Hotelier at centre of drug syndicate

By
July 22, 2013
Drugs, Jailed

steven tyminski

A HOTELIER at the centre of a drug syndicate is today waking up behind bars.

Steven Tyminski allowed Class A drugs to be stored in bedrooms in the Paris Hotel on Lord Street.

Preston Crown Court heard how the 57-year-old, of Springfield Road, Blackpool, led a hedonistic lifestyle, supplying friends and associates with drugs.

Police raided the 17-bedroom premises in February 2009 while there were no paying guests staying.

Two men were found in different rooms and officers recovered quantities of cocaine, Ecstasy and ketamine.

Russell Davies, prosecuting, said: “The syndicate clubbed together to buy in bulk as it was cheaper.

“There was a denial of supplying outside the syndicate.”

Tyminski was said to have committed further offences while on bail. In August of that year police stopped his car as he drove on Park Road, Blackpool.

A passenger was found to have a small bag of cocaine when stopped.

Tyminski’s home was then searched and he admitted spending between £200 and £300 a week on drugs.

Then in January last year Tyminski drove off at speed when police saw him driving in Church Street. He went on to be detained and cocaine was found under the passenger seat.

His barrister Chris Hudson said the hotel had effectively been moribund at the time.

People with similar interests would go to the premises and share drugs.

The court was told what Tyminski did was on a non profit basis.

Mr Hudson said: “My client is adamant there was no financial return to this. It was only social supply to friends and associates.

“The defendant’s employers had earlier moved him to Blackpool, by way of promotion.

“He got into the wrong circle of friends and began increasing his drug abuse. He was involved in a hedonistic and illegal lifestyle.

“He had money and contacts. He obtained the drugs which friends and associates used to enhance their desired lifestyle.”

Tyminski had admitted 10 charges relating to supplying, possession and possession with intent to supply drugs.

He was jailed for three years.

Passing sentence, Judge Christopher Cornwall told Tyminski: “My strong impression is that pretty well anyone who either shared a taste for cocaine, who wanted to be admitted to the syndicate, would be readily admitted.

“It differs from where three to four close friends club together to buy drugs for their own use.

“Cocaine is an extremely dangerous drug.”

A general assistant in the Paris Hotel also admitted one charge of possessing drugs with intent to supply and four of simple possession.

Gary Cornish, 28, of Central Drive, Blackpool, was given 12 months’ jail, suspended for eighteen months, with eighteen months’ supervision and a hundred and fifty hours of unpaid work.

His barrister said he had been a heavy drug user who dealt for around a three-week period.

A third defendant, 20-year-old Liam Wood, of General Street, central Blackpool, had his sentence deferred for six months.

He had admitted possessing cocaine with intent to supply.

He was said to have been looking after drugs for a short period, before returning them to their owner.

Blackpool Gazette

Hooligans sentenced after football rivals clash in city

By
July 22, 2013
affray, community order, football, Jailed, Public order offence

AN anti-paedophile campaigner has been jailed for throwing punches and kicks in a violent clash between football supporters in the city centre.

Christopher Wittwer was one of seven men sentenced at Exeter Crown Court yesterday after the group of hooligans went after Huddersfield Town supporters in May last year.

Wittwer, who set up a controversial anti-paedophile website naming convicted child sex offenders last summer, was jailed for 10 months.

Violence flared while the High Street was full of shoppers, including parents who had to shield their toddler in a push chair.

Wittwer, 35, of Oakmead, Aylesbeare; Darren Bolt, 24, of Salisbury Road, Exmouth; Neil Vooght, 35, of Hazelwood Park, Dawlish, and Neil Cartwright, 37, of Lapwing Close, Cullompton, all admitted affray.

Bolt, Vooght and Cartwright were also jailed for 10 months but the term was suspended for two years.

They were ordered to carry out 220 hours of unpaid work each.

