An unnamed 16-year-old from Brownhills, broke wooden pieces of pub garden furniture which thugs then hurled at police during a march by the English Defence League.
The youth, who admitted one count of violent disorder was given an eight-month youth detention training order. He is expected to spend four months in a youth detention centre.
29th Sept 2012
Marsden narrowly escaped a custodial sentence.
Karen Elizabeth Marsden, 40, of Castleford joined in offensive chanting as part of the EDL protest in Dewsbury town centre last June, Kirklees magistrates heard.
She then assaulted two police officers when she was arrested and police had to use CS spray to subdue her.
Marsden had denied threatening behaviour and assaulting two police officers but was convicted after a trial.
She was warned to expect jail but magistrates imposed an 18-month community order with a supervision requirement. She was ordered to pay £260 towards costs of £620. Magistrates rejected an application for an anti-social behaviour order.
23rd June 2012
Liam Ferrar outside Leicester Magistrates Court, where he was sentenced for leaving a pig’s head on the steps of a Muslim community centre
Liam Ferrar, 24, admitted leaving the frozen head outside a Muslim community centre in Leicester on Boxing Day last year
An office worker who left a pig’s head on the steps of a Muslim place of worship has been spared a jail sentence.
Liam Ferrar, 24, admitted leaving the frozen head outside a Muslim community centre in Leicester on Boxing Day last year, in a religiously motivated attack.
Ferrar, of Brook Road, Leicester, pleaded guilty last month to causing religiously aggravated harassment by leaving the frozen pig’s head on the steps of the city’s Thurnby Lodge Community Centre.
He was sentenced to 12 weeks’ imprisonment, suspended for a year, after the court heard he had written a letter of apology to his victims and was disgusted by his actions.
Sentencing Ferrar at Leicester Magistrates’ Court, District Judge John Temperley described the offence as being “to some extent planned, premeditated and targeted”.
The district judge told Ferrar: “You were well aware of the significance of your actions.
“You knew that what you did would cause great distress, indeed that was your intention.”
The court heard that Ferrar was under the influence of alcohol when he placed the pig’s head – which had been stored in a freezer for several months – in an area where it could not be avoided by adults and children arriving for prayers.
Stressing that the offence had taken place against a background of protests at the community centre’s use as a place-of-worship, District Judge Temperley added: “It is easy to imagine the shock, distress and disgust (those who discovered the pig’s head) would have felt.
“The witnesses statements I have read bear testimony to the serious impact of your actions, but the harm you caused goes further.
“Others in the local community and beyond would also have been affected when news of this incident spread, prompting profound alarm, fear and insecurity.
“It should have been obvious that what you did was intimidatory and would only serve to enflame an already tense and volatile situation.”
Suspending the 12-week prison term because of Ferrar’s personal mitigation, including his previous good character, the district judge accepted that the defendant regularly gave his time and energy to local good causes.
District Judge Temperley told Ferrar, who was also ordered to complete 250 hours of unpaid community work and pay £85 in costs: “The character references I have read do you great credit.
“I also accept that you have demonstrated genuine remorse and regret for your actions. You co-operated with the police and pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.”
Louise Cox, prosecuting, told the court a group calling itself Forgotten Estates had stepped up protests at the community centre last summer.
Defence solicitor Stephen Morris said the protest group, of which Ferrar was a member, aimed to highlight the lack of facilities in the Thurnby Lodge area.
Claiming that his client had chosen to distance himself from Forgotten Estates in September last year, Mr Morris said: “The behaviour by Mr Ferrar on this occasion is out of character – he is not somebody who displays racist tendencies.”
A MAN launched a drunken attack on a mosque after watching a news report about the desecration of Commonwealth graves in Libya.
Barry Stanbury, 42, was caught on CCTV cameras at shortly before 2.30am on March 5, wandering around the Exeter Mosque before a window was smashed, Exeter magistrates heard.
The court was told Stanbury was wearing “a distinctive hoodie” with a logo of a large cross on it, and a police officer recognised the defendant.
Clifford Howard, prosecuting, said: “The criminal damage occurred at the Exeter Mosque at 2.23am. We have the precise time because it was caught on CCTV.”
When interviewed Stanbury said he was “so drunk he did not remember doing it”.
Mr Howard said he told police his motive for carrying out the religiously aggravated criminal damage was seeing on the news that Commonwealth graves had been desecrated in Libya.
