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A family were subjected to a terrifying racist attack by a gang of yobs in the west end of Newcastle as they tried to move in their furniture

Daniel McStay, jailed for racist attacks in Elswick

Daniel McStay, jailed for racist attacks in Elswick

Vile racist thugs drove an Asian family out of their new home as they tried to move in.

The Ali family pulled up outside their new house in Elswick, Newcastle, only to be greeted by a seething gang of young yobs.

Boxer Daniel McStay and five or six youths started punching and kicking their car, telling them to get off “their estate” and threatening to kill them.

Terrified Mr Ali, who had his wife and three daughters in the car, frantically began reversing to try to get away as the gang kicked his car.

One of them threw a pint glass of beer at the back of his car, which smashed showering the car with alcohol and glass.

Fifteen minutes later McStay and two youths subjected another man to a racist attack as he waited in his car for his friend outside Elswick mosque.

As McStay, 22, was jailed for eight months, Mr Ali told how the incident had left him and his family scared to move in.

He said: “We had been looking forward to moving in to the new house but now we do not wish to do so.

“My daughters and wife are extremely upset, we have not been involved in an incident like this before.

“My family have been racially targeted for no reason. The damage to my car can be repaired, however mentally we have all suffered.”

Newcastle Crown Court heard the family were taking furniture to the house on Brittania Place, Elswick, around 3pm on March 23, ahead of moving in.

Just after Mr Ali, his wife and daughters, aged, 10, 18 and 19, pulled up, McStay and the others approached from behind, swigging alcohol.

Neil Pallister, prosecuting, said one of them shouted: “You better not be moving here or we will kill you, this is our estate.”

There followed a tirade of vile racist abuse and a 17-year-old started punching the driver’s side window shouting “Get out of here or I will kill you.”

Mr Pallister said: “All of the males were involved in the racial abuse and McStay joined in.

“Clearly Mr Ali and his family were in great fear and he began reversing his car down the street and turned round to drive away.

“As he reversed his car the group began kicking his car and ran after him and his family.

“One of them threw a pint glass which hit the rear window of the car, smashing glass and showering the car with alcohol as they drove away.”

After getting clear of the attack and reporting it to police, the family saw their car had been dented, causing hundreds of pounds of damage.

Mr Pallister said: “They were too scared and frightened to move into the address.”

Just fifteen minutes later McStay and two youths targeted an 18-year-old as he waited in his car outside Elswick mosque.

He was racially abused and told to leave the area and also had his car kicked.

Mr Pallister said: “The victim was very fearful for his safety and he locked his car door but the males continued to shout racial abuse at him.

“Fearing for his safety he felt obliged to reverse away out of the location. As he slowly drove away the gang followed him, waving their hands to shoo him away and one of them kicked his vehicle.”

Police caught up with them nearby and eventually Mcstay was also charged over the earlier attack after his trainer print was found on Mr Ali’s car.

McStay, of Kenilworth Road, Elswick, pleaded guilty to two charges of racially aggravated harassment, racially aggravated criminal damage and possessing cannabis.

He has previous convictions for offences including racially aggravated threatening words or behaviour, arson and affray.

Andrew Walker, defending, said: “These incidents were utterly reprehensible, deeply unpleasant and grossly offensive to those to whom it was aimed.

“It was pathetic in terms of the ignorance of those involved, who should all be utterly ashamed of themselves.”

Mr Walker added that McStay, who he said was not the prime mover, takes part in unlicenced boxing bouts.

Two 17-year-olds involved in the incidents were sent to the youth court to be dealt with.

Newcastle Chronicle

mcstay

mcstay 1

Cars are cleaned up after the graffiti attacks last November, by Ethan Hesketh

Cars are cleaned up after the graffiti attacks last November, by Ethan Hesketh

A FATHER-of-one who sprayed racist graffiti in Blackburn has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Ethan Hesketh, 24, covered property in a predominantly Asian area of the town with the letters ‘EDL’ and other offensive language.

The court heard how the defendant, formerly of Blackburn, but now living in Derby Square, Preston, also damaged 11 cars and stonework in Shear Brow and a sign belonging to Abbeydale Vets.

He pleaded guilty to five counts of racially aggravated criminal damage and nine further counts of criminal damage.

Sentencing him to 35 weeks in prison, suspended for two years, Judge Stuart Baker, sitting at Preston Crown Court, said the damage would have caused the victims ‘annoyance and inconvenience’.

He told Hesketh: “You were motivated by some antipathy towards people who are not British.

“You have brought this on yourself.

“These are serious offences because you left so many victims no doubt feeling thoroughly annoyed.”

And the judge asked Hesketh, who claimed he had almost given up drinking alcohol since causing the damage, if he was trying to make a statement by wearing a T shirt with the slogan ‘Let’s Get Smashed’ in court.

Hesketh replied: “I was in a rush this morning.”

As well as the suspended sentence, Hesketh must go back to the court periodically to make sure he is making progress, must attend a thinking skills course and pay £350 prosecution costs.

He will also be electronically tagged with a curfew from 8pm to 6am.

Defending, Amanda Johnson said Hesketh now had a job and was involved in looking after his two-year-old daughter.

She said: “He has no desire at all to go back to Blackburn. He has severed entirely contact with his previous crowd.

“No doubt having now had a couple of months of abstinence from illegal substances and, to a large extent, alcohol, he looks back and can see what were the negative influences in his life.

“He acknowledges that these offences are serious and wishes me to convey his remorse to the court.”

Nicola Riley, of East Park Road, Blackburn, was also charged in connection with the graffiti. No evidence was offered in her case and not guilty verdicts were entered.

This is Lancashire

DAMAGED ... the Jami-Masjid mosque on Chester Road.

