Violent Disorder: Further arrest, charge and sentence

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December 11, 2024
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Detectives have arrested and charged more people in connection with Violent Disorder in Southport in July.

A 13-year-old boy from Rock Ferry was arrested yesterday on suspicion of Violent Disorder in Liverpool, after reportedly throwing missiles at officers. He has been conditionally bailed.

A 16-year-old boy from Old Swan was charged with Violent Disorder in Liverpool. He will appear at Liverpool Youth Court on Tuesday 7 January 2025.

A 20-year-old man from Wigan arrested yesterday on suspicion of Violent Disorder has been conditionally bailed.

A 16-year-old boy from New Brighton appeared at Liverpool Youth Court yesterday, and received a 12 month Intensive Referral Order, which includes an Education & Better Choices Programme and instructed to pay £300 in compensation.

Detective Chief Inspector Tony Roberts said: “These latest outcomes demonstrate our determination to put before the courts all of those who brought shame to the region over the summer, many of who travelled to Merseyside from other areas.

“We continue to review footage and information as it comes in, and we will not stop until we’ve put everyone we possibly can before the courts.”

The total number of people arrested by Merseyside Police has now reached 159, with 112 charged and 86 sentenced to 178 years and 10 months.

Images and footage are still being worked through so please contact us with any information via our Public Portal, 101 or anonymously via Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Current galleries of people we would like to speak to can be found on our X and Facebook pages, and on our force website News | Merseyside Police.

Merseyside Police

Jury finds man planned terrorist attack at law firm ‘to intimidate immigrants’

By
December 10, 2024
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Cavan Medlock was found to have committed the act of making a threat to kill and the preparation of terrorist acts after a fact-finding hearing.

A man planned a terrorist attack at a law firm in north London to “intimidate” immigrants, the Metropolitan Police said.

Cavan Medlock, of Harrow, north-west London, was found to have committed the act of making a threat to kill and the preparation of terrorist acts at a fact-finding hearing at Kingston Crown Court on Tuesday.

The 32-year-old, who identified as a Nazi, “wanted to provide a ‘rallying cry’ to inspire other extreme right-wing terrorists”, the force said.

Medlock targeted solicitor Toufique Hossain at the Duncan Lewis law firm in Harrow on September 7 2020, and was arrested at the scene with a rucksack containing a knife, handcuffs, gaffer tape and two large flags “demonstrating extreme right-wing terrorist ideology”, Acting Commander Helen Flanagan, from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said.

Medlock was arrested after he took out a six-inch combat knife and demanded to see Mr Hossain.

The receptionist managed to disarm him, despite being punched and kicked.

Other members of staff also intervened and Medlock was restrained and police were called to the scene.

While he was detained in reception, Medlock saw Mr Hossain and said he had come to the office to kill him, the Met Police said.

Medlock was heard saying “unfortunately I didn’t finish the job”, the force added.

A search of Medlock’s home revealed a mobile phone on which showed Medlock had targeted the solicitor after reading an article in which he was quoted, the force said.

He had then researched the location of the law firm, before planning his attack.

Ms Flanagan said: “Our investigation uncovered how Medlock had planned this attack and wanted to intimidate the public, particularly anyone who might be regarded as immigrants.

“He was prevented in carrying out his plan thanks to the extraordinarily brave actions of a receptionist, who managed to disarm him of a large knife.

“By his own admission, at the time of these events, Medlock identified as a Nazi. Our investigation supported this, with officers finding a copy of Mein Kampf at his home address.

“It is clear from what he said in police interviews, Medlock wanted to provide a ‘rallying cry’ to inspire other extreme right-wing terrorists.

“I’m glad that a jury has now found the facts of this case proven.”

Medlock will be sentenced at Kingston Crown Court on Thursday.

Evening Standard

Tommy Robinson ordered to pay £50,000 in costs after being jailed for contempt

By
December 10, 2024
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Tommy Robinson has been ordered to pay £50,000 in costs after he was jailed for contempt of court, with the final amount still to be decided.

The political activist, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was sentenced to 18 months in prison in October after the Solicitor General took legal action against him for breaching a High Court injunction made in 2021.

Robinson admitted 10 breaches of the order, which barred him from repeating libellous allegations against a Syrian refugee.

In a court order issued on Tuesday, Mr Justice Johnson ruled that Robinson should pay the amount by 4pm on January 7 next year.

This makes up a total of £80,350.52 in legal costs claimed by the Solicitor General.

He said: “I do not consider that the applicant’s incarceration, or his claimed impecuniosity, is a good reason not to order a payment on account.

