Lee Finn has been sentenced to 10 months in jail.

A violent thug from South Wales has been jailed for 10 months after lobbing missiles at rival protestors in Dover.

Lee Finn, 34, travelled to 240 miles from Blaina to Dover to attend a far-right demonstration on January 30.

He was caught on camera chucking objects. Finn handed himself in after police executed a search warrant at his home address.

He pleaded guilty to violent disorder and was sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court on Wednesday August 10.

Detective Sergeant Matthew Smith said: “More than 20 people have now been sentenced for violent acts committed on the day.

“There are still many more cases to be heard, which is testament to the work of the investigation team who continue to work to bring those responsible to justice.

“Lee Finn and others like him should now be in no doubt that such despicable behaviour will not to be tolerated here in Kent.”

Dover Express

A RACIST yob from Harlow who was branded a “disgrace to the values of this country” after making Nazi salutes and unleashing a torrent of anti-semitic abuse in a London pub has failed in a bid to have his prison sentence reduced.

John Patrick Hennigan (46), of Long Banks, Harlow, was caged for 21 months after he was convicted at the Old Bailey in October of breaching an anti-social behaviour order for the seventh time.

He has now lost his application to have the sentence cut when judges at the Court of Appeal ruled it was “richly deserved”.

Judge Michael Stokes QC said Hennigan was barred from using foul, threatening, racist or abusive language under the terms of an ASBO imposed in 2005.

But he flouted the order when he went to The Magpie pub at Bishopsgate in central London – from which he had been barred twice before – in February of last year.

“He had been seen to make Nazi salutes and engaged in racist and anti-semitic language and, when the manager required him to leave, he resisted”, said the judge.

Hennigan continued to make racist remarks and started singing an offensive song associated with the English Defence League. When he was told the police had been called he continued to resist and said ‘If I were a Jew, you wouldn’t be doing this.’

Hennigan also hurled abuse at police officers, calling one a “f***** pathetic little creature” as he was arrested.

In his grounds for appeal, Hennigan claimed the trial judge over-rated the seriousness of the breach and had imposed a sentence which he descirbed as “manifestly excessive”.

But Judge Stokes, sitting with Lord Justice Leveson and Mr Justice Nicol, rejected the appeal, saying: “Hennigan’s behaviour in a crowded pub could have led to serious disorder.

“He takes no notice of court orders, which is in itself a serious aggravating feature, and a significant custodial sentence was inevitable in this case.

“We have considered the grounds of appeal but reject arguments that the judge erred. This sentence was not wrong in principle or manifestly excessive; on the contrary, it was fully justified and richly deserved.”

Harlow Star

Vile John Hennigan also banged on the glass panel of the dock, performed a Nazi salute and twice shouted “Sieg Heil” before starting to sing “Jews gas them all”

A judge stunned a courtroom by using the C-word as she jailed a racist thug.

Vile John Hennigan, 50, was being sentenced by Judge Patricia Lynch QC when he told her she was “a bit of a c***”

But, taking no prisoners, the judge immediately retorted: “You are a bit of a c*** yourself. Being offensive to me doesn’t help.”

Hennigan shouted back: “Go f*** yourself.”

“You too,” replied the judge

The court heard Hennigan has 23 convictions for 47 offences, many of them involving Nazi salutes and racist incidents

The court heard Hennigan has 23 convictions for 47 offences, many of them involving Nazi salutes and racist incidents

The court heard Hennigan has 23 convictions for 47 offences, many of them involving Nazi salutes and racist incidents

Judge Lynch dropped the C-bomb as she jailed Hennigan for 18 months for insulting a black Caribbean mother.

He told Tanisha Ford: “I don’t agree with inter-racial relationships. I like natural” later adding: “I prefer white children”.

The court heard Hennigan has 23 convictions for 47 offences, many of them involving Nazi salutes and racist incidents.

The latest offence, committed in his hometown of Harlow, Essex, was his ninth breach of an ASBO banning him from acting in an anti social way or using racist language.

In October 2012 he was seen performing a Nazi salute in a central London pub and calling black people vile racial slurs.

Describing Tanisha’s reaction to Hennigan’s racist outburst, Prosecutor Lynne Shirley said: “She was shocked and surprised.

“The incident made her feel very upset, hurt, out of place and distressed. She was alarmed her children had to listen to the comments.”

