Devon drug addict with bomb under bed jailed

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September 17, 2018
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Stephen Bracher had been working on 17 other devices, police said

Stephen Bracher had been working on 17 other devices, police said

A man found with a 9kg (20lb) fertiliser bomb under his bed has been jailed for 40 months.

Unemployed amphetamine addict Stephen Bracher, 55, had been working on 17 other devices when he was arrested in January, Exeter Crown Court heard.

Bracher admitted three counts of having explosive substances, one of possessing a lock knife and one of possessing amphetamines.

Police found jottings which indicated extreme hatred of black and gay people.

In some he expressed intentions of killing people, the court heard.

Bracher's house was "full of weaponry" including machetes and knives

Bracher’s house was “full of weaponry” including machetes and knives

Royal Navy explosives experts removed the explosives from his home in Bishops Tawton, near Barnstaple, after the raid on 24 January.

The property was also “full of weaponry” including machetes and knives, police said.

The ammonia sulphate fertiliser bomb, when exploded under controlled conditions, left a large hole in the ground.

Police said fertiliser bomb and the other devices could have caused “extensive damage”.

Det Insp Phil Gray said: “He had disassociated himself from society.

“He enjoyed making his own explosives to see how loudly he could get them to go bang.”

Bracher told police the explosives were fireworks.

Neighbours and friends of Bracher spoke of an unemployed loner who spent hours with a metal detector by the nearby River Taw.

There he would search for finds which he would take to Barnstaple Museum.

He had a “genuine” interest in local history and was not in it for money, said one museum worker.

Bracher was the eldest of three children and lived in the area all his life, said friend Mike Davis, who has known him since they were teenagers.

Last year Bracher’s builder brother Alan died, which had affected him “severely”, said Mr Davis.

Mr Davis said: “He was a very reasonable person, no trouble maker.

“He didn’t want to do damage to anyone – he’s not a terrorist kind of person, he wouldn’t harm anyone.”

The almshouses where Bracher lived are reserved for people aged over 45 with local connections.

Neighbour Glyn Seal said it was a “big surprise” when the almshouses, with their manicured lawns and clipped hedges, were raided and Bracher was arrested.

“It’s a quiet community and the people in the almshouses are very quiet,” he said. “You never hear anything from them.”

BBC News

Drink driver who left teen girls seriously injured after horror seaside smash is sentenced

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September 17, 2018
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Geoffrey Ewart, from Grangetown, left one girl scarred for life after bombing around Scarborough in a BMW 330

Geoff Ewart appeared at York Crown Court to admit a dangerous driving charge

Geoff Ewart appeared at York Crown Court to admit a dangerous driving charge

A banned drink-driver who seriously injured two teenage girls in a seaside horror crash has been jailed.

Geoffrey Ewart, from Grangetown, bombed around Scarborough in a BMW 330 when the car careered off the road and tumbled down a steep embankment.

The 30-year-old – who ignored his passengers’ frantic pleas to stop – ran from the wrecked vehicle, leaving the two girls trapped inside.

Prosecutor Andrew Semple said one of them suffered catastrophic injuries including broken bones and was left immobile for weeks.

Mr Semple said the car, which had come off its wheels, had £12,500 of damage in the smash on Castle Road on June 24 last year.

Police found Ewart at a nearby taxi rank at about 1am.

Ewart, of Grisedale Crescent, was breathalysed three hours later by which time his alcohol level had dipped, but experts worked out that at the time of the accident he would have been about one-and-a-half times over the drink-drive limit.

The offshore oil rigger admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving, aggravated vehicle-taking, drink-driving, having no insurance and driving while disqualified.

Ewart once faked own 21st birthday party to evade justice

York Crown Court heard that the BMW belonged to Ewart’s father and that his son had taken it without his consent before setting off for Scarborough.

After picking up his passengers, he began to drive “very fast”.

Mr Semple said: “One of the girls said her head was forced back into the seat by his speed.”

He rejected their pleas to let them out before the car left the road and clattered through bushes as it rolled down the embankment.

The older girl suffered a broken shoulder and fractured pelvis.

Her injuries were so serious she was transferred to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough where she underwent several operations, had two blood transfusions and remained bed-bound for three weeks.

It was another six weeks before she could move without a wheelchair or crutches.

She was left scarred for life with a 14cm injury on her arm.

The younger girl suffered whiplash injuries and had to undergo 10 weeks of physio.

Scarborough crash followed ‘night of sheer stupidity and madness’

Ewart had three convictions including one for violence and perverting the course of justice in 2010, when he was jailed for punching a man repeatedly during a street brawl in Middlesbrough.

Ewart tried to evade justice on that occasion by faking his own 21st birthday party and using falsified photos from the pub ‘shindig’ in a forlorn attempt to convince police he was elsewhere at the time of the incident.

Following his release from prison in December 2014, he was caught drink-driving and given a 12-month ban.

