Sam Small admitted the entirely unprovoked racially motivated attack

A man is set to be sentenced next month by a judge after he admitted an entirely unprovoked racially motivated assault on a bus, where he kicked his victim’s head so hard it smashed through a window.

Police were alerted to the incident which took place on a double-decker bus on Mannamead Road at around 9.20pm on Monday, March 24.

Sam Small, aged 31, was arrested the following day and taken to Charles Cross police station before he was interviewed and later charged with racially aggravated actual bodily harm, one count of actual bodily harm and two counts of criminal damage.

Appearing from custody Plymouth Magistrates’ Court today Small, who gave his address as Union Street, pleaded guilty to all four offences.

Outlining the case, prosecutor Hannah Cotton said the victim was waiting at the bus stop at 9.10pm to go to work at Derriford Hospital.

He saw Small in the street “screaming and making noises”. The double-decker bus arrived and he boarded it, heading upstairs to the top deck but was soon joined by Small who sat behind him.

The victim, whom the court said was a man of Asian descent, later told police he heard Small say something to the effect of “getting to the hospital mate” before he then placed his earpods into his ears and began listening to music.

Ms Cotton said CCTV footage from the bus then showed Small getting into the man’s face and said “take off your phone”. The victim removed his earpods and Small screamed at the man “take off your phone”.

The court heard that the CCTV then showed Small holding onto the railings of bus and used it as leverage to lift himself up and kick the victim in the head which caused the victims face to slam against the bus window. The force was so strong that the victim’s glasses broke and they went flying out of the smashed window along with one of his earpods. Another passenger began to scream and ran downstairs and the bus came to a sudden stop.

The victim tried to protect himself by putting his arms up but Small continued his assault, throwing a series of punches at the man. Small then left the bus and the victim was taken to Derriford Hospital for treatment. A CT scan revealed a nasal septum deviation and several cuts and bruises to his face.

In a victim impact statement the man said he was “really shocked” by the attack, adding that he’d been in the country for three years and had “never experienced such rude and arrogant behaviour towards me”. He said it was the usual time he went to work and he was now worried of encountering Small again.

He added that due to his head injury he had been signed off work for a week which he could ill afford and his partner had had to take time off her work to care for him.

Ms Cotton said witnesses had told police Small shouted “leave off our girls” and “he’s taken our girls”. When Small was later arrested by police he was caught on bodyworn video saying “I’ll go guilty, I don’t give a f***. It’s all on CCTV anyway. The rapists and the nonces out there, most of them are p***s, most of them is them foreigners.”

Ms Cotton also noted that during a previous arrest for another offence, Small was caught on police bodyworn video shouting racist comments including “p***s [in] our country, taking our jobs.”

Ms Cotton noted that Small had an “extensive” record of offences to his name including a conviction for grievous bodily harm in 2011 and actual bodily harm in 2020.

In mitigation, Small’s solicitor Michael Crumley said Small had “substantial” mental health problems exacerbated by his learning disability. He said Small’s family had told him that Small had previously been “begging to have some help for his mental health difficulties” and was in a queue waiting to be assessed.

He said Small was “not receiving the help and support he needs at this time”. He admitted it was an “unpleasant offence by anyone’s reckoning” but to explain the background to the offence one would have to “peel back the layers” when Small was eventually sentenced.

The chair of the bench of magistrates said the matter was so serious that their powers of sentence were not sufficient and remanded Small into custody until April 24 at Plymouth Crown Court. They ordered a full pre-sentence report be undertaken by the Probation Service before that date.

Plymouth Herald

Damion Bennett has been jailed after uploading the ‘threatening, abusive and insulting’ material

A Stockport man who posted vile videos of Nazi salutes and ridiculed the Holocaust online has been jailed.

Damion Bennett, 30, was arrested at his Offerton home after uploading the ‘threatening, abusive and insulting’ material to ‘free speech’ forum GAB.

He was jailed for 22 months after pleading guilty to three offences of distributing, showing or playing a recording intending to stir up racial hatred at a hearing at Minshull Street Crown Court on Wednesday (March 27).

Judge Tina Landale also ordered that two mobile phones and a computer tower containing offending material be destroyed.

Bennett, of Hall Street, Offerton, posted three videos showing offensive content including Nazi salutes in January and February 2023 on the online platform GAB, an alternative mainstream social media platform.

Detective Supt Ben Cottam, senior investigating officer for CTPNW, said: “GAB was founded in 2016 and launched publicly in 2017 and claims to promote free speech and individual liberty; however researchers and journalists have found that antisemitism is prominent in the site’s content.

“Bennett created a GAB account with the username @Damo94 in November 2022, where he began posting images, memes and videos which were assessed to be extremist material synonymous with a far-right mindset.

“The content of Bennett’s account was extremely threatening, abusive and insulting, and was intended to stir up racial hatred.

“During the search of his home address officers and online accounts officers found a number of leaflets supportive of a mindset promoting conspiracy theories, antisemitism, racism and extreme right-wing beliefs.

“Distribution of material inciting racial hatred, particularly on the internet and in public, has far-reaching consequences and implications, and anyone posting will be dealt with.”

Manchester Evening News

A man who posted support online for Adolf Hitler and the Nazis has been handed a suspended sentence.

Harris Girling, 57, posted more than 4,000 times, with the overall theme espousing Nazi ideology and hatred of Jews between August 2021 and his arrest in February 2023, Joe Allman, prosecuting, told Preston Crown Court.

Girling, of Fulham Street in Nelson, Lancashire, admitted eight counts of stirring up hatred online, mostly of racial hatred but also based on sexual orientation.

His online posts included hatred against Muslims, black people, Jews and homosexuals.

