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‘Ashamed’ Hells Angels leader from Sunderland bitten by police dog, arrested and jailed after violence during counter-demonstration at Black Lives Matter march in Newcastle

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May 9, 2022
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An “arrogant” Hells Angels leader is behind bars after getting involved in large-scale violence during a counter demonstration at a Black Lives Matter march.

Widespread trouble flared when members of North East Frontline Patriots, Protect the Monument from Black Lives Matter and other groups, including Hells Angels and veterans, attended the organised demonstration in Newcastle in June 2020.

The counter protestors said they were there to “protect” the city’s Grey’s Monument from the Black Lives Matter demonstrators and around 1,000 people in total gathered round the statue that day, including police officers.

The monument is an 1838 Grade I-listed memorial to Charles Grey whose government enacted the Slavery Abolition Act.

However, the act is controversial as it compensated slave owners for the loss of their “property”.

Newcastle Crown Court heard both groups stated they planned a “peaceful” protest.

But prosecutor Jolyon Perks told the court from about 2pm that day, parts of the crowd became hostile and violent and police officers, dogs and horses were injured as well as members of the public.

Objects including glass bottles, metal cans and smoke grenades were thrown.

Mr Perks said police officers were hit by missiles and suffered injuries ranging from redness to bruising, a dislocated finger and one had his foot trampled by a horse trying to avoid an object, which led to eight weeks off work.

One police horse had blood coming from the mouth, another needed treatment to a cut leg and one service dog suffered a wound to the face from a bottle that was thrown.

A 17-year-old who attended to peacefully demonstrate with the Black Lives Matter group was hit by a bottle as she tried to get away from the violence and suffered a wound to the head.

The court heard Colin Green is the leader of the Tyne and Wear Chapter of the Hells Angels and he was caught on CCTV among the counter protesters.

He threw no missiles or punches but was shown on the footage to be running at police, refusing to leave and ended up being bitten by a police dog then taken to hospital.

The 58-year-old of Church Street, Sunderland, who lives in accommodation provided by the Chapter and works at their bar, admitted violent disorder and has now been jailed for 29 months.

Judge Edward Bindloss said: “He is an influential figure of the Hells Angels in this area.

“My assessment of him on the footage is of him walking around in a cool, calm and arrogant manner, walking up to police, going behind police, striding around in a way that made me assess him as someone who thought he was untouchable.”

Judge Bindloss said Green played a “significant part” in what happened that day and added: “It could have been open to him to say to those in his chapter ‘we are off’, ‘we are leaving the scene’, ‘let’s go’.

“He chose not to do so.”

Nick Lane, defending, handed in references to Green’s ordinarily positive character.

Mr Lane said Green is “deeply ashamed and embarrassed by his conduct on the day” and has been involved in charity work including providing Covid hampers during lockdowns and planning events such as the Armed Services Day event in South Shields.

Christopher Butters, 42, of Moorland Avenue, Bedlington, Northumberland, was jailed for 31 months at the same hearing.

He also admitted violent disorder and had been shown on CCTV throwing missiles at police after he was hit by a mounted officer’s baton.
Sunderland Echo

Byker football yob jailed for city centre riot against Black Lives Matter protest

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May 5, 2022
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Michael O’Brien, of Byker, had been among a group of Newcastle United supporters who stormed a Burnley pub just six months before the shameful city centre scenes



A convicted football yob has been jailed for taking part in a city centre riot when a baying mob clashed with Black Lives Matter supporters.

Just six months before participating in the shameful scenes in Newcastle, Michael O’Brien was one of a group of Newcastle United supporters who stormed a pub in Burnley after an away game. He was subsequently jailed for two years for that violent disorder.

Now O’Brien, who volunteers at a youth football club, and two other men – one of them, like O’Brien, said to be wearing a cap showing affiliation to “football risk groups”, have been locked up for their part in a loud and intimidating disturbance in June 2020.

Police officers, horses and dogs were injured, along with members of the public, as around 1,000 people, in two opposing groups, gathered at Grey’s Monument. A peaceful protest planned in support of the Black Lives Matter movement was met by counter-protesters who threw cans, bottles and other missiles.

Two men were jailed for their parts in the violent disorder on Tuesday and now O’Brien, Ronald Short and Ryan Barlow have joined them behind bars with all three sentenced to 27 months.