While sentencing Hennigan at Chelmsford Crown Court on Tuesday, Judge Lynch told him: “Your offence is thoroughly unpleasant and repeated breaches of this order using the most unpleasant of language and causing distress.

“It’s said custody would be distressing for you but it seems you never learn.

“This is the ninth time you have breached this order, the same offensive, racist comments and you don’t deserve another chance.”

It was at this point that Hennigan began talking directly to the judge and swearing at her.

Following their c-word exchange Hennigan banged on the glass panel of the dock, performed a Nazi salute and twice shouted “Sieg Heil” before starting to sing “Jews gas them all….”

Judge Lynch, still speaking in a measured tone, commented: “We are all really impressed. Take him down.”

It isn’t the first time the judge has been in the limelight.

Last year, Judge Lynch apologised for not jailing a pervert pensioner who abused teenage girls.

She spoke out after Michael Taylor admitted sexually assaulting two youngsters at Mistley Place Park animal sanctuary.

The 75-year-old groomed, kissed and groped the two girls, forcing kisses on them and touching one teen’s breasts.

Taylor admitted the sickening acts and was sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court however he avoided jail after Judge Lynch said her hands were tied by strict sentencing guidelines.

She told the victims and their families she wanted to pass a longer than minimum prison term, possibly suspended but due to the guidelines she could only pass down a 36-month community order.
Daily Mirror

Callum Lambe has been jailed for three years

A demonstrator who caused £16,000 damage to a coach by smashing its windows with an emergency hammer has been jailed for three years.

Callum Lambe, of no fixed address, was involved in fighting at the M20 Junction 8 service station near Maidstone, at about 10.30am on January 30, 2016.

The 26-year-old was a passenger on board a coach transporting activists to a demonstration in Dover that stopped at the same time as a number of other vehicles containing passengers planning to hold a counter-protest.

Fighting broke out between both groups and a number of objects including bricks, bottles and wooden pallets were thrown.

Lambe was caught on CCTV smashing the windows of a coach, and forensic evidence was also found on an emergency hammer that had been thrown in a nearby bin.

He was arrested at an address in West Norwood, London, on February 25 this year and later pleaded guilty to charges of violent disorder and criminal damage.

Lambe was sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court today (August 9).

Investigating officer detective constable Hilary Bell, of Kent Police, said: “If Lambe and others could not control themselves during a rest break at a service station, I very much doubt they would have been capable of holding a peaceful protest in Dover.

“Whatever their difference in opinions, there can never be an excuse for this sort of violence to exist between two groups of people and Lambe was very much at the heart of the trouble that broke out that morning.

“There was no reason for him to smash the windows of the coach and this mindless act of vandalism has contributed to the lengthy prison sentence he has now received.

“Fortunately the officers who attended the service station that morning were able to prevent those involved from travelling to Dover, where I’m sure they would have been involved in further incidents of aggression.”

Meanwhile, Thomas Fereday, of Grosmont Way in Newport, South Wales, has been jailed for 16 months after travelling to Dover for the sole purpose of attending the demonstrations.

Thomas Fereday

Thomas Fereday

The 28-year-old took part in the disorder throughout the day and was caught on camera throwing numerous objects at opposition protestors.

Fereday handed himself in on May 12 after hearing that police had executed a search warrant at his home address. He too was sentenced today.
The Courier

An unemployed man has been sentenced to a year in jail for a racially aggravated attack at Clapham South station.

Callum Lambe, 21, of Loughborough Junction, was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court for the attack on October 17, 2009, when he forced open the gates to the station shortly after 3am, seemingly wanting to buy a ticket.

The station cleaner believed he had been drinking and asked him to leave but he refused.

After witnessing what was happening on CCTV the nighttime supervisor made an announcement for Lambe to leave, but the thug grabbed the cleaner by the neck, pushing him backwards, and was heard making racist remarks towards him.

When removed by police Lambe continued to racially abuse the cleaner and spat in the supervisor’s face.

During a struggle he sustained a cut hand and headbutted the supervisor.

Lambe was sent to St Thomas’ Hospital because of the cut, but was refused treatment when he turned aggressive and chanted anti-black slogans.

He was taken to Kennington police station and charged with racially aggravated assault.

Aidan Harris, manager of London Underground’s workplace violence unit, said: “This was an appalling act of violence and racist abuse against our staff.

