which he failed to pay.

Hyndburn Council said he also ignored enforcement officers when they tried to talk to him about the matter on several occasions. Hesmondhalgh failed to turn up in court and so was convicted in his absence. He was fined £200 plus £20 victim surcharge, and ordered to pay £281.96 in prosecution costs.

Cabinet member for environmental services, Coun Paul Cox, said: “There is no excuse for not picking up after your dog. We have plenty of dog bins around the borough.

“This case highlights that there is an irresponsible minority who fail to pick up faeces left by dogs in public places, which is not only unpleasant, but can also transmit disease to other dogs and humans.

This case sends a strong message to irresponsible dog owners.

“We take a tough line on this kind of offence and will take people to court if necessary.”

Residents are offered £50 rewards for information on dog owners who allow their pets to foul public spaces, as part of a council drive to tackle dog fouling, subject to conditions.

To report anyone you witness allow-ing their dog to foul in a public place or any other dog related offence, call the council on 01254 388111
Lancashire Telegraph.

From 2014

A MAN who made his Asian next door neighbours’ lives a misery with his anti-social and racist conduct was spared immediate jail.

Burnley Crown Court heard how Nigel Hesmondhalgh, 36, who had a British National Party sticker in the window of his Accrington home, was abusive and insulting to the couple, repeatedly picking on the wife. He piled dog dirt up in the alley outside their home and told them:”It’s a white country, not a Muslim state.”

Hesmondhalgh, said to be the carer for his brother, who has learning difficulties, told the husband of the couple he should be scared and shouted support for the BNP. The couple had lived in their home for 14 years before he moved in.

The defendant, who has since moved, but wants to go back to the property on Higher Antley Street, had earlier admitted racially aggravated intentional harassment, alarm or distress. Hesmondhalgh, who has almost 90 previous convictions, had struck whilst on bail for similar allegations which were left to lie on file.

He kept his freedom, but his hostile and anti-social conduct was slammed by a judge, who warned the courts would not tolerate it.

Judge Philip Butler said Hesmondhalgh did not get on well with people who dared to interfere with his behaviour. He said had the neighbour been a white Irish woman, the defendant would no doubt have found some offensive and derogatory adjective to aim at her.

The judge told Hesmondhalgh: “You were the immigrant in that street, not her. You would be well advised not to go back there.”

Judge Butler added:”If you thought more about your brother you would perhaps reign in your mouth for a start.”

The defendant, of Stanley Street, Accrington, was given 36 weeks in custody, suspended for two years, with 18 months supervision and the Thinking Skills programme.

Manchester Evening News

From 2009

Nigel Hesmondhalgh

Nigel Hesmondhalgh

A NEIGHBOUR from hell who launched a four-year ‘race hate’ campaign against a family has now been jailed for possessing child porn.

Nigel Hesmondhalgh, 37, is beginning a nine-month sentence after a series of degrading photos and videos of children were found on his home computer.

Detectives have welcomed the punishment, imposed by Judge Simon Newell at Burnley Crown Court, on Hesmondhalgh, of Stanley Street, Accrington.

The judge also ordered him to sign the sex offenders’ register for 10 years.

Hesmondhalgh was only released from a 30-week jail sentence in November when police swooped on his Hyndburn home.

His computer was seized within a fortnight and was found to contain no fewer than 29 indecent images of children, and 11 similar videos.

Four of the pictures, and three of the videos, were graded at level four, the second most serious category of child pornography.

After the case, Detective Inspector Claire Holbrook said: “I hope this case will serve as a warning to those who view such material that we will find them out, arrest them and do everything with- in our power to prosecute them.

“In downloading this material the viewers indirectly cause these horrific offences and images to continue to be produced.”

Hesmondhalgh was jailed at the Burnley court in March for an offence of racially-aggravated harassment.

Police obtained a two-year Anti-Social Behaviour Order against him, before his release, to prevent him from throwing dog dirt into his neighbours’ garden, or using racist language towards an Asian family.

Lancashire Telegraph

From 2011