“Those factors might make enforcement of the order more difficult if the applicant does not voluntarily pay, but they do not amount to reasons of principle why the order should not be made.”

In 2021, Robinson was sued for libel by Jamal Hijazi after the then-schoolboy was assaulted at Almondbury Community School in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, in October 2018.

After a clip of the incident went viral, Robinson made false claims on Facebook, including about Mr Hijazi attacking girls in his school, leading to the libel case.

Robinson was ordered to pay Mr Hijazi £100,000 in damages and his legal costs, as well as making the injunction preventing Robinson from repeating the allegations he made against the then-teenager.

The Solicitor General later issued two contempt claims against Robinson, claiming he “knowingly” breached the order, including by repeating the allegations in a film called Silenced.

At a hearing at Woolwich Crown Court on October 28, lawyers claimed that Robinson had been “thumbing his nose at the court” and “undermining” the rule of law, including by showing Silenced at a demonstration in Trafalgar Square in central London earlier this year.

Sentencing him, Mr Justice Johnson said that Robinson had “not shown any remorse” for his actions, which were “a planned, deliberate, direct, flagrant breach of the court’s orders”.

He said: “Nobody is above the law. Nobody can pick and choose which injunctions they obey and those they do not.”

Tommy Robinson now must wait to find out when he must pay the remainder of the sum.

ITV News

You can read the Judge’s remarks here.
https://www.judiciary.uk/judgments/hijazi-v-stephen-yaxley-lennon-aka-tommy-robinson-order/

Teenager, 17, threw missiles at police and stole cigarettes from shop

By
December 3, 2024
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155 people have been arrested in connection with violent disorder, with 110 charged and 85 sentenced to a combined 178 years and 10 months in prison

A 17-year-old boy from Southport has been given a 12-month youth referral order for Violent Disorder and burglary.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, threw missiles at officers, threw a rock towards a marked police car and was also part of a large group who smashed the glass door and metal shutters on a nearby convenience store.

He was then seen to jump onto the shop counter and collect numerous items, believed to be packets of cigarettes, and put them in his pockets. The teenager was arrested following the disorder in Southport on Tuesday, July 30.

Violence originally broke out in Southport on July 30 when hundreds of people clashed with police following the deaths of three young girls – Elsie Dot Stancombe, Bebe King and Alice Da Silva Aguiar – in a mass stabbing the previous day.

Today (Tuesday December 3), he appeared at Liverpool Youth Court where he was sentenced to the youth referral order and ordered to pay £250 compensation.

Detective Inspector Paula Jones said: “Southport witnessed some terrible incidents of disorder on 30 July which have had a huge and long-lasting impact on the people who live, work and run businesses there.

“In order to reassure our communities about how seriously we take such behaviour we have continued to take action against those responsible. We know that the vast majority of the public support us in our actions and we are committed to continue to bring as many people to justice as possible.

“So far, 155 people have been arrested in connection with disorder, with 110 charged and 85 sentenced to a combined 178 years and 10 months in prison.

Liverpool Echo

Suspended sentence for man who beat police officer

By
December 3, 2024
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A man has been given a suspended jail term for beating a police officer during violent disorder in Stoke-on-Trent over the summer amid high-profile riots elsewhere in the UK.

Lee Bodman, 52, from the city’s Hanley area, was sentenced to eight months, suspended for 18 months, at North Staffordshire Justice Centre on Tuesday.

Unrest across the UK spread after fatal stabbings in Southport and subsequent false online rumours about the suspect.

Bodman – who had been charged with assault of an emergency worker by beating -was ordered to take part in rehabilitation activity and was ordered to pay compensation of £100 to the police officer as well as £250 in costs to the Crown Prosecution Service.

BBC News

Bolton man abused police and made ‘cutthroat’ action during riot

By
December 3, 2024
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A Bolton man made a “cutthroat” action and shouted abuse at counter-rioters.

Joseph Bigland, 43, was present on the day of the Bolton riots on August 4.

The event saw two groups of rioters face off against each other on Victoria Square and on Bradshawgate, with police deployed to keep them apart.

The riots were seen all around the country following the stabbings of 13 people at a dance class in Southport, which caused the deaths of three children.

Bigland, who is homeless, was seen on the side of the “anti-immigration” rioters on Victoria Square.

He behaved aggressively to police officers, telling one he would “kick his balls” and shouted abuse at counter-rioters.

He appeared at Bolton Crown Court on Monday, December 2 for the offence.

Prosecuting, Philip Hall showed three videos to the hearing which demonstrated Bigland’s actions.

He said: “At 1.50pm the defendant was captured on CCTV on the side of the anti-immigration protestors.”