Brendan Daniel, 24, of Leypark Road, Exeter; Mark Langdon, 20, of Austin Close, Exeter, and Joseph Foxworthy, 25, of Old Vicarage Road, Exeter, admitted public order offences. They were due to be given community orders with unpaid work.

Prosecutor Richard Crabb told the court the group were “looking for a violent confrontation” on May 8, last year, the day of a home game between Exeter City and Huddersfield Town.

He said a group of Huddersfield fans had been having a “quiet drink” in The Ship Inn, but most had left.

At 2pm, a group of 25 Exeter supporters gathered outside the pub shouting and swearing.

Some went inside but on realising the rivals had left walked up the High Street where they found a group of four Huddersfield fans.

Wittwer and Vooght were aiming punches and kicks at the rivals. They also chased them down the road. Bolt was seen throwing punches and Cartwright kicking out.

Mr Crabb said: “Members of the public were moving out of the way and some were protecting a toddler in a push chair.”

When police arrived the group fled but these defendants were identified.

Mr Crabb said the violence was “nipped in the bud by the prompt arrival of police” but had the potential to be much worse. The incident was clearly caught on CCTV.

Wittwer previously received a banning order for three years for threatening an Aldershot Town supporter in Sidwell Street, in 2004. He breached the order twice and was also convicted of an affray in a nightclub, in 2007.

The court was told that Vooght, Bolt and Daniel had no previous convictions.

Cartwright and Foxworthy both have two dissimilar previous convictions and Langdon has two public order offences on his record, from 2009.

Stephen Nunn, mitigating for Wittwer, said he admitted his guilt straight away and wanted to be sentenced back in February. He told the court that Wittwer, who has an ex-wife and child who live abroad, rarely goes out now and has not offended since the incident.

He conceded that he “had the disadvantage of having two things on his record that put him in a difficult situation.”

Mitigating for Vooght, Nigel Wraith said the offence was “completely out of character”.

For Bolt, Cartwright, Daniel, Foxworthy and Langdon, Kevin Hopper said they should get credit for their guilty pleas.

Judge Phillip Wassall told Wittwer he had a “dreadful record for football-related violence.”

They were all given football banning orders preventing them from attending games for six years.

This is Plymouth

Restaurant workers fear ‘racist’ attacks

By
July 22, 2013
criminal damage, EDL, English Defence League, Racial Conviction, racially-aggravated criminal damage, Racist Abuse

STAFF at an Indian restaurant in Bridgwater believe they are being targeted on religious and racist grounds following a spate of attacks.

This week a man was convicted for religiously aggravated criminal damage and provocation of violence at the Spice Club in Eastover.

But there have been further reports of an assault on a waiter, racial abuse and criminal damage.

Waiter Mehbub Kamali, 19, who claims he was punched on one occasion, told the Mercury: “I have been attacked for no other reason than the colour of my skin.”

Last Tuesday, Sedgemoor Magistrates heard how Ashley Wilson, 24, smashed a glass pane at the restaurant and threatened to cut waiters’ faces because they served Halal meat.

The court heard he asked Mr Kamali and Sultan Ahmet “Are you Muslim?”

When they said yes, he said “I’m going to cut your face” and that it was “because I’m EDL [English Defence League].”

Mr Kamali said: “It’s happening again and again and it’s terrifying. I wonder what’s next?”

Wilson, of Claremont Grove, admitted the attack on September 26 and was ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work and to pay £165 compensation and £85 costs. In mitigation, Crispin Hayllar said he had drunk too much and acted out of character.

Police confirmed this week that a 16-year-old and a 17-year-old were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage for an attack on the restaurant on November 3, and have been released on bail.

Police said there had been allegations of racial abuse but they were keeping an open mind.

Anyone with information about the incident on November 3 can call police on 0845-4567000.

This is the West Country

Plymouth women admit their part in religiously-motivated assault

By
July 22, 2013
affray, EDL, English Defence League, Racial Conviction, racially-aggravated common assault, Racist Abuse

A PAIR of women have been warned they may face jail after admitting involvement in a religiously-motivated assault on a Kurdish woman at a city centre takeaway.