Stanbury, of Laxton Avenue, Exeter, denied racially or religiously aggravated criminal damage at the mosque but was convicted after a trial.
Magistrates sentenced him to 80 hours unpaid work, £100 compensation and pay £150 costs.
March 5th 2012
Trouble flared at the EDL rally in Leicester Street on September 29 last year, while Unite Against Fascism held a separate event elsewhere in the town centre.
Hundreds of EDL supporters had been in the town and some stewards, EDL supporters and police officers suffered injuries when violence erupted.
Seven men appeared at Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday and each pleaded guilty to a charge of violent disorder.
Mark Baker, aged 43, of Horseshoe Close, Pleck, Walsall; Benjamin Banfield, 34, of Meg Thatchers Green, Saint George, Bristol; Dean Lidster, 44, of Hatfield Road, Stratford; and Craig Forward, aged 37, of Neptune Street, Tipton, stood together in the jury box as they delivered their pleas in front of Judge Michael Challinor.
Christopher Jelley, 27, of Broadway Close, Shrewsbury; Myles Smith, 39, of Parkway Towers, Leeds, and Leslie Silk, 36, of Gatcombe Road, Bristol, also appeared in a separate hearing.
Apart from entering their guilty pleas, the defendants only spoke to confirm their names, addresses and dates of birth during their appearances.
Their cases were adjourned for pre-sentence reports to be prepared.
Mr Stephen Cadwaladr, representing Baker, said his client had learning difficulties and was addicted to alcohol.
He said medical reports would also be prepared.
The defendants are each due to appear in front of a judge at Wolverhampton Crown Court in the coming months to be sentenced. They were all released on conditional bail.
The protest in the town centre caused shops and market stalls to close, and buses and taxis were suspended.
Police scoured CCTV footage and arrested a number of suspects thought to have been involved in the disorder.
Missiles including bricks and wooden panels were hurled at police, despite calls from the group’s leaders for calm.
Steel police cordons were set up in Bridge Street and Darwall Street, bringing parts of the town centre to a standstill.
The main bus station St Paul’s was also closed and buses were diverted, leaving some shoppers and visitors to the town stranded.
Chief Inspector Mike O’Hara said the trouble had been confined mostly to Leicester Street and the rest of the day had passed peacefully.
Adam Rodgers
Adam Rodgers, 28, of Woolwich, a former English Defence League (EDL) activist, threatened to burn down a mosque in retaliation for the brutal killing of soldier Lee Rigby.
Unemployed Rogers was staying with friends in Hastings when he posted a tirade of offensive and obscene remarks on Facebook. He also called on fellow EDL members to congregate at Hastings Mosque in St Leonards.
On Monday (July 15), Rogers was sentenced to 16 weeks in custody, suspended for two years, by Hastings magistrates. He was also given a supervision requirement for 24 months and ordered to pay £85 in costs and an £80 victim surcharge.
May 23rd 2013
Lee Cousins, 40, of Soundwell, Bristol pleaded guilty to causing racially/religiously aggravated harassment or alarm following the unrest in Bristol on Saturday evening (25th May).
Cousins was amongst a group of men who had come out of the St George’s Hall public house in Church Road after initially barricading themselves in when police arrived.
Cousins then mocked a Muslim prayer ritual by getting down on his hands and knees in the road before shouting racial slurs involving Muslims and Allah. He was fined £500 and ordered to pay £85 costs plus a £15 victim surcharge.
Also in connection with the disturbances in Bristol on 25th May 2013
Jason Bennett, 39, of Redfield pleaded guilty to using threatening words or behaviour and was fined £50.
Luke Selman, 23, of Horfield pleaded guilty to using threatening words or behaviour towards PC Peter Crawford and PC Karen Stenner with intent to cause fear or provoke unlawful violence and to assaulting PC Stenner in the execution of her duty, Selman was ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work and pay £245 in costs and compensation.
Selman, who has two previous convictions, was also told to complete a 12-month community order.
Salvatore Allegro, 48, and James Whitbread, 36, were both found guilty of a racially aggravated public order offence for beating up a Muslim at a tube station.
The men verbally abused Ahmed Farhan, telling him to “go back to your own country you f***ing Muslim c**t.”.
When Farhan got off the train at Bank station the two men followed him, shouting anti-Muslim abuse before punching him repeatedly. Both men were given a six month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months.
They were also both banned from engaging in any EDL activities, meetings or protests for 18 months.