CCTV footage from 2.17pm was then shown, which caught Bigland holding “two pieces of wood”.

Police body-worn camera footage from 2.31pm shows that he was no longer holding the wood.

However, in it, officers instruct him to move away, to which he becomes aggressive.

He said “I will kick your balls” and “I will wrap this tripod around your head”, referencing a tripod he was holding.

Bigland also antagonised the counter-rioters, and made a series of aggressive and racist comments.

A video was also shown of him making a “cutthroat” motion with the tripod.

When he was arrested by officers on October 19, Bigland said it was “not even him”.

He has 36 previous convictions for 47 offences.

He pleaded guilty on an earlier occasion to violent disorder.

Defending, Anthony Horsfall said: “It seems it is quite apparent that the defendant took a more peripheral role.

“There was more widespread violence that day, not by him.”

Judge Jon Close said: “The reality is he participated in what involved widespread violence on people and property.

“When you are sentenced for violent disorder, it is not just for your role, but your role in assisting those who did participate.”

Mr Horsfall added: “I accept the point that he is being sentenced as part of the group responsible, but there are different roles within that.”

Judge Close then highlighted concern about a mental health assessment into Bigland which had not been done.

He said how he had been homeless for 11 years and that he had been “addicted to heavy drugs” at points.

Judge Close also highlighted a five-month stay in a psychiatric hospital that Bigland had last year, but that there was no information about any formal mental health diagnosis.

Sentencing was adjourned to Friday, December 5, for his medical records to be checked.

Bolton News

Bolton man said he would ‘attack every single Muslim’

By
December 3, 2024
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A Bolton man posted videos online saying he would become a “Christian radical extremist” and “attack every single Muslim”.

Pedro Cordeiro, 46, posted videos online where he made “racially hostile” remarks against Muslim people in Guinea Bissau.

Cordeiro, of Gisburn Avenue in Johnson Fold, made the videos in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

He described the Fula Muslim population of the country as “deceitful” and “traitors” as they “sided with the Portuguese during the civil war”.

Cordeiro also said he was “available to become a Christian radical extremist” and “if needs be” he would “attack every single Muslim”.

He was sentenced at Bolton Crown Court on Monday, December 2 for the offences.

Prosecuting, Marianne Alton told the court how a Muslim man reported the videos to the police on March 22, 2019, saying how he “felt threatened” by the content in them.

She said: “He also understood him to be well connected to a high-ranking member of the military in his family.”

Transcripts of his videos were read out, in which he said: “Fula are the evilest (sic) people we have had in the history of Guinea Bissau.”

He added that the people of Guinea Bissau “are afraid Fula will stab them” but that he would “kill them”.

He also said: “If necessary I will order all mosques in Guinea Bissau to be set on fire.”

Cordeiro had no previous convictions.

Defending, Tom Farr said: “The defendant has a prospect of rehabilitation.

“Mr Cordeiro is of previous good character and he also was gainfully employed, but can’t work anymore due to an injury he suffered at work.

“He has not engaged in criminality previously at all. The pre-sentence report reflects positively on Mr Cordeiro.

“He is aware the comments he made overstepped the line. The court process has been a sobering experience for him.”

Cordeiro previously pleaded guilty to malicious communications.

Concluding, Judge Jon Close said: “By virtue of the crown accepting that plea, they also accept that there was no underlying attempt to stir up racial hatred. Were you to have been sentenced for that, the outcome would have been very different.

“Whilst there was clearly racial hostility associated with your posts, by virtue of your plea and the acceptance of lesser offences, what was absent was the intention to stir up racial hatred.

“Between 2017 and 2019 you engaged in a series of posts, the intention of which was to cause distress and anxiety. It is self evident they did precisely that.

“The incendiary nature of such posts was likely to cause considerable stress and anxiety to those who felt targeted by them and the wider populace.”

He recognised, however, that the behaviour was out of character for Cordeiro and that his references spoke about him in “glowing terms”.

Judge Close sentenced him to eight months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months.

He also ordered Cordeiro to complete 10 rehabilitation activity requirement days and pay a £500 fine.

Bolton News

Rotherham riots: Father-of-three jailed after hurling wheelie bin at police guarding hotel

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December 3, 2024
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A father-of-three who threw rocks and a wheelie bin at riot police guarding a hotel housing asylum seekers has been jailed for two years and four months.

A judge told Sonny Ackerman, 30, he would have received an even longer sentence for his part in the violence outside the Holiday Inn Express, in Rotherham, on August 4, but for his clear learning disability.

