Bacon mosque attacker Kevin Crehan died in Bristol Prison after drug overdose

By
May 24, 2018
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An inquest date has been set after Crehan died five months into a year-long jail sentence

A prisoner who was serving time for putting bacon on the door handles of a Bristol mosque died after a drug overdose, it has been revealed.

Kevin ‘Bunny’ Crehan was five-months into his year-long sentence in Horfield Prison when he was discovered dead in his cell.

Emergency services were called to the prison on December 27, 2016 after he was found unresponsive.

Files from the police and a post-mortem report have now been completed after several pre-inquest reviews.

A full inquest will begin on Monday, December 3, and is expected to last more than two weeks.

That means it will be nearly two years before his family finds out how the 35-year-old from Knowle West came by his death.

A post mortem examination heard he had died of a suspected overdose of methadone, a common drug used as a strong painkiller and as a substitute for heroin.

The court was told he had been admitted to hospital while serving his term following a drug overdose.

After he recovered, he was sent back behind bars, but was found dead in his cell shortly after.

A police investigation has now been completed, and they are not treating it as suspicious at this time.

Why was he in prison?

Crehan had been jailed in July 2016 after pleading guilty to an attack on the Jamia mosque in Totterdown in January 2016.

The ‘protest’ saw bacon being placed on door handles, a St George flag tied to the fence and abuse shouted at two elderly people.

Together with three others, the far-right group were charged in court.

Crehan was jailed for a year while Mark Bennett, 48, from Patchway, was sentenced to nine months in prison.

His wife, Alison, 46, was given a six-month suspended sentence for her involvement and Angela Swales, 31, from Brislington, was given a four-month suspended jail term.

The judge who jailed Crehan said he had taken into account the 35-year-old’s history of convictions, including football-related violence.

The group has also been given restraining orders banning them from going within 100 metres of a mosque anywhere in England or Wales for 10 years.

In his summing up, Judge Julian Lambert called it “an attack on England and the principles of freedom of religion”.

Since Crehan died nearly 18 months ago, there has been mounting speculation about the circumstances surrounding his death.

And while police dismissed it as “not suspicious”, it has not stopped several groups of people coming to Bristol to protest his death and sentence.

The latest march took place in Bristol at the end of last month, with dozens joining the ‘Gays against Sharia’ march near Temple Meads.

The Prison and Probation Ombudsman has confirmed a report into Crehan’s death has been concluded and passed to the coroner, although that is not expected to be made public until after the inquest.

Sitting in front of Avon’s senior coroner Maria Voisin, the inquest will look into the circumstances surrounding Crehan’s death, including how and why he died.

Bristol Post

Poster boy for banned neo-Nazi group jailed

By
May 23, 2018
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A man from West Yorkshire who posted racist and anti-Semitic messages on social media and was behind hate-filled graffiti has been sentenced to four years and three months in prison today (23 May).

Wayne Bell, 37, posted an image on a Russian social media site in March 2016 showing a man being hung by a rope with a Star of David on his forehead. In another post he described Jewish people as “destructive” and “vile”.

Bell also had a hatred for black people and in August 2016 posted, “The only way,” below a photo of a police officer’s foot raised above the head of an unarmed black man, lying on the ground.

In late 2016 he posted a number of messages on Twitter continuing his campaign of stirring up hatred against Jewish and black people.

Leeds Crown Court heard how Bell was a prominent member of the neo-Nazi group National Action before its proscription and featured in two posters used in the group’s 2016 recruitment campaign. National Action was banned in December 2016.

He also pleaded guilty to three counts of possessing items with the intent to damage property in relation to racist graffiti in and around his home town of Castleford. Thirteen videos were found on Bell’s mobile phone and featured an unseen man – believed to be Bell – directing others as to where and what they should graffiti. The majority of the graffiti was anti-Semitic including swastikas and references to the Holocaust.