Hayley Wells, 28, and Kelly Watterson, 30, were charged in relation to an attack on Sawda Kurdo at Istanbul Kebab in Exeter Street on August 31, 2011. The pair were due to stand trial, but changed their pleas to guilty at Plymouth Crown Court today.

  1. ​Hayley Wells, 28, and Kelly Watterson, 30, were charged in relation to an attack on Sawda Kurdo at Istanbul Kebab in Exeter Street

    Hayley Wells, 28, and Kelly Watterson, 30, were charged in relation to an attack on Sawda Kurdo at Istanbul Kebab in Exeter Street

Watterson, of St Peter’s Road, Manadon, admitted one count of affray and Wells, of Shell Close, Leigham, admitted one count of religiously aggravated common assault.

The prosecution offered no evidence in relation to the charge of affray against Wells and religiously aggravated assault against Watterson.

They were released on bail and ordered not to go within 100 metres of the kebab shop.

Recorder Jonathan Barnes told the pair: “This is a serious case. In adjourning it, I make no promises about what the sentence will be. All options, including immediate custody, are on the table.”

The Herald previously reported that Wells and Watterson were among a group drinking in the Wild Coyote pub near the kebab shop on the night of the incident. A court was told that the Kurdish family inside the kebab shop were subjected to racist abuse by a group shouting ‘EDL’.

Watterson was alleged to have thrown a glass into the shop which shattered.

Last year Michael Rafferty, 34 and formerly from Devonport, was convicted of resisting a police officer during the “large scale disorder” which involved about 30 people.

Wells and Watterson will be sentenced on February 22.

This is Plymouth

Mum put non-existent computers for sale on eBay and pocketed the cash

By
July 22, 2013
conditional discharge, fraud

A MOTHER put hi-tech computers which did not exist for sale on eBay and then pocketed the cash, Plymouth magistrates heard.

Hayley Wells, aged 26, tried to raise cash by selling iPads over the internet auction website but never sent the customers any machines.

Wells, of Shell Close, Leigham, admitted two counts of fraud by false representation on September 13 and 24 last year.

Sandra Walsingham, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said Wells advertised an iPad for sale on eBay and a man transferred £425 for it into her account.

Wells sent the buyer a message saying the iPad was on its way, but it never arrived. EBay’s history was investigated and it was found that £365 was paid to Wells for another iPad.

Paul Brookman, for Wells, said she had just split up from a long-term partner, moved into a new rented home and needed money for work on the property.

He said that she left her personal details with the buyers adding: “It is difficult to see how she ever thought that she was going to get away with it.”

Mr Brookman said that she pleaded guilty immediately to what was her first offence.

She was given a conditional discharge for two years and ordered to pay full compensation for the amount she received.


This is Plymouth

`Never again’ plea

By
July 22, 2013
EDL, English Defence League, Public order offence

AN URGENT call for help has been made to the government to protect Nuneaton from falling victim to the English Defence League again.

Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council leader, councillor Dennis Harvey wants the Home Secretary Theresa May to take action as the town has been targeted by the controversial group more than any other place in the entire country.

A letter, signed by Cllr Harvey, Cllr Peter Gilbert, the leader of the opposing Conservatives at the Town Hall, and chief executive Christine Kerr, has been sent to the corridors of power in Parliament asking for help following the most recent demonstration and march.

“Saturday saw the fourth visit of the English Defence League to our borough, a visit that brought nothing but fear, problems and enormous cost to local residents,” Cllr Harvey said.

“From what I can gather, we have now been targeted more than any other town in Britain.

“The borough council, along with the county council, has asked the Home Secretary to act in regard to the EDL. The local authorities, nor the police, can continue to deal with this problem alone. Nuneaton and Bedworth is a harmonious community, where people of all cultures and backgrounds get along well together. Attempts to disrupt this and divide us will not win, but we cannot do this alone. “The government must act to protect small towns such as ours.”

