Suspended term for EDL protester

By
July 18, 2013
EDL, English Defence League, Racial Conviction, racially aggravated harassment, Suspended sentence

A man travelled to an English Defence League march in Leicester because he knew there might be trouble and he could shout and scream at Asian people, a court heard yesterday.

Prosecutor Elizabeth Dodds told Leicester Magistrates Court that Daniel John Buckley told police that was why he had made the journey.

Buckley, 27, of Oakley Road, Long Eaton, Nottingham, admitted racially aggravated harassment and obstructing a police officer.

Eve Patterson, in mitigation, said Buckley had an alcohol problem

He was given an eight-week prison sentence suspended for 12 months and ordered to attend a course to address his alcohol problem.

Leicester Mercury

EDL thug abused old men

By
July 18, 2013
EDL, English Defence League, Suspended sentence

An ENGLISH Defence League member who threatened two elderly asian men has been handed a suspended prison sentence.

Darren Buck, 50, was involved in the demonstration with the far-right group in Halifax town centre on April 16.

Calderdale Magistrates Court heard how around 200 EDL members turned out for the demonstration which they claimed was in protest at two of their number being attacked the week before.

At around 2.30pm police reported that a large gathering of protesters were congregating outside The Plummet Line pub, Bull Close Lane, Halifax, and were trying to break through the police line.

It was at this time that officers saw Buck, a former sheet metal worker, acting aggressively towards the two elderly asian men.

Officers said he was seen trying to punch the two men but he missed and was consequently arrested.

Buck was interviewed by police and admitted the offence saying he was demonstrating to show solidarity with his fellow members.

He also told them he had been an EDL member for about a year but didn’t have any racist beliefs.

Buck pleaded guilty to a charge of using insulting or abusive language with the threat of violence.

Judith Poole, chair of the magistrates, said: “We feel this offence is so serious that only custody is appropriate.

“You were part of a group of 200 people, over 200 police officers had to be in attendance and it was a Saturday afternoon with a lot of people around who must have been really frightened.”

Buck, from Wombwell, Barnsley, was sentenced to 16 weeks in prison which was suspended for 12 months.

He will be subject to a curfew on Saturdays and Sundays from 9am to 9pm for 20 weeks and must pay costs of £85.

Halifax Courier

Three men in court after protests

By
July 18, 2013
Public order offence, scottish defence league, Uncategorized

Three men have appeared in court after being arrested during clashes between rival demonstrators in Edinburgh.

Scott Buchan, 23, from Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, and David Parslow, 52, from Edinburgh, both admitted breaching the peace and were released on bail.

Graeme Stevenson, 21, denied acting in a manner likely to incite violence and public disorder.

About 2,000 anti-racist campaigners opposed a threatened protest by the Scottish Defence League on Saturday.

About 90 Scottish Defence League members were kept inside the Jenny Ha’s pub, which sits opposite the Scottish Parliament on the Royal Mile, by police who blocked the doors and sealed off the area to stop the rival groups clashing.

They were later put on buses and taken away from the area.

In a brief appearance before Sheriff Derrick McIntyre, Buchan admitted disorderly behaviour by attempting to engage others in a fight and blocking vehicles on the road outside the pub.

Released on bail

The sheriff called for background reports and bailed Buchan until sentencing next month on the condition he reports to his local police station in Aylesbury every Saturday.

Parslow admitted shouting and swearing outside the city’s Central Mosque. He was bailed until later this week, when further details are due to be heard in court.

Mr Stevenson, of Largs, denied acting in a manner likely to incite violence and public disorder while inside Jenny Ha’s.

He was released on bail on the condition he does not participate in Scottish or English Defence League demonstrations.

The Scottish Defence League, an offshoot of the English Defence League, attempted to hold a similar demonstration in Glasgow last year.

It has insisted it is not racist or fascist despite claims to the contrary from opponents.

BBC News

Four jailed over town EDL clash

By
July 18, 2013
affray, EDL, English Defence League, Jailed

FOUR men have been jailed for their part in violent scenes at an English Defence League protest in Dudley town centre.

The protest on July 17 turned ugly when objects including crowd control barriers were thrown at police officers who were being abused and spat on.

Admitting affray at Wolverhampton Crown Court, Adrian Britton, aged 39, of High View Street, Dudley collapsed in the dock when he was jailed for 15 months, while 27-year old Daniel Holmes of St Matthews Close, Walsall was put behind bars for a year.