When his home was searched police found two spray cans, cable ties, travel planners, and stencils identical to those in the videos. A rucksack found at this workplace in Leeds contained National Action stickers.

Sue Hemming from the CPS said: “Wayne Bell is a committed racist who posted messages on social media intending to stir up racial hatred against Jewish and black people.

“He was also behind graffiti that promoted his Neo-Nazi views and his deep rooted hatred of all non-Aryan races.

“Those who choose to behave in this way can expect to face the legal consequences of their actions, which can include going to prison.”
Notes to editors

Wayne Bell (dob 10/08/1980) pleaded guilty to:
Two counts of stirring up racial hatred contrary to section 19(1) Public Order Act 1986
Three counts of possession of items with intent to destroy or damage property, contrary to section 3 Criminal Damage Act 1971

Bell was sentenced to 30 months in prison on 24 November 2017 after being found guilty of an offence of conspiracy to commit violent disorder at Liverpool Crown Court. The offence related to disorder in Liverpool on 27 February 2016 which occurred when members of National Action, including Wayne Bell, and other right wing groups clashed with opposing factions.
Sue Hemming is the Head of the Counter-Terrorism Division in the CPS.

CPS

‘Commie killer’ Daniel Borden enters plea, is found guilty

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May 22, 2018
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Daniel Borden enters an Alford plea to a malicious wounding charge stemming from the August 12 Market Street parking garage beatdown. Charlottesville police

Daniel Borden enters an Alford plea to a malicious wounding charge stemming from the August 12 Market Street parking garage beatdown. Charlottesville police


Another man charged with malicious wounding in the August 12 Market Street Parking Garage beatdown of DeAndre Harris has been convicted.

Daniel Borden, whose local TV station and newspaper have said he was known for his swastika drawings and Nazi salutes in high school, was 18 years old when he traveled from Maumee, Ohio, to Charlottesville for the Unite the Right rally.

He entered an Alford plea in Charlottesville Circuit Court on May 21, which isn’t an admission of guilt, but an acknowledgement that there’s enough evidence to convict him. Judge Rick Moore did, indeed, find him guilty.

“His argument is he didn’t have malice in his heart or mind when he did this,” said defense attorney Mike Hallahan. The felony charge carries up to 20 years in prison.

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Nina-Alice Antony—who noted that Borden was wearing a white construction hat with “commie killer” written on it during the attack—said videos show the teenager beating Harris with a wooden object while Harris was already on the ground, which the judge agreed was enough evidence for the malicious wounding charge.

Hallahan previously argued that Borden wouldn’t be able to get a fair trial in Charlottesville, and said at a March 29 motions hearing that the city has shown an “absolute sheer bias” against rally participants by pursuing charges against them but not prosecuting people for jaywalking or blocking Fourth Street during the car attack in which a white supremacist rammed his car into a crowd of people, killing Heather Heyer and injuring many others. Fourth Street was supposed to have been closed during the rally.

After two two-day trials for assailants in the same case, juries convicted Jacob Goodwin, from Arkansas, and Alex Ramos, from Georgia, and recommended a sentence of 10 years and six years, respectively. The judge will formally sentence both men in August.

Borden, who told the judge he’s currently working on getting his GED, is scheduled to be sentenced October 1, exactly one month from his twentieth birthday.

C-Ville.com

Matthew Heimbach’s probation revoked, sentenced to 38 days in jail

By
May 15, 2018
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White nationalist group leader Matthew Heimbach was led out of a Louisville courtroom in handcuffs Tuesday after a Louisville judge revoked his probation.

Heimbach, leader of the Traditionalist Worker Party, was charged in 2016 with misdemeanor harassment after he repeatedly pushed a woman at a Donald Trump campaign rally in Louisville.

He ultimately pleaded guilty to second-degree disorderly conduct in July 2017 but avoided jail time when District Court Judge Stephanie Pearce Burke waived a 90-day sentence on the condition he not re-offend within two years.