Ewart’s barrister James Kemp said the horror crash in Scarborough followed a “night of sheer stupidity and madness”.

But Judge Richard Wright QC slammed Ewart for his “dangerous, show-off” driving and “callous” decision to leave the girls in the car as he fled the scene.

“You have shown little or no remorse towards your victims,” he added.

Ewart was jailed for two years and eight months, and given a five-year driving ban.

Gazette Live

From 2016.

Man jailed after disorder during Sunderland demonstration

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September 17, 2018
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A man has been jailed after violence flared during a march and counter demonstration in Sunderland.

Police made three arrests on Saturday afternoon following disorder in the city centre.

The Wearside-based Justice for the Women and Children Group, which campaigns against sexual violence and assault, organised a march through the city centre, which was joined by members of the Democratic Football Lads Alliance (DFLA).

March organiser Tasha Allan defended the group’s involvement in the protest: “The football lads are not racist, they have proved that,” she said.

“Just because somebody has said somebody is racist does not mean they are.”

The two groups marched down Fawcett Street before turning up up High Street West to make their way to the former Crowtree Leisure Centre site for a rally addressed by speakers including UKIP leader Gerard Batten.

Previous Justice for Women and Children Group protests have passed off without incident but trouble erupted on Saturday when the march reached Keel Square, where a counter demo organised by Sunderland Unites and Stand Up To Racism North East was taking place.

Some protesters defied the efforts of march stewards and tried to break through police lines which separated the two groups.

Two of the three men who were arrested were charged with assaulting a police officer.

Lee Graham Parkinson, 36, of no fixed abode, appeared before South Tyneside Magistrates Court this morning and pleaded guilty to the charge.

He was jailed for 12 weeks, with a further 12 weeks to run consecutively imposed for breach of a suspended sentence.

Fifty-eight-year-old Thomas Allen, of Hartside Road, Sunderland, who was also charged with assaulting a police officer, will appear before South Tyneside Magistrates on Monday, October 15.

A third man, aged 24, has been served with a fixed penalty notice for disorderly behaviour.

Sunderland Echo

Dad escapes jail term after battering son with a baseball bat and threatening him with a machete

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September 14, 2018
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Mark Grogan had been drinking and admitted giving son a “good hiding”

A father has been given a suspended jail sentence after he assaulted his son with a baseball bat and threatened him with a machete.

Leeds Crown Court heard Mark Grogan had been out earlier drinking with his son Alex without any problem on January 15.

His son and a friend had returned with Grogan to his flat in Dewsbury where the drinking continued until the early hours. After the friend left both men fell asleep.

Bashir Ahmed, prosecuting, said the problems began when Grogan woke up and realised two treasured air rifles had gone and blamed his son or the son’s friend.

That led to an argument which culminated in Grogan pinning his son against a wall. He managed to get free and said he was leaving.

He had brought his dog with him and put it on the lead but as they were going Grogan partly shut the door trapping the dog’s paw. His son told him to leave the dog alone but Grogan then picked up the baseball bat and began to hit his son with it in the hall.

“At one point he hit him on the left leg causing him to fall over in pain,” said Mr Ahmed. He was also shouting: “I’m going to sort you out good and proper.”

His victim was struck again until he was crying and crawling on the floor towards the door only to be dragged back by Grogan.

He only managed to get away when his father went into the living room and as he got out saw Grogan was behind him waving a machete shouting: “When I get my hands on you I’m going to kill you.”

Alex Grogan, 20 at the time, managed to ring a relative for help and the police. When his father was arrested and interviewed he accepted giving his son “a good hiding, I just flipped.” He said if he had been sober it would never have happened.

Anastasis Tassou, representing Grogan, said his client had been drinking and he was upset about the air rifles but accepted he should have handled things differently. It was an isolated incident but the result had been a split in the family.

Grogan, 45 of Alexandra Crescent, Dewsbury, admitted assault causing actual bodily harm and threatening with an offensive weapon. He was given a total of 21 months in prison suspended for two years with 175 hours unpaid work and ordered to pay £300 compensation to his son.

Judge Mushtaq Khokhar said it was only his good fortune his son had not suffered even more serious injuries. But if Grogan was jailed immediately and lost his flat and job as a result it could only cause more problems.
Huddersfield Examiner

From 2016

Teenager locked up over cab driver knife attacks

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September 14, 2018
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A TEENAGER who pulled a knife on two cab drivers in two days will be detained in a young offenders’ institution for 12 months.

Alex Grogan brandished a knife at the cabbies after they asked him to pay his fare, Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday.

The 19-year-old, of South Parade, Cleckheaton, swung the knife at one of the drivers, who then suffered a cut to his hand when he tried to defend himself.

The incidents happened on April 22 and 23 this year, when Grogan had been drinking.

In the first, Grogan was taken from his home to another address in Cleckheaton. When they arrived, Grogan claimed he needed to get some money but, when asked by the driver to leave something as insurance, he produced a six-inch knife, the court was told.