Meanwhile teenagers Jake Hill of Alexander Hill, Brierley Hill, aged 18 and 19 year-old James Everard, of Armstrong Close, Amblecote, were both sent to a young offenders institution – Everard for nine months and Hill for six months.

Sentencing the four men, Judge Patrick Thomas QC, said: “This was not an afternoon’s fun.

“It was a dangerous and unpleasant incident involving a mob attack on police officers doing their duty.”

He said it was clear their offending was not linked to the march but towards the officers who were present to protect their fellow citizens from threats and violence.

“I do not think you were particularly concerned with the EDL,” said the judge. “You took it upon yourselves to attack the police in a number of ways.

“You were involved in a significant and highly unpleasant and unnecessary public disorder and you tested the patience, self control and discipline of police officers under a hail of abuse and threats of violence.”

Hugh O’Brien prosecuting said Everard had been aggressive, swearing at police and stamping on metal barriers used to contain the protestors, while Hill, who was carrying a St George’s flag spat at police.

Meanwhile Holmes, was seen throwing missiles at police before doing a chicken dance at officers and Britton was seen to throw a piece of metal fencing.

The judge told the men: “Most of you claim not to have any involvement in the activities of the EDL.

Most of you claim you were part of this gathering simply by chance or by curiosity.”

But it was clear, he stressed, the affray was directed solely towards police officers who were on duty as he concluded: “A drink-fuelled mob is more dangerous than a sober one.”

Dudley News

EDL protester carrying drugs

By
July 18, 2013
Drugs, EDL, English Defence League

A man arrested at Saturday’s English Defence League protest has pleaded guilty to possessing cannabis.

Brian Bristow (37) admitted the offence at Leicester Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

Prosecutor Mark Williams said Bristow, of no fixed abode but formerly of Doncaster, was stopped at noon on Saturday.

Bristow, who appeared in court wearing a shirt bearing the logo “English Defence League. Doncaster Division”, had a rolled “spliff” on him and cannabis for another one.

Bristow was fined £100 – though his time in custody was accepted in lieu of payment – and ordered to pay £85 court costs

This is Leicester

English Defence League fighters get two-week curfew

By
July 18, 2013
EDL, English Defence League, Public order offence, Racial Conviction, Racist Abuse

EDL members Christopher Long, Bryan Kelso and Brian Bristow arriving at Woolwich Crown Court

EDL members Christopher Long, Bryan Kelso and Brian Bristow arriving at Woolwich Crown Court


English Defence League (EDL) members who kicked over Korans and traded punches with Muslims in Speakers’ Corner have been sentenced to a fortnight’s curfew.

Three men admitted public order offences at Woolwich Crown Court on Wednesday, August 3.

Full-time carer Christopher Long, who lived in Kent Way, Surbiton, at the time of his arrest, held his head in his hands as prosecutor Eleanor Mawrey described the fight on October 24 last year.

Long, Brian Bristow and Bryan Kelso had attended a rally outside the Israeli embassy in Kensington, which ended in a confrontation between EDL members and anti-fascist campaigners in Hyde Park.

By 5pm about 200 people were gathered and the atmosphere turned tense before the trio became violent, the court heard.

Ms Mawrey said: “Officers arrested them for what they had done but also for their own safety.”

Police saw Long kick over a table with Islamic literature and Korans before fighting with an Asian man.

Long, who now lives in Palace Road, Streatham, breathed a sigh of relief as his sentence of 14 days curfew and a penalty of £425 was passed by Judge Stephen Dawson.

Kelso, 28, from Paddington, who overturned the table and grabbed a police officer’s genitals when he was arrested, was given the same sentence.

But former soldier Brian Bristow, 38, who told the court he was homeless, was fined £825 as he had nowhere to be curfewed.

The court heard he had racially abused one of the men and said he was only being arrested because he was white.

Judge Dawson said he did not hold the men’s membership of the EDL either for or against them but said their behaviour in Speakers’ Corner, a symbol of free speech to the world, had been threatening and unpleasant.

Some of the men had been drinking before going there, he said, which was “never a good thing when you’re going to demonstrations”.

He said: “Speech can’t be free if people become violent and break up tables and trade punches at each other.”

An attempt to impose an antisocial behaviour order on Bristow, banning him from attending EDL or Infidels demonstrations or distributing their literature, was delayed to a hearing on October 6.

Judge Dawson said: “This is roaming into the area of one’s right to protest. That is the problem, isn’t it?”

Your Local Guardian

‘Nazi salute’ Lincoln City hooligan banned from football matches

By
July 18, 2013
EDL, English Defence League, football

A football hooligan who performed a Nazi salute and unveiled an English Defence League flag has been banned from football matches.