But after picking up new criminal charges in Indiana in March, prosecutors with the Jefferson County Attorney’s Office moved to have his probation revoked.

In court on Tuesday, Burke ordered to serve 38 days in Metro Corrections, telling him, “I really hope that I do not see you back in this court.”

She said he would need to serve the 38 days in jail and not on home incarceration.

Susan Ely, who leads the county attorney office’s criminal division, said the 38-day sentence was the result of negotiation and that Heimbach could serve the remaining 52 days if he re-offends again.

“We wanted the absolute guarantee that he went into jail today,” Ely said.

Sheriff’s deputies handcuffed a smiling Heimbach with his hands behind his back and escorted him to the jail.

Steve Durham, assistant director of Metro Corrections, said Heimbach will be housed in a single cell, at least “for the time being.”

Heimbach, 27, was arrested in March after police say he got into a fight at a Paoli, Indiana, mobile home park where he was confronted by a fellow party leader over an alleged affair, a police report details.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups across the country, describes the Traditionalist Worker Party as “a neo-Nazi group that advocates for racially pure nations and communities and blames Jews for many of the world’s problems.”

Jay Lambert, Heimbach’s public defender, said the Indiana case is still pending and that Heimbach’s agreement with Louisville prosecutors does not mean he’s pleading guilty to the new charges.

“What we structured here was a mechanism where Mr. Heimbach did not admit to any factual wrongdoing, but he acknowledged that there was sufficient evidence to revoke him had he gone through the hearing,” Lambert said.

The attorney said he was not aware if Heimbach was still the leader of the Traditionalist Worker Party.

Heimbach entered an Alford plea to the disorderly conduct charge stemming from the Trump rally, which allows the defendant to plead guilty while maintaining their innocence and acknowledging prosecutors had enough evidence to convince a jury.

Meanwhile, a federal civil suit is pending against Heimbach, Trump and others stemming from the incident at the Louisville rally.

Heimbach screamed and yelled at Trump protester and University of Louisville student Kashiya Nwanguma and pushed her repeatedly to make her leave the Kentucky International Convention Center, where the Trump rally was taking place, according to court records.

Protesters, including Nwanguma, allege in the civil suit that they were assaulted by audience members who were riled up by Trump. Heimbach has said in court papers that he acted at the urging of the then-presidential candidate.

The case is pending before the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Reporter Matthew Glowicki can be reached at 502-582-4989 or mglowicki@courier-journal.com. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: http://www.courier-journal.com/mattg.

Courier journal

An illegal photograph snapped during a court hearing has landed a Wigan man a hefty fine.

By
May 15, 2018
Uncategorized

An illegal photograph snapped during a court hearing has landed a Wigan man a hefty fine.

Defendant Daniel Lewis fell foul of the Criminal Justice Act, which makes taking a photograph a contempt of court offence, earlier this year.

The 28-year-old, of Battersby Street, Ince, took out his mobile phone during a break in proceedings but was spotted by court officials taking a picture of the courtroom.

Lewis was in Wigan and Leigh Magistrates’ Court on January 15 after pleading guilty to a public order offence relating to disorderly or threatening words of behaviour.

For taking the illegal picture, he later appeared at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court on February 1, and pleaded guilty to the offence.

He received a £200 fine and was ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £20 and court costs of £85.

For the public order conviction he was handed a £150 fine and ordered to pay £80 in compensation, a victim surcharge of £20 and £85 court costs.

The court also imposed a restraining order meaning that Lewis must not contact ******* ******** or ****** ********* and not enter ******* *********, Ashton-in-Makerfield.

The order lasts until July 15 this year.

The Criminal Justice Act 1925 prohibits any photographs, portraits or sketches of a justice or witness in, or party to, proceedings in the courtroom or its precincts.