Newcastle Crown Court heard O’Brien, 55, of Beresford Gardens, Byker, Newcastle, who was wearing a Green Bay Packers cap, moved to the front of the counter-protest after flares were thrown by the Black Lives Matter group. He remonstrated with officers and was pushed away but refused to retreat.

The court heard he raised his hands to a member of the public who was shouting at him to go away and police intervened but he tried to move towards the Black Lives Matter group and police had to stop him.

He went on to tussle with police and tried to stop them detaining an offender then threw a can, hitting an officer on his helmet then joining in a surge. O’Brien was then seen to punch a member of the public, who was then also hit by someone else.

He was picked out by a football spotter who recognised him. The 55-year-old has 10 previous convictions, including for violent disorder six months before the city centre riot, after travelling to a Newcastle United match at Burnley and became involved in violence in a pub. He was jailed for two years and given a Football Banning Order for that.

Short, 28, of Stockwell Greet, Walkerville, Newcastle, who has previous convictions for threatening behaviour, battery and drunk and disorderly, was seen on footage wearing a Newcastle United face mask and a Green Bay Packers cap. Others were wearing the same cap and prosecutors suggested “this meant he has an affiliation to football risk groups”.

The court heard he was seen to pick up an item and hurl it towards the police and Black Lives Matter group then he searched the floor and found three more missiles which he threw, according to prosecutors but he pleaded guilty on the basis he only threw two items.

Barlow, 28, of Parklands Way, Felling, Gateshead, who has no previous convictions, who was not said to be affiliated with any specific group, was seen to throw a can of Stella Artois toward the police and Black Lives Matter supporters, which contributed to an escalation in a tense situation.

He was asked to leave by police but refused and was seen with his arms up joining in chanting. He was then seen to pick up items from the floor and threw them at mounted police.

One police officer on a horse was struck in the head and Barlow then threw a carrier bag containing items, possibly bottles or cans, which hit a horse in the face and head then landed on a police dog.

Helen Towers, for O’Brien, said there were a number of references for him and said he volunteers at a youth football club. She added that he had been elected by fellow prisoners as a violence reduction representative and has “excelled” in prison.

Miss Towers added: “He accepts full responsibility for his completely unacceptable behaviour. He bitterly regrets his actions and is determined to turn his life around.”

Jonathan Cousins, for Short, said: “When he got out of bed that morning to attend this protest it was not with any intention to commit acts of violence. He understands it was completely unacceptable and he regretted what he did almost immediately after it happened and has regretted it ever since.”

Brian Hegarty, for Barlow, said he threw a can he was drinking from as an “instinctive reaction” to items being thrown from the other group. He added: “What he did was reckless but not intended to hurt anybody and he very much hopes he didn’t hurt anybody.”

Mr Hegarty said Barlow was not linked to any of the groups who attended and had gone there after reading about the protest on Facebook. He added: “He is embarrassed and ashamed of himself about getting involved. He fully accepts what he did was stupid and he should not have put himself in that position. He has shown remorse and was at a low ebb at the time.”

Newcastle Chronicle

‘Neo-Nazi’ jailed for threatening to bomb NHS hospital at height of pandemic

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February 27, 2021
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Emil Apreda also threatened to bomb Black Lives Matter protesters and MPs if £10m not paid, investigators say

A man who posed as a neo-Nazi has been jailed for threatening to bomb an NHS hospital at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

Emil Apreda, a 33-year-old Italian man living in Berlin, threatened to place an explosive device in an unspecified English hospital unless he was paid £10m in Bitcoin.

His message purported to be from the neo-Nazi group Combat 18, but investigators said he used it as a “front for his extortion” and that he did not have access to a bomb.

Apreda emailed his threat to the NHS on 25 April 2020, but sent the same message to the National Crime Agency (NCA) control centre hours later.

Officials said they did not publicise the incident over fears that people would not seek hospital treatment because of safety concerns, and that Covid patients on ventilators would die if evacuated.

Tim Court, the head of investigations in the NCA’s cyber crime unit, said the threats were not known outside a “very tight circle” of people, including senior counter-terror police officers.

“Any loss of life was not acceptable to us – a lot was done, not a lot was known,” he said.

“This was one of the most significant threats we’ve seen in quite some time to UK infrastructure. At the height of this we were losing nearly 1,000 [Covid victims] a day and for six weeks we were trying to manage somebody who could have been planting a bomb in a hospital somewhere in the UK.”

Mr Court said concern about a potential bomb was heightened by the increased use of oxygen inside hospitals. Potential targets were “hardened” in response to the threat, he added.