Judge Jeremy Richardson KC told Ackerman: “I have little doubt you’re easily led. I very much doubt you even understood what the disorder was all about.”

But Judge Richardson added: “You knew what you were doing and knew it was wrong.”

Footage shown at Sheffield Crown Court on Tuesday showed a masked Ackerman throwing a rock at police lines at the height of the disorder outside the hotel, which was housing 240 asylum seekers.

Further video showed the defendant helping to hurl a wheelie bin at the officers trying to push back the rioters.

This happened close to a larger bin, which had been set alight against the fire door of the building.

Judge Richardson heard that Ackerman was on bail for an offence of driving while disqualified at the time of the rioting.

The judge said he had received a report from a neuropsychologist and told the defendant it was clear he had a learning disability and a very low IQ.

The judge said: “This was a disgraceful episode. It shocked the entire country. Those involved were an ignorant mob and they must be punished. You were part of that ignorant mob.”

Ackerman, of Ashton-on-Ribble, Preston, pleaded guilty to violent disorder at a previous hearing and appeared in court on Tuesday (Dec 3) via videolink from prison.

He is the latest of more than 70 men who have been jailed after the rioting at the hotel.

The court heard that the residents were trapped on the upper floors of the building as rioters broke in and started the fire in a bin at one of the exits, filling the hotel with smoke.

Staff have described how they barricaded themselves into a safe room, fearing they would die.

More than 60 police officers were injured in the disorder, the court heard.

Yorkshire Post

Former boxer admits racially aggravated posts

By
December 3, 2024
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A former boxer has admitted posting racially aggravated comments online during unrest and rioting in the summer.

Derek Heggie made “grossly offensive comments” in two YouTube videos between 2 and 8 August, Carlisle Crown Court heard.

He had been due to stand trial on a charge under the Malicious Communications Act but instead pleaded guilty to sending communication of an offensive nature.

The 41-year-old, of Welsh Road in Harraby, Carlisle, was remanded in custody and is due to be sentenced on 13 December.

The killings of three children on 29 July in Southport triggered waves of unrest across the country.

During a previous court hearing, prosecutor George Shelley said the comments posted by Heggie were “particularly inflammatory” in the context of those disturbances.
‘Man of some note’

Heggie, who describes himself as an actor and podcast host, was one of several people in north and west Cumbria to be prosecuted for the use of inflammatory online content.

The court heard that, in videos referring to Muslims, Heggie made comments including “young white girls are being raped by these grooming gangs”.

This was done for the “purpose of causing distress or anxiety”, the court heard.

When he was interviewed, the defendant had sought to portray himself as a journalist and maintained that the online posts were justified.

Chris Toms, defending, said: “As far as Mr Heggie is personally concerned, you may or not be aware that he is a man of some note in social media and formerly in the professional fighting world.

“He was at one time a professional bare-knuckle boxer who held titles and had televised bouts in that sport.”

Judge Nicholas Barker requested background information from the Probation Service ahead of the sentencing.

BBC News

Sunderland man caught at forefront of riots admits riot charge

By
December 2, 2024
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A man caught on camera kicking out at a police line during widespread disorder in Sunderland has today (Monday, December 2) admitted a charge of riot.

John Paul Kirtley was seen at the forefront of the confrontation with police in the city centre on the evening of Friday, August 2, following an anti-immigration protest.

The 26-year-old defendant of Rutherglen Road, Red House, Sunderland, handed himself into police following the circulation of images from the disturbances which blighted the city after the protest march.

He originally pleaded guilty to a charge of violent disorder at a court appearance earlier in proceedings.

But this was one of the cases in which the Crown Prosecution Service “upgraded” the charge to the more serious count of riot, which carries a potential sentence of up to ten years, compared to a maximum of five years for violent disorder.

The court heard today that an application by his legal team to have the riot charge thrown out as “an abuse of process” had failed.

Judge Julie Clemitson said she had “considered very carefully” the arguments submitted by lawyers representing both the defendant and a youth co-accused, who cannot be named due to his age.

She merely added: “It’s not an abuse of process.”

The case of the 16-year-old, who was 15 at the time of the incident, was remitted back to be dealt with at the youth court, provisionally in February.

But, Kirtley was remanded in custody to be sentenced, possibly with other rioters, at the crown court on January 31.

His counsel, Laura Miller, said he was aware of the type and length of sentence that is likely to be passed in the case.

Images released after the case by Northumbria Police showed Kirtley, at times shirtless and waving an England flag around, seeming to revel in the confrontations taking place.

He was also spotted pushing a shopping trolley towards police lines and kicking out at the shields of officers in riot gear.

Northern Echo