Wigan Today

From 2016

Matthew Heimbach’s probation revoked, sentenced to 38 days in jail

By
May 15, 2018
Uncategorized
Matthew Heimbach during a 2017 court appearance.(Photo: Matt Stone/The C-J)

Matthew Heimbach during a 2017 court appearance.(Photo: Matt Stone/The C-J)

Matthew Heimbach has been sentenced to 38 days in jail after a Louisville judge revoked his probation.

Heimbach, leader of the white nationalist group Traditionalist Worker Party, was charged with misdemeanor harassment in Jefferson District Court after he repeatedly pushed a woman at a Donald Trump campaign rally in Louisville in 2016.

Heimbach pleaded guilty to an amended charge of second-degree disorderly conduct in July 2017, agreeing to attend anger management classes.

The Jefferson County Attorney’s Office moved to revoke Heimbach’s probation after he was charged in Indiana earlier this year.

Courier Journal

Man jailed for making speech at Whitehall rally with the aim of inciting racial hatred

By
May 14, 2018
Uncategorized

Police said he “crossed the line between free speech and the abuse of an entire group of people based on their ethnicity”

A 48-year-old man has been sentenced to a year in jail after making a speech aimed at stirring up racial hatred at a rally in Westminster.

Jonathan Bedford-Turner, of Rudgard Lane, Lincoln, was charged with inciting racial hatred on October 3 last year.

He was first arrested after making a speech in Whitehall with the “intention to stir up racial hatred” on July 4, 2015.

After pleading not guilty at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on October 30 last year, he was found guilty on Monday (May 14) by a unanimous verdict at Southwark Crown Court.

He was jailed for 12 months but will serve half of the term in prison. He has been warned he will be at risk of licence recall if he re-offends.

Detective Sergeant Matt Hearing, investigating officer from Metropolitan Police’s Public Order and Resources Unit, said Bedford-Turner’s “intention was to stir up racial hatred”.

He added: “Bedford-Turner gave a speech in Whitehall that crossed the line between free speech and wholesale abuse of an entire group of people based on their ethnicity.”
Get West London

Ex-soldier guilty of racial hatred charge after CPS initially declined to prosecute

By
May 14, 2018
Uncategorized

Jeremy Bedford-Turner called for England to be freed from ‘Jewish control’ at London rally

Jeremy Bedford-Turner. The prosecutor said that he was ‘obsessed’ with and ‘despised’ Jewish people. Photograph: Sam Blewett/PA

Jeremy Bedford-Turner. The prosecutor said that he was ‘obsessed’ with and ‘despised’ Jewish people. Photograph: Sam Blewett/PA

A far-right army veteran has been found guilty of stirring up racial hatred after the Crown Prosecution Service was pressured to reconsider its decision to not bring charges against him.

Jeremy Bedford-Turner, 48, called for his “soldiers” to liberate England from “Jewish control” in an address outside Downing Street and blamed Jews for issues ranging from both world wars to Jack the Ripper.

The CPS declined to prosecute after an initial complaint but reconsidered the decision after a group brought a legal challenge at the high court.

Bedford-Turner now faces up to seven years’ imprisonment after a jury at Southwark crown court on Monday found him guilty of one count of stirring up racial hatred after two hours of deliberation.

“Nice knowing you, chaps,” he told his supporters before entering the dock.

The 15-minute speech was made at a rally against Jewish neighbourhood watch group Shomrim in Whitehall on 4 July 2015.

Bedford-Turner, who served for 12 years in the army, and speaks Pashtu and Arabic, told the crowd: “Let’s free England from Jewish control. Let’s liberate this land. Listen, soldiers, listen to me. It’s time to liberate our country.”

Dozens of his supporters attended his two-day trial. Under cross-examination, he admitted that he wanted all Jews to leave the UK.

Louis Mably QC, prosecuting, said the defendant was obsessed with Jewish people and that he despised them.

The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) previously said it took the “unusual step” of bringing a judicial review after prosecutors declined to charge Bedford-Turner after an initial complaint.