Nigel Leary, who led the NCA operation, said the threat then evolved over the following weeks.

“Our offender paid close attention to other world events that were going on at the time to try to increase our perception of that threat and elicit the response they were after,” he told a press conference.

“After the death of George Floyd, they changed the modus operandi and threatened to place a bomb at a protest in support of the Black Lives Matter campaign.”

Then ahead of the anniversary of the assassination of Labour MP Jo Cox, who was killed by a neo-Nazi in June 2016, Apreda started threatening MPs.

On Friday, he was convicted of attempted extortion following a trial that started in December at Berlin’s Tiergarten District Court and jailed for three years.

Apreda was released on bail until the ruling is ratified, because under German law the verdict is not immediately binding and can be appealed within a week.

Investigators said Apreda, who previously worked in computing and privacy, was “confident” that he could hide his identity by using the dark web, encryption and other tools.

But analysis, including behavioural and linguistic science, narrowed down his location to several potential countries, whose investigative services were contacted, and Apreda was identified.

Armed police raided his Berlin flat and arrested him on 15 June, seizing electronic devices used for the scheme.

The NCA said that although Apreda was an Italian national, he was born in Berlin and there was “no realistic” prospect of him being extradited to the UK for trial.

The agency shared its material with German authorities, who also carried out their own investigation.

Mr Court said the investigation had not uncovered a link to the UK and that the NHS was believed to have been targeted because of its vulnerability at the time, rather than because Apreda had “an axe to grind”.

He said there was also no evidence of a true affinity with the far right, and the NCA believed the ideology was used in communications as an “attempt to utilise and leverage the fear that would engender”.

“This was serious crime, attempted extortion and using social engineering to make the risk seem more significant to try to get the response he wanted,” Mr Court added.

But he said that if the case had been tried in the UK, Apreda may have been charged with terror offences because of the nature and effect of his threats.

Lisa Jani, a spokesperson for the Berlin criminal courts, said British authorities appeared via video-link to give evidence at the trial and confirmed that no payment was made.

She said Apreda had been freed on bail and must report to police twice a week until the judgment is finalised.

An NHS spokesperson said: “The threat made during the extortion demand significantly added to the pressures on the NHS during the covid pandemic and meant senior leaders and emergency response staff were called on to direct the NHS aspects of the response to this threat.

“The threat and demand was made at a time that hospitals were at their most vulnerable, and could have resulted in significant loss of life.”

The Independent

Peter Griffen who made racist comments claimed he was ‘peacemaker’ at rowdy protest

By
October 22, 2020
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A RACIST yob who said “n*****s should be shot” claimed he was a “peacemaker” at a rowdy protest.

Peter Griffen was held by police during the large demo in Glasgow’s George Square on June 14 this year.

Activists from the Glasgow Youth Art Collective had planned to gather there demanding the removal of the statue of former Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel.

This was in the midst of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Hundreds of counter protestors then turned up to apparently protect statues from graffiti and damage.

Prosecutor Christopher McKnight told Glasgow Sheriff Court there was a “strong police presence” at George Square.

Griffen was part of a group described as becoming “aggressive” that day.

The 42-year-old was given the chance to leave the area, but ended up being arrested.

He initially threatened one officer also branding him a “c***”.

Griffen was hauled to a police station in the city where he was heard making racist jibes.

He stated: “They should do what they do in America and shoot the n*****s.”

Griffen also branded a police worker a “fenian dog” and made a remark about loyalist group the Ulster Freedom Fighters.

Marisa Borland, defending, told the hearing: “Mr Griffen, in his own view, had been acting as a peacekeeper that day.

“He had earlier separated a number of situations which could have caused significant disturbance.

“This also included clearing glass bottles from the area.”

The court heard Griffen kicked off at police when they wrongly thought he was banned from Glasgow city centre.

Miss Borland added: “He felt he was being treated unfairly.”

Griffen, of the city’s Shettleston, pleaded guilty to behaving in a threatening and abusive manner which was racially aggravated.

Sheriff Jonathan Guy said the crime merited jail and noted in a pre-sentencing report Griffen moaned he had been the “victim of police harassment”.

But, he concluded “somewhat reluctantly” he been persuaded against locking Griffen up.

The yob will instead carry out 270 hours of unpaid work and will be tagged for 81 days keeping him indoors between 9pm and 7am each day.

Glasgow Evening Times