Prosecutor Duncan Ritchie added: “He swore at the driver then walked away.”

The following day, Grogan booked a cab with a different company to take him from Dewsbury to Cleckheaton. When he was asked for the fare, Grogan pulled out a knife and swung it towards the driver, who fought back.

After a struggle, Grogan got out of the car but dropped his mobile phone and another knife, which the cabbie drove off with. Grogan was arrested the next day.

Mr Ritchie said: “The driver was struggling to sleep after the incident. He feared the defendant might attack him again in the future.”

At an earlier hearing, Grogan pleaded guilty to six offences — two of having a bladed article in a public place, two of making off without paying, threatening a driver and causing actual bodily harm.

Grogan must also pay a £900 criminal court charge and a £100 victim surcharge.

Telegraph & Argus

This week’s reports from the courts

By
September 14, 2018
Uncategorized

Alex Grogan, 20, c/o Moorcroft Road, Dewsbury. Took a vehicle without the owner’s consent, drove it without insurance or a licence, and failed to provide a specimen of breath for analysis in Dewsbury on August 29. Curfew with electronic monitoring imposed for 10 weeks, starting September 29, and ordered to take part in an accredited programme for 33 days. Banned from driving for two years. Ordered to pay £130 compensation, an £85 surcharge and £85 costs.

Huddersfield Examiner

Alex Grogan said he was too drunk to remember trying to steal van

By
September 14, 2018
Uncategorized

He damaged the vehicle as he attempted to take it from the owner’s Dewsbury home

A man caught trying to steal a van was so drunk he had no recollection of what happened.

Alex Grogan pleaded guilty to offences of taking a vehicle without consent, failing to provide a specimen of breath, using a vehicle without insurance and driving otherwise than in accordance with a licence when he appeared at Kirklees Magistrates’ Court.

The court heard that the victim had parked his Mercedes Sprinter van outside his home on Mitre Street in Dewsbury.

His wife then witnessed it being broken into and called police.

Grogan, of Moorcroft Road, Dewsbury, had broken the glass in the driver’s side window before climbing into the seat.

He had no keys for the vehicle but pulled the handbrake off and it rolled a short distance down the street into the kerb edge.

Police arrived, pulled the 20-year-old from the van and arrested him.

Some damage had been caused to the vehicle as he attempted to start it, with the broken glass and wiring hanging down below the steering wheel.

Grogan then refused to give a breath sample at the police station.

Zahid Majeed, mitigating, said that his client had no recollection of the incident due to drinking.

District Judge Michael Fanning sentenced Grogan to a Dewsbury with 33 days of rehabilitative activities and a 10-week curfew.

He was banned from driving for two years and ordered to pay £130 compensation, £85 costs and £85 victim surcharge.

Huddersfield Examiner

From 2016

Alleged White Supremacist Pleads to Fourth Degree Assault

By
September 12, 2018
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Jacob Laskey was on federal probation from a 2002 hate crime conviction

Jacob Albert Laskey, known for his ties to white supremacy, pled guilty to assault in the fourth degree and unlawful use of a weapon on Sept. 10.

According to court records, Circuit Court Judge Valeri Love sentenced Laskey to six months in the Lane County Jail, 30 months at the Department of Corrections and another 24 months of post-prison supervision.

Laskey was arrested on Jan. 19 of this year for a weapon-involved assault. Laskey had been working at his family’s Creswell business Wolfclan Armory, which moved to Cottage Grove, leading to several protests in that city of its alleged racist associations.

According to prior reporting by EW, sources had alleged that Laskey, 38, stabbed a person, later revealed to be a Eugene man named Devin Reid Wolfe, during a party that night in January.

At that time, Laskey was on federal probation from a prior hate crime conviction in 2002 which had earned him 11 years in prison for throwing swastika-etched rocks through the windows of the Temple Beth Israel synagogue in Eugene.

Since his release from jail after that incident, Eugene Antifa and others have alleged that Laskey is tied to American Front, a white supremacist group, though he has denied these claims.

Laskey has claimed that he no longer associates with white supremacists since his stint in prison, but rather refers to himself as an “anti-antifa supremacist.” He was featured in an EW cover story on antifa in Lane County, published in October 2017, in which he talks about his clashes with antifa and anti-fascists in general.

After that story was published, Laskey claims he and others burned and trashed copies of the paper. He sent a video of the burning to EW through the Wolfclan YouTube channel, though it was later deleted.

After that, news of Laskey did not resurface until January’s stabbing incident.

According to Lane County court records, Laskey was set for trial in front of a 12-person jury on Sept. 11, but pled guilty to his charges on Sept. 10.

Laskey was convicted of the Class A misdemeanor of assault in the fourth degree and the Class C felony of unlawful use of a weapon. He was originally charged with another misdemeanor of criminal trespass, though that charge was dismissed.

Eugene Weekly