As featured in yesterday’s News, businesses and market traders are now counting the cost of the demonstration and march.

Early indications are that around half a million pound in revenue was lost on the day, but that shocking figure could rise further.

Despite some businesses choosing to close and others shutting up shop by the afternoon, there were stores and market stall holders who attempted to trade throughout the day.

Their determination to ensure it was `business as usual,’ as well as the huge policing effort to protect the town has been praised by Cllr Harvey.

“Can I pass on my thanks to those residents and to the market traders, shopkeepers and others who decided to stand firm and not let people from elsewhere ‘win’,” he said.

“Our local police deserve nothing but praise for the way in which they handled this march and dealt with the many hundreds of people who came in to our borough to disrupt daily life.”

Chiefs at Warwickshire Race Equality Partnership (WREP) joined the plaudits, particularly those who took part in the counter demonstration in the Church Street car park.

“A big thankyou to the communities of Nuneaton, who have shown great strength and courage, and listened to community leaders to stand together against far right parties and not to rise to provocation and enticement,” said Helal Shahid, WREP chief executive.

“I am pleased that Saturday passed peacefully, nevertheless, anyone who does need support, help or advice on how to report any racist incident can do so through one of our reporting centres.”

The huge policing operation almost certainly stopped simmering tensions boiling over into violence moments after the EDL’s official march had started at just after 1pm.

It came to a nasty flashpoint as the march came past the Church Street car park where around 150 Nuneaton Anti-Facist Alliance (NAFA)and associated group members were staging a peaceful static, counter demonstration.

Cans, bottles, stones and fireworks were thrown, and angry words and chants were exchanged between the rival protesters.

It came to an ugly climax when both sides surged towards each other and police horses, dogs and riot officers had to rush-in to keep the two apart.

The march then proceeded around onto Vicarage Street, past the Justice Centre, down into Bond Gate and then back up Wheat Street and into the Justice Walk car park, where an EDL rally was held.

But the policing operation carried on way after the coaches had arrived to collect the majority of the sympathisers, who came from across the country.

As a result of the huge police presence, seven arrests were made, which led to three people being charged and they are now due to appear before justices at Nuneaton Magistrates Court.

They are Calum Michael Bruce, aged 23 from Hartshill, Nuneaton who was charged with a public order offence.

Kevin Patrick Keegan, aged 44 and from Walsall, who was charged with a public order offence, and Gary Watson, aged 42 from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, who has been charged with being drunk and disorderly.

All three have been released on police bail to appear before Magistrates at the Vicarage Street-based court on Tuesday.

A 17-year-old male from Nuneaton who was arrested for possession of a knife has received a final warning. A 16-year-old male and a 17-year-old male, both from Nuneaton, who were arrested on suspicion of causing affray have been released on police bail.

So has a 21-year-old man from Nottingham, who was arrested on suspicion of robbery. All three have been bailed to appear at the local police station at a later date, pending further police enquiries.

Nuneaton News

Drunken yob who threatened to burn down Eccles mosque avoids jail

By
July 22, 2013
community order, Racial Conviction, racially aggravated public order offence
John Walsh, 25, shouted abuse at a member of the mosque on Liverpool Road in Eccles before kicking at the door.
John Walsh, 25, shouted abuse at a member of the mosque on Liverpool Road in Eccles before kicking at the door.

A drunken yob who threatened to burn down a mosque has escaped jail ‘by a whisker’.

John Walsh, 25, shouted abuse at a member of the mosque on Liverpool Road in Eccles before kicking at the door.

Walsh – a plant vehicle operator from Boardman Street, Eccles – then turned on a nearby shop manager.

He was given a community penalty and warned he would face prison if he committed a similar offence in the next two years.

Walsh admitted two counts of racially aggravated public disorder when he appeared at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court.

The court heard how a member of the mosque had been locking up after prayers when he heard Walsh shouting from across the street.

Patrick Buckley, prosecuting, said Walsh had shouted words to the effect that he was going to ‘burn down’ the mosque.