“CAA was partly motivated by a growing concern that the CPS is failing to take antisemitic crime seriously,” a CAA spokesman said.

The CPS then said in March last year that it would get a more senior lawyer to review the case, and decided to press charges.

The case of Bedford-Turner, of no fixed abode, was adjourned until Monday afternoon when the judge will decide whether to sentence him at a later date.

The Guardian

Third Aryan Strikeforce member pleads guilty; admits attending meetings in Harrisburg

By
May 11, 2018
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A third member of a white nationalist organization has pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge that carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Henry Lambert Baird, 50, of the Allentown area, entered his plea Wednesday in U.S. Middle District Court.

He admitted taking part in planning meetings in the Harrisburg area with undercover FBI employees and on two occasions in 2017 participating in the transportation of imitation crystal methamphetamine and machine gun parts from Pennsylvania to Maryland.

Baird pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to distribute more than 500 grams of methamphetamine.

It is the same charge to which Joshua Michael Steever of Manville, N.J., and Connor Drew Dikes, of Silver Spring, Md., pleaded last month. It carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years.

Assistant U.S. Attorney and defense attorney E. J. Rymsza estimated Baird’s sentence will be in the range of 17 to 22 years.

Steever was the founder of the Aryan Strikeforce and Dikes was the sergeant of arms of the white nationalist organization, which advocates violence as a necessary tool to achieve its political goals.

Rocktashel, in reciting the prosecution’s evidence, said Baird told the undercover employees he had tried to kill a man hanging around strikeforce members but the individual pushed his arm just as he fired.

The prosecutor said evidence also would show Baird was present for a 2016 discussion about having a terminally ill individual conceal a bomb and detonate it among protestors at a planned white nationalist rally in Harrisburg.

Rymsza would not let his client admit to the attempted killing or bomb discussion, saying they were beyond the scope of the conspiracy charge.

Baird is one of six men indicted as the result of an investigation involving undercover FBI employees who hired strikeforce members to be the “muscle” for the transportation of methamphetamine from the Pennsylvania to Maryland on four occasions in 2016 and 2017.

Strikeforce members were encouraged to use some of their “pay” to buy gift cards that later could be used to purchase weapons, Rocktashel said.

Among the weapons members expressed interest in buying were an Uzi, AK-47 and handguns, he said.

Another defendant, Justin Daniel Lough of Waynesboro, Va., is trying to have his federal indictment dismissed on the basis of outrageous government conduct.

He accuses the government with conceiving, planning and directing the operation in violation of basic principles of due process law.

Rocktashel rejects the allegations, saying well before the undercover investigation the FBI received information about strikeforce activity involving firearms and drugs in Potter County.

He also has stated at each of the three guilty pleas those involved were warned they were participating in criminal activity and were free to walk away.

Baird remains detained pending sentencing.

Penn Live

Four men convicted of attempting to incite racial hatred

By
May 9, 2018
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Four men have today been found guilty after posting extreme right wing stickers across a campus of a city centre university. A fifth man was acquitted.

The four were caught on CCTV on the evening of 9 July 2016 posting the stickers on signage at Aston University with the intention of inciting racial hatred. The stickers were discovered by security staff two days later and reported to police who started a hate crime investigation.

On the same day in Birmingham city centre, a Black Lives Matter demonstration was also being held.

The jury at Birmingham Crown Court took just over four hours to return the guilty verdicts.

The group comprises:

Chad Williams-Allen, aged 26 from Tantany Lane, West Bromwich and Gary Jack, aged 21, from Heathland Road, Shard End.

Two other men also stood trial but cannot be named for legal reasons.

They are due to be sentenced on 1 June.

Detective Chief Superintendent Matt Ward, who heads the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit, said: “We are committed to tackling all forms of extremism which has the potential to threaten public safety and security.”

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. In an emergency, always dial 999. Visit gov.uk/ACT for more information, including how to report extremist or terrorist content that is online.

West Midlands Police