“We are extremely happy with the sentence Lambe received and will continually work closely with British Transport Police (BTP) to ensure if people attack our staff they will always face the sternest of penalties.”

BTP Detective Chief Inspector Kate Shaw described Lambe’s actions as “disgraceful”.

In court Lambe was found guilty of racially aggravated assault, spitting at the supervisor, and causing racially aggravated harassment, alarm and distress at St Thomas’ Hospital.

Local Guardian

A man who made more than 100 nuisance calls to Sussex Police has been convicted.

David Peapell, of Dyke Road in Brighton, made a total of 108 calls to the 101 non-emergency number and sent 56 text messages to an officer between 30 July and 2 September.

This was despite him being issued with a warning letter about his unnecessary number of calls in October 2014.

The 48-year-old, who is unemployed, pleaded guilty to persistently making use of a public electronic communications network for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety to employees of Sussex Police when he appeared at Brighton Magistrates’ Court on Thursday (3 December).

Contact centre investigator Sarah-Louise Gliddon said: “Mr Peapell has been a persistent caller for a number of years and was given a warning by the local policing team in October 2014 to only make contact with police to report a new incident or an emergency which required police response.

“He ignored the warning and continued to make excessive calls to police on the 101 non-emergency number, and excessively text the police officer who had dealt with him.

“The volume and the frequency of Peapell’s calls impacted the contact centre’s ability to provide a service to the public, who genuinely needed police assistance or attendance whilst he was calling.

“We now actively peruse persistent callers, issuing them with warnings about how their unnecessary contact affects our ability to service other members of the public trying to report police incidents on the 101 number and 999 emergency lines.

“People who contact us persistently will be dealt within the context of an offence of wasting police time and face court if they continue to make unnecessary contact stopping us dealing with the public that do need our assistance.”

Peapell was sentenced to a 12-month community order. He was also fined £40, and ordered to pay a £60 victim surcharge, £50 in costs and a £150 criminal court charge.

Juice Brighton

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An abusive neighbour told a woman living in his building that he would “make her disappear”.

David Peapell, 47, of Timor House in Withyham Avenue, Saltdean, threatened Phillipa Davis despite an injunction banning him from doing so.

Peapell was handed a three-month suspended jail sentence for breaking the injunction to protect neighbours from long-running bad relations.

Mrs Davis said: “I was walking through the grounds of Timor House towards the outer hallway door.

“I saw Mr Peapell who began to follow me on foot as I made my way.

“As I reached the door, Mr Peapell shouted out, ‘What are you doing, you like your flat, yeah? Well think long and hard, it won’t be for long when I make you disappear’.”

Speaking at a civil case brought by Hyde Housing Association yesterday, she added: “I noticed he had a very serious look on his face and his eyes in particular were piercing to look at – he was clearly very angry.”

The threat in the afternoon of January 9 came despite the injunction taken out in October by Hyde to protect Mrs Davis and other residents.

Peapell faces a possession hearing – at which Mrs Davis is due to give evidence – over the flat .

He denied having made the threat, telling the court he had not seen Mrs Davis at all that day and suggested she made the allegation as she wanted to be moved herself.

Peapell also produced a receipt showing cigarettes bought in the local Co-Op five minutes away at the time he was meant to have made the remarks.

Defending, Christopher Prior told Brighton Magistrates’ Court: “Basically one party [is] saying I saw him and the other party is saying I did not.

“He has produced a document which shows that, at the very least on face value, when the incident happened according to Mrs Davis, he was four or five minutes away.”

But Judge Simon Coltart believed Mrs Davis and found Peapell had breached the injunction, adding that video footage of Peapell after he was arrested showed him to be “capable of becoming aggressive or abusive in his language”.

He added: “I am completely satisfied so that I am sure that Mrs Davis’s version of events is the correct one.”

He handed Peapell, who was in custody between his arrest on January 9 and the hearing on January 15, a three-month suspended jail sentence.

Brighton Argus

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A man who cost the economy £28 million when he brought the M1 to a standstill for 28 hours by climbing onto a gantry has been jailed for two years.

Nicholas Muton, 45, carried out the one-man protest because he had a grudge with the police for not investigating a complaint he made about childhood abuse.

M1

A court heard he scaled a gantry over the southbound carriageway of the M1 motorway which was forced to close from Junctions 23a to 22.