Lincoln City supporter Peter Briggs, 19, was associated with several violent flare-ups at football matches between 2009 and February this year.

He appeared at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, April 5, where Lincolnshire Police applied for a civil banning order against him.

The court heard Briggs was involved in clashes at Grimsby Town, Notts County and in Lincoln High Street when on July 24, 2010, the Imps played Celtic. Five people were taken to hospital and 27 people arrested.

During a match against Stockport on January 22 last year, bottles, glasses and chairs were used in a pub when the rival clubs clashed.

Lincolnshire Police solicitor Daniel Richardson told the court: “Briggs unveiled a flag with Lincoln City Youth, EDL, No Surrender, printed on it.

“On May 7 last year Lincoln City lost to Aldershot, relegating the Imps from the Football League. People invaded the pitch and Briggs was one of those.”

The court heard that some of Briggs’s close associates were arrested following disorder at a game at Alfreton, where a security fence was torn down.

Mr Richardson went on to describe various exhibits, including CCTV and pictures of Briggs with the ‘Lincoln risk group’ with people performing a Nazi salute.

Briggs, of Bentley Drive, Bracebridge Heath, Lincoln, who was not represented by a solicitor, did not seek to contest the evidence.

Magistrates banned him from attending any football ground or any regulated UK matches in the UK for three years.

Briggs will also have to surrender his passport so he cannot go to any games being played outside the UK.

He cannot be in the Sincil Bank area during the two hours before and after any games. He cannot be within a five-mile radius of any England games.

If Lincoln are playing away, Briggs cannot use trains without permission from the British Transport Police.

Once two thirds of the order is completed, Briggs can apply to the court to consider shortening it.

It is usual to ban someone from football games in criminal proceedings.

But after the disorder of the European Championships in 2000, changes were made allowing police to apply for civil banning orders.

They can be applied to anyone who has caused, or been involved in violence at football matches in the UK or any other country.

It is seen as a preventative measure and police in Lincoln say it is working.

Football intelligence officer Andy Pearson said after the hearing: “We haven’t done our end of season statistics yet but we’ve been doing this operation for two years now and last season we reduced disorder by 58 per cent both at home and away.”

This is Lincolnshire

Ian Brazier, Man Who Ripped Muslim Woman’s Veil From Her Face In Shopping Centre, Spared Jail

By
July 18, 2013
Racial Conviction, racially aggravated assault

A man who ripped off a Muslim woman’s veil in a shopping centre because he thought she was “just another illegal immigrant” has been spared jail.

Ian Brazier, from Shirley, Solihull, was given a six-week sentence, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to complete a diversity awareness course by magistrates in the town.

The 26-year-old had admitted racially aggravated assault at an early hearing.

The court heard that he tore Farhana Chughtai’s niqab from her face and threw it on the floor in Solihull’s Touchwood complex on March 3 as she shopped with family.

Alan Bryce, defending, said his client was angry at the time of the incident because he had been smoking cannabis and the films he was planning to watch at the centre’s cinema were not showing.

He said: “He was angry that he couldn’t see the films or the films he wanted to see weren’t there.

“All these pent-up emotions were unfortunately released when he saw this lady.”

The solicitor said Mrs Chughtai was a “random victim”, spotted by unemployed Mr Brazier as he came down an escalator in the complex.

He said: “He had been taking cannabis and it had made him angry.

“He saw her and he thought ‘There’s just another illegal immigrant’.”

The court heard that Mrs Chughtai, from Balsall Heath, Birmingham, told police she felt “naked and violated” by the assault.

In a statement released by West Midlands Police after the sentencing, the 26-year-old victim said: “At the time of the attack I felt violated and very distressed.

“Today, I remain self-conscious and worry that the same thing may happen to me again.

“I am aware of other similar incidents in the West Midlands which have not been reported to police.

“This should not be the case; victims should report these crimes as soon as they happen.

“I am pleased with West Midlands Police’s efforts to trace my attacker and the way they have handled this investigation and I would like to extend my thanks to the officers involved.”

Chief Inspector Kevin Doyle said: “Despite the shocking nature of this offence, reports of crimes like this are exceptionally rare both in Solihull and the wider West Midlands.

“When they are reported to us, I would like to assure victims that they are investigated thoroughly, professionally and victims treated with the utmost dignity and respect.

“Today’s sentence shows that there is no place for hate in Solihull.”