When police seized his devices they included images of Hitler.

Girling, described as intelligent, well read and “politically aware”, with no previous convictions, used the US-based social media platform Gab, using a public profile so anyone could see his hateful messages.

Mr Allman told the court Girling’s posts received very few responses and this could not be regarded as widespread dissemination of hate speech.

‘Predilection’

Brendan O’Leary, mitigating, said the father-of-one, whose wife lives in Romania, had worked as a psychiatric nurse and had in the past been a supporter of left-wing, progressive politics.

Mr O’Leary continued: “What appears to have happened is in 2020 and thereafter, in deteriorating health, significant medication, his predilection towards isolation compounded by lockdown, ill health led him down a path that’s quite frankly hard to explain.

“He appears to be someone in the midst of very difficult personal circumstances.

“He’s sought an avenue to express his frustration, wholly inappropriately.”

Probation officers deemed Girling to be a low risk of re-offending, the court heard.

Passing sentence, Judge Robert Altham, Recorder of Preston, gave Girling 24 months in prison for each count, but suspended for 20 months, with 35 rehabilitation days and a 26-week curfew.

He said: “The decision to suspend has been a very finely balanced one.

“By expressing these views you encourage others they may do the same and even act out some of the violent hateful acts you espoused.”

Girling was also given a criminal behaviour order, restricting his internet usage.

BBC News

The trial was due to take place three years ago but was adjourned after Mrs Barton sent a letter saying her injuries were caused accidentally.

Former footballer Joey Barton has avoided jail for pushing his wife over and kicking her in the head.

The incident happened at their home in southwest London in June 2021.

Barton, 42, was convicted of assault and given a 12-week sentence, suspended for two years – meaning he won’t go to prison unless he commits another offence.

Georgia Barton was left with a lump on her forehead and a bleeding nose after the attack in Kew.

The court heard the Bartons had been drinking with two other couples as their children slept upstairs, before an argument started over a family matter.

Mrs Barton called 999 and said her husband had hit her, but later sent a letter retracting the statement.

Barton was arrested in the his bedroom – still drunk – on the night of the attack, Westminster Magistrates’ Court was told.

His wife, 38, was taken to a police station but gave a “no comment” interview.

On Tuesday, magistrate Paul Goldspring described the ex-Man City and QPR player’s story as “vague” and convicted him of assault after a two-day trial.

Prosecutors said Mrs Barton’s call to police was “compelling evidence” and wasn’t the result of alcohol as she and her husband claimed.

Barton previously admitted they had argued but denied anything “physical” occurred.

Defence lawyer Simon Csoka told the court: “There are a number of circumstances where the injury [lump] on the head] may have been sustained accidentally.”

The trial was due to take place in 2022 but was adjourned after Mrs Barton sent a letter saying her injuries were caused accidentally when a friend tried to separate the pair.

The couple are still together.

The magistrate acknowledged Barton had “a record of violence” but said it was “not necessary to impose an immediate custodial sentence”.

Barton was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge and court costs totalling £2,183.

Sky News

The company entered liquidation with liabilities estimated at more than £300,000

Jenna Lennon was the director of Hope & Pride Limited when it went into liquidation in September 2023

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) estimated the company owed more than £300,000 in unpaid corporation tax at the time of liquidation

Lennon failed in her duties as a company director to preserve or maintain adequate accounting records and deliver them to the liquidator

A Bedfordshire company director has been disqualified after failing to provide accounting records when her company went into liquidation owing an estimated £319,000 in corporation tax.

Jenna Lennon was the sole director of Hope & Pride Limited, which was incorporated in March 2019 and described its business on Companies House as “other information service activities not elsewhere classified”.

Hope & Pride entered liquidation in September 2023 but Lennon had failed in her duties as a company director to preserve or maintain adequate accounting records.

Indeed, no accounts for Hope & Pride were ever filed at Companies House.

The 39-year-old also failed to deliver accounting records to the liquidator as she was required to do.

Lennon, whose listed correspondence address for Hope & Pride was Bramingham Business & Conference Centre on Enterprise Way in Luton, has been disqualified as a company director for seven years.

An Insolvency Service spokesperson said:

Directors are legally required to maintain adequate books and records which show and explain their company’s transactions. This is first and foremost to protect consumers and other businesses who have dealings with the company.

Jenna Lennon did not preserve or maintain adequate accounting records for Hope & Pride. This has meant the liquidator has been unable to properly investigate the company’s accounts and accurately establish how much was owed to HMRC and other creditors.

This disqualification should serve as a reminder to company directors that they are required by law to keep proper accounts. The Insolvency Service will not hesitate to take action against directors who do not comply with these crucial legal requirements.

Lennon’s failure to maintain adequate accounting records meant the liquidator was unable to verify the nature of the company’s income and expenditure.

This included payments into Hope & Pride’s account of £1,178,364.

Additional payments of £151,000, listed on bank accounts as “J Lennon dividends” between July 2019 and March 2022, were similarly not verified.

Payments of £1,133,964 out of Hope & Pride’s account were also not explained and the liquidator was unable to establish if this money was used for legitimate trading purposes.

The company entered liquidation with total liabilities, which Lennon has not disputed, of £327,923.

Due to her failure to provide accounting records, the liquidator could not however establish the company’s true liabilities in relation to unpaid corporation tax – which HMRC estimates at £319,423 – and debts to other creditors.

The Secretary of State for Business and Trade accepted a disqualification undertaking from Lennon, and her ban started on Wednesday 19 March. 

The undertaking prevents her from being involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court.

Further information
Hope & Pride Limited (company number 11871782)

Individuals subject to a disqualification order or undertaking are bound by a range of restrictions 

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct.

GOV.UK