His actions brought the motorway to a standstill for 28 hours between Sunday June 12 and Monday June 13 this year.

Muton, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to causing a public nuisance when he appeared at Leicester Crown Court today (Friday).

Jailing him for two years, Judge Adrienne Lucking QC said his actions were “a childish response to your beef with the police”.

She added: “Your actions affected not only the economy but the personal lives of other people.

“You knew it had the capacity to cause personal distress to other people who had nothing to do with any of your issues with the police.

“There were reports on social media about hundreds of people missing their holiday flights from East Midlands Airport.

“A very clear message must be sent in terms of the emergency services who are hard pressed to respond to genuine emergencies and accidents.”

Judge Lucking said the diversion from the M1 resulted in up to four-and-a-half hour delays for traffic.

She said it had a “catastrophic impact” causing the East Midlands road network to be gridlocked with 98,000 vehicles affected, not including the 60,000 to 80,000 people who attended the Download Festival at nearby Castle Donington.

The court heard police had to close part of the southbound carriageway of the M1 while negotiators tried to talk Muton down.

It was estimated the closure of the motorway cost the wider economy at least £1 million an hour.

At a previous hearing at Leicester Magistrates Court, prosecutor Kwok Wan told a district judge: “It lead to the motorway being closed for 28 hours.

“It is estimated that costs of £1 million were incurred by the emergency services.

“Whereas it is estimated that the cost to the wider economy is in the region of £28 million. But that could rise.”

The court heard Muton has made 34 complaints to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, including 19 in the last two years.

He was also angry over claims he was “electrocuted” by a taser whilst in custody after he was arrested for threatening to jump off a bridge in 2007.

BBC News

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O'Brien has been banged up after his parts in the violence that marred Dover during the protests

O’Brien has been banged up after his parts in the violence that marred Dover during the protests

A protester who attacked people with a wooden pole during disturbances in Dover has been jailed for 15 months.

John O’Brien, 40, of Paddock Street in Oswaldthistle, near Blackburn, was sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court on Friday August 5 having previously pleaded guilty to violent disorder.

In addition to attacking rival protestors with a wooden pole, he was also filmed throwing objects, pushing against the police line and acting in an aggressive manner.

O’Brien was arrested on Friday April 1 after officers travelled to his home address and recovered items of clothing he had worn on the day of the protests.

Detective Sergeant Matthew Smith of Kent Police said: ‘I am pleased to see the robust sentences given to those who chose to come to Dover and commit acts of serious violence under the guise of peaceful protest.

‘I hope it provides some compensation to the people of Dover who should not have to tolerate such behaviour in their community.

More than 70 people have been arrested so far in connection with the demonstrations on Saturday 30 January 2016, and detectives continue to review hundreds of hours of footage of offences committed on the day.

Dover Express

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A FATHER-to-be who attacked the mother of his unborn child has been jailed for 16 weeks.

Jack Powell stubbed out a cigarette on the shoulder of his former partner before hitting her across the head with an electronic tablet when he flew into a rage on Sunday night.

Swansea Magistrates’ Court heard today that the 22-year-old had appeared calm when he turned up at her home, and she felt confident to let him in despite the can of Fosters lager in in his hand.

He had wanted to discuss a recent argument with the woman, who had recently found out she was pregnant with his baby.

“All of a sudden his demeanour changed and he started to say horrible things like she had used him to have a baby,” explained Alex Scott, prosecuting.

“He extinguished a cigarette on her shoulder and she asked him to leave.

“He hit her across the head with an electronic tablet and she screamed, hoping to attract someone’s attention.”

During the attack he also damaged several parts of the home.

His former partner fled the house and called police.

Powell, of Bedford Street, Morriston, was arrested the following morning and answered ‘no comment’ to police questions.

Matt Henson, in mitigation, asked the magistrates to show leniency and give “due credit” to him for pleading guilty.

The court heard he had previous convictions for assaults.

“We find the offences are so serious that only a custodial sentence can be justified,” Magistrate Ross Evans said. “It was an attack in a domestic setting and it was a sustained attack.”

He was jailed for 16 weeks for common assault and criminal damage and four weeks for criminal damage, to be served at the same time.

Magistrates explained they had reduced the sentence after his guilty plea, but ordered him to pay a total of £500 in fines, compensation and court fees.

South Wales Evening News