Walsh then kicked and pushed at the locked door before going into a nearby shop and racially abusing the manager.

He returned to the shop later and began shouting football songs, but a police officer was inside and he was arrested.

He said later he was ‘really sorry’.

John McDiarmid, defending, said Walsh was from a respectable family, but drank heavily at weekends while watching football with friends.

Remorse

He said he had no recollection of the offences, but had shown remorse.

Mr McDiarmid said: “This young man has a genuine willingness to change.”

Judge Bernard Lever, sentencing, gave Walsh a two-year community order with six months’ supervision.

He ordered him to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work and placed him under a curfew.

Judge Lever said prison would not help Walsh’s problems and added: “I’ve only been persuaded by a whisker to take this other course.

“You have had a very narrow escape.

“Be warned. Go home to your respectable family. Don’t drink too much and respect other people as they would respect you.

“I don’t want to see you again but, if I do, it will be for an inevitable custodial sentence.”

Manchester Evening News

The BNP past of the EDL leader

By
July 22, 2013
actual bodily harm, BNP, Drugs, EDL, English Defence League, Jailed, Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, Tommy Robinson

Searchlight can exclusively reveal that the leader of the English Defence League is a former British National Party member who has served 12 months’ imprisonment for assaulting an off-duty police officer.

Tommy Robinson in Newcastle Searchlight can exclusively reveal that the leader of the English Defence League is a former British National Party member who has served 12 months’ imprisonment for assaulting an off-duty police officer.

Self-proclaimed EDL leader Tommy Robinson is really Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, from Bedford.

In 2004 he joined the BNP with a family membership. In the same year he assaulted an off-duty police officer who intervened to stop a domestic incident between Yaxley-Lennon and his partner Jenna Vowles. During the scuffle Yaxley-Lennon kicked the officer in the head.

He was convicted on 18 April 2005 for assault occasioning actual bodily harm, for which he was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment, and assault with intent to resist arrest, for which he received a concurrent term of three months.

Vowles, also a BNP member, was cautioned for possession of cocaine. She told the court that the she found two empty bags in her house and was taking them out so that her parents did not find them.

Yaxley-Lennon attended Putteridge High School in Luton and moved to nearby Bedford more recently. Robinson also claims on his Facebook site that he attended Putteridge school.

The revelation that Robinson had been a member of the BNP explains why so many of the initial EDL activists also attended BNP meetings in the Luton/Bedford area.

More importantly, it dispels the myth that the roots of the EDL are not in hard-core racism.

It destroys the protestations by the EDL leadership that, “They aren’t the BNP and they aren’t Nazis,” made at their phoney press conference held last September in a disused Luton warehouse, where they unfurled a swastika flag and proceeded to try to set it alight for the cameras.

It also explains the real reason why Robinson felt the need to hide his face.

Robinson’s reaction on Facebook to his exposure
Robinson’s reaction on Facebook to his exposure

Apart from his BNP membership and his convictions for violence, Robinson told a BBC film crew that he lived in a part of Luton where Islamic fanatics lived and that he feared for his safety. The reality is somewhat different as he lives in Wilstead, a relatively leafy village on the outskirts of Bedford.

The exposure of his identity follows a split in the EDL that is mostly being fought over the internet.

Paul Ray, self-styled spiritual guru of the EDL, has posted a series of messages on his Lionheart blog, in which he and his friend Nick Greger announce their intention to take control of the EDL. Ray was the original mover in creating the EDL, although he quickly fell out with the other leaders and moved abroad to Malta. Ray has focused his efforts on making Crusader-themed anti-Muslim promotional videos, and he and Greger have just issued a notice of “expulsion” of the EDL’s leaders, together with a demand for control of the EDL’s websites.

In one of their videos Greger goes on to say “another well-known man will soon appear within the new leadership, a man from Ulster, who is also currently in exile”.