Brazier was given an 18-month supervision order and told he must complete a 21-day activity requirement which examines diversity and prejudice.

Chairman of the bench Mark Kershaw also ordered him to complete 250 hours of unpaid work in the community and pay £100 compensation to the victim.

Huffington Post

EDL protestor jailed for kicking police officer

By
July 18, 2013
affray, EDL, English Defence League, Jailed, violent disorder

A 25 YEAR-old Lower Gornal man who launched a “flying kick” at a police officer during an English Defence League march has been jailed for one year.

Judge Michael Challinor told Thomas Blackwell, of Bird Street: “You attended this demonstration with the intention of causing disorder and violence.”

“This is clear from the fact you were wearing protective clothing in the form of a stab vest. In the course of this disorder you tackled a police officer by using a flying kick to his protective shield.”

The judge said he had taken into consideration Blackwell would lose his employment if he was sent to prison but he added: “This type of violent behaviour so often prevents law abiding citizens from protesting peacefully.”

Blackwell admitted affray and the judge said it was clear from DVD evidence he had been at the “forefront” of the EDL march on July 17 last year.

Stephen Thomas prosecuting said Blackwell had been near the front of a group of EDL protesters who had thrown bottles and other missiles at police officers.

He told Wolverhampton Crown Court that protesters also tried to provoke the officers by chanting the names of people who had killed policemen including Raoul Moat who had hit the headlines just weeks earlier.

Blackwell who represented himself in court said he felt the description “flying kick” totally exaggerated his actions while adding: “I am ashamed of what I did. I have shamed myself and my family.”

Two other men – Scott Bailey, 23, of Central Drive, Gornal and 20 year-old Anthony Grant of George Road, Netherton – will be sentenced on May 31 after also admitting a charge of affray in connection with the EDL march.

Dudley News

EDL protesters fined for threats to police

By
July 18, 2013
EDL, English Defence League, Racist Abuse

TWO protesters involved in the English Defence League (EDL) march in Peterborough have been fined for using threatening behaviour towards police.

Scott Whitehead (32) and James Black (22) appeared separately at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court yesterday (17th December).

They both pleaded guilty to using threatening or abusive behaviour likely to cause harrassment, alarm and distress and were both fined £150 by District Judge Ken Sheraton.

Black, of Heathyfields Road, Farnham, Surrey, was punished for throwing a coin at mounted police officers last Saturday as the EDL march proceeded across Town Bridge towards Bridge Street.

Prosecutor Graham Dalley said that although Black’s coin did not hit anyone, mounted police put their helmet visors down to protect their faces.

Black appeared at court wearing a dark-hooded top bearing the writing: “English Defence League. Surrey Division”.

Defending himself, Black said he only acted in that way to get the police’s attention as he felt threatened by the proximity of the mounted officers.

He said: “The horse came towards a group of EDL on the bridge.

“Some went down the steps at the side of the bridge, I was following but the horse came straight in front of me and trod on my foot.”

Meanwhile, father-of-four Whitehead, of Pilton Close, Peterborough, apologised for his drunken behaviour after shouting abuse at the mounted officers following the march.

Mr Dalley, prosecuting, said Whitehead had shouted insults at the officers at around 5.15pm, a few hours after the EDL march had finished, before attempting to grab the reins of one of the horses in Bridge Street.

Whitehead, who also represented himself, said: “I just want to apologise for my behaviour and for wasting both police and court time.”

Judge Sheraton, while sentencing Whitehead, said: “I think it’s about time you grew up.”

He fined Whitehead and Black £150 each and ordered them both to pay £85 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

Speaking after the court hearing, Inspector Matt Snow said he could not say whether a horse trod on Black’s foot but he rejected Black’s claims that a mounted officer had acted inappropriately during the march.

He said: “The riders have to make a judgement under the circumstances as to the amount of force that is required.

“I presume in that officer’s mind there was a reasonably large number of EDL protesters in the area at the time and that he acted for the public safety.”

Police setting the example

PETERBOROUGH is being held up as an example of how to effectively police an EDL march and associated counter-protests.

Supt Paul Fullwood said Cambridgeshire police had received calls from other forces including police from Luton who are preparing for an EDL march in February, asking for information about how they handled the event.

Ten arrests were made on the day, with the EDL and the Peterborough Trades Union Council marches passing generally peacefully.

Supt Fullwood said: “We learned from forces that had policed similar protests, taking into account the good and the bad aspects, and formed our own plans.

“Since then we have been approached by a number of different forces asking how we handled the situation.”

Peterborough Today