Allegro was made to carry out 120 hours unpaid work while Whitbread was given an 18 month supervision requirement..The duo must each pay Mr Farhan £100 compensation as well as prosecution costs of £150.
Judge bans ‘hater’ of Muslims from every mosque in the country
An ex-soldier with a hatred of Muslims has been banned from every mosque in the land.
The life-long ban was imposed on John Parkin who stuffed tissue into a bottle of beer and attempted to set Rhyl mosque alight days after the murder of soldier Lee Rigby in Woolwich.
Mold Crown Court heard that Parkin had been infuriated by the murder of Mr Rigby and decided to try and burn down his local mosque after drinking 15 pints of beer.
Today he was jailed for 18 months and an indefinite criminal anti-social behaviour order (CRASBO) was made under which he must not enter the mosque at River Street in Rhyl – and from entering the curtilage of any mosque in England and Wales.
Judge Niclas Parry told Parkin, 27, of Towyn Way West, Towyn, that he was “an inherent racist” who was prepared to act as such and was a high risk of harm.
“There was a depressing inevitability that people such as you would claim that the tragic events involving Lee Rigby would be some form of justification for what are nothing less than the acts of bigots and yobs,” he said.
It was why Lee Rigby’s own family so commendably made a public appeal that it should not be used as an excuse for further violence.
Parkin’s disgraceful and sickening conduct was an affront to decent society, Judge Parry said.
“But the plain fact is that you acted as you did because you were drunk,” the judge told him.
After 15 pints, in the presence of others, he made it clear that he wanted to buy a bottle to ignite the local Islamic cultural centre “that forms part of your local community.”
The judge told him: “You purchased a bottle, you purchased tissues, you inserted the tissues into the bottle and walked into the ground of the mosque where you made persistent but unsuccessful attempts to light the tissue.”
He then walked off leaving the bottle on the wall when he saw the blue lights of the police approaching.
“On arrest you began to abuse the police about the problems of this country, accusing them of betraying this country.
“You even had the temerity to suggest your example should be followed about how people should be taught about Muslims. You are an inherent racist prepared to act as that. You are a high risk of harm to a certain part of this community.”
The judge said that the offences were aggravated by his previous convictions, which included two previous convictions for religiously or racially aggravated offences.
The same mosque had been targeted by him on one previous occasion.
He had pleaded guilty and the reality was there was no real prospect of a fire.
“But these shocking offences offend decent society which looks to the court to deter such offences,” he said.
Parkin admitted threatening to burn down the mosque and a charge of religiously aggravated disorderly behaviour on May 25.
Prosecutor David Mainstone said that night Parkin went to a Rhyl nightclub and was refused entry after telling staff: “I just need a bottle of strong alcohol to burn down the mosque.”
He moved on to a shop and bought a bottle of Corona beer.
CCTV operators had been alerted by the club’s door staff and police officers arrived when he was in the grounds of the mosque.
He was monitored on CCTV as he tried to light the tissue.
Arrested and cautioned, he asked officers: “Do you like Muslims?”
Mr Mainstone said he had made a “serious threat” to burn down the mosque and uttered anti-Muslim and inflammatory remarks.
Parkin repeatedly told police he did not like Muslims.
When he was interviewed later, Parkin said he was drunk and could not remember what he had said.
But he conceded those were the kind of things he would say because he said those were his views and he was entitled to have them.
He claimed those views extended from his experiences in the army.
Andrew Green, defending, said that it was an aggravating feature that it was a repeat of previous behaviour.
“What lies behind these offences is his use of alcohol and a pattern of thinking that he struggles to shake off,” Mr Green explained.
They came in the wake of the London tragedy, his response was to drink 15 pints and that led to his behaviour.
There was no real risk of a fire because he was trying to ignite a beer bottle.
His words were so outrageous that he was bound to be caught quickly, as he was.
Previously admitted to being a member of the EDL in connection with a previous offence:
Matthew Tyson, 23, of Grimsby, was sentenced at Grimsby Magistrates’ Court for posting offensive material about Muslims on an English Defence League Facebook site, Tyson wrote, Grimsby Mosques “want burning down” after soldier Lee Rigby was attacked and killed by two men in Woolwich, on May 22.
The Mosque was attacked days later. Tyson was given a 12-week curfew and must stay in his home between 6am and 8pm, apart from weekends where he must stay at his girlfriend’s home while seeing his children.
His 12-week prison sentence was suspended for six months. The court also ordered the destruction of a laptop and his smart phone.
Far-Right Criminals 