The real face of the EDL leader: Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, alias Tommy Robinson

This is almost certainly a reference to Greger’s friend Johnny Adair, a prominent loyalist terrorist who now lives in Scotland following an intra-loyalist feud. Adair’s friendship with Greger was the subject of a television documentary in 2006, when Adair met Greger while in prison for plotting acts of terror and was then the head of a nazi group in Dresden, Germany.

It is thought that Ray and Greger were responsible for the appearance of a video on YouTube that unveiled Robinson as Stephen Yaxley along with a series of photographs, following outlandish claims by Ray that the EDL led by Robinson threatened to kidnap and harm members of Ray’s family.

Robinson later confirmed on his Facebook page that the photographs were indeed of him, saying, “Hey at least people can see my hansome [sic] face now”.
Note: Simon Cressy has asked that we credit the blogger Richard Bartholomew (source) for the heads up on Adair/Greiger, and apologises for inadvertently omitting this source.

Hope not Hate

Three in court over alleged racist graffiti

By
July 22, 2013
criminal damage, EDL, English Defence League, Racial Conviction, racially-aggravated criminal damage, racist graffiti

THREE people are to appear in court next month accused of spraying racially offensive remarks on three buildings, including a mosque.

It relates to alleged spray painting incidents at the Nasir Mosque, in Brougham Place, Hartlepool, and at the Albert Guest House, in Front Street, and the Milco store, in Front Street, both Shotton Colliery, County Durham, which all took place on Tuesday November 16 last year.

Anthony Donald Smith, 24, of Hampshire Place, Peterlee, and 31-year-old Steven James Vasey, of Prior’s Grange, High Pittington, both County Durham, plus 19-year-old Charlotte Davies, of Aylesbury, in Buckinghamshire, have been charged with racially aggravated criminal damage.

All three have been bailed by police to appear before North Durham magistrates, at Peterlee, on Wednesday May 11.

Durham Police said that at the time of the alleged incidents all three claimed to be members of the English Defence League.

Northern Echo

Racial abuser is forgiven by pupils

By
July 22, 2013
possessing an offensive weapon, Racial Conviction, racially aggravated abusive words, Suspended sentence

KIND-HEARTED pupils have forgiven a recovering alcoholic who threatened and racially abused them inside a secondary school.

Trudie Toker threatened to stab students at St Andrew’s CofE High School in Croydon and told teachers the pupils needed “their black heads bashed in”.

The 33-year-old was drunk when she entered the school grounds in Warrington Road and launched the vicious attack on May 21.

The pupils met with teachers after the verbal assault and were offered support and the chance to discuss their thoughts and feelings.

Instead of feeling angry and upset, the students said they felt sorry for Toker as it was clear she had a drinking problem.

Head teacher David Matthews said he was proud of the school’s students for showing such compassion.

He added: “As a Christian school, we encourage forgiveness as an active force for good.

“Prayer is a natural Christian response to situations that we do not fully understand.

“That some St Andrew’s students have wanted to pray about this woman shows their commitment to a better society where distress and pain are reduced.”

Toker appeared at Croydon Crown Court on March 18 after pleading guilty to using racially threatening words and possession of a bladed article.

The court heard she had also brought out a knife in front of a mother and baby on a bus on February 10 last year.

Defending Toker, Oliver Weetch said his client was trying to give up alcohol and had already managed to quit heroin.

Toker, who lives on the same road as the school, told the Advertiser she shouted the abuse in retaliation after the pupils insulted her.

She also claimed that her neighbour had suffered because of antisocial behaviour from pupils and she was sticking up for her.

While Toker admitted she had a fiery temper, she denied being a racist.

“I have mixed-race people in my family,” she said.

“I retaliated and I shouldn’t have done. I should have known better because I’m older.”

Toker was sentenced to nine months in jail suspended for 18 months, and ordered to complete an alcohol treatment programme.

Judge Daniel Flahive told the defendant she needed psychological help and supervision within the community.

He added: “I was of the view that there was no option but to send you to prison, but I am going to give you a chance.”

This is Croydon