DAMAGED … the Jami-Masjid mosque on Chester Road.

A RACIST thug has been fined for damaging a mosque after a far-right rally in Sunderland.

Connor McIntosh launched the attack on the Jami Masjid mosque in Chester Road, Sunderland, drunkenly kicking a drainpipe.

The 19-year-old had been at a demo over proposals for a new mosque in Millfield on March 30.

He was arrested after being captured on CCTV lashing out at the building.

Sunderland magistrates were told how he ranted about Islam and bragged about being a member of the EDL during his interview with police.

He pleaded guilty to causing racially-aggravated criminal damage.

Penny Bottomley, prosecuting, said McIntosh, an unemployed scrapman, was so drunk at first that he did not know why he had been arrested.

She said: “The defendant, when he was interviewed, was asked why he had been detained.

“He thought it was because he was too drunk, but then said there were too many mosques and they (Muslims) were grooming our kids.

“He said he had a child on the way and he did not want his child getting involved in all of that.

“Then he said the police should stop them burning our poppies.

“He confirmed he was a member of the EDL, and he was the male on the CCTV, and had ripped the pipe off the building himself.”

Jason Smith, defending, said father-to-be McIntosh, of Heathgate, Houghton-le-Spring, had never been in trouble before.

He said: “Usually, this is a matter that should have been dealt with by way of a caution.

“I accept the reason why it was not is because of the nature of the allegation, and because of his involvement with the EDL.”

Mr Smith told magistrates that the protest McIntosh had been to was organised with the “understanding” of the police and that McIntosh had the right to air his views.

He added: “Unfortunately, he had a bit too much to drink, and at the end of the march he caused damage to the drainpipe, then he walked away.

“He did not cause any more damage and he did not shout and swear or abuse anyone.”

McIntosh was fined £110 and ordered to pay £100 compensation to the mosque, along with £85 court costs and a £20 victim surcharge.

Shields Gazette

DRUNKEN Anthony Forrester broke a deaf man’s nose in an unprovoked attack outside his home.

Philip Cotterill, who is profoundly deaf, was at home with him mum in Lower Bethesda Street, Hanley, at 9.30pm on November 8 last year when he felt a slight vibration.

He went to investigate and noticed eggs had been thrown at his window. He went outside, but could not see anyone.

He asked a neighbour to call the police and as he returned to his house he saw the defendant approach from an alleyway at the side of his house.

Prosecutor Philip Beardwell told Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court yesterday that Mr Cotterill saw Forrester urinate outside the fire station before he walked towards him.

“Mr Cotterill closed his gate. The defendant’s body language was aggressive. Mr Cotterill asked him to go away repeatedly.

“The defendant ignored the request and then hit him directly to his nose with a clenched fist.

“The defendant then grabbed a brick pillar causing it to fall down. He picked up a brick. Mr Cotterill turned to go in his house when he felt a hard blow to the back of his head.

“He ran inside and closed the door behind him.”

The court heard police officers saw the tail end of the incident and witnessed Forrester throwing bricks.

Mr Cotterill was left with a broken nose and a small cut to the back of his head, which needed one stitch.

In his victim statement he said the attack had left him more vulnerable, nervous and depressed.

His sleep pattern had been affected, as had his daily life. He added that he had to have his nose corrected.

Forrester, aged 41, of Furnival Street, Cobridge, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and criminal damage.

Nicola Bell, defending, conceded it was a “dreadful” offence and a custodial sentence was inevitable.

She said Forrester, who has battled a heroin problem for most of his adult life, had no previous convictions for violence.

She said he was remorseful and apologised to Mr Cotterill and his mother.

“He was heavily in drink and had also taken diazepam. He has very little recollection of what occurred.

“He is not a violent man.”

Jailing Forrester for 20 months, Judge Paul Glenn said: “This was an unpleasant and totally unprovoked assault on an innocent man. He was deaf. There is no evidence you knew that, nor that you were responsible for the damage caused to his house which brought him out in the first place.

“While he was looking at the damage on the windows you came across the road. You punched him and hit him so hard you broke his nose.

“Not content with that, you pulled away part of a brick pillar. As he tried to flee you threw a brick at him.

“This has had a significant effect on Mr Cotterill.

“The offence is so serious only custody is appropriate.”

Stoke Sentinel

ALCOHOLIC Anthony Forrester attacked two supermarket security guards – after they asked him to pay for a bar of chocolate he had stolen and eaten.

The 44-year-old was in the Marks and Spencer store, in Hanley, on October 17 when he picked up a 69p bar of chocolate and ate it without paying.

North Staffordshire Magistrates Court heard yesterday how store security guards Ian Creed and Bekezela Ndlovu followed Forrester to Iceland, in Charles Street, to ask him to pay for the food.

Prosecuting, Giles Rowden said: “Mr Forrester picked up a bar of chocolate and ate it and threw the wrapper away.

“He was approached by the security guards and told them he would pay for it, but he then left the store.

“The security guards saw the defendant in the Iceland store where he became abusive.” The court heard that he racially abused and swore at Mr Ndlovu claimed he was a member of the English Defence League.

Mr Rowden added: “He was using abusive language towards Mr Ndlovu, who was just trying to do his job.

“The other security guard was then punched in the head and bit on the hand. Forrester was then arrested, but on the way to custody he damaged a Perspex cage belonging to Staffordshire Police.”

Forrester, of St Luke’s Court, in Hanley, pleaded guilty to five charges which included theft, assault by beating, criminal damage and using racially abusive and offensive language.

Defending, Nicola Bell, said: “Mr Forrester has not appeared before the court in a long time. He has tried to tackle what is a very real alcohol problem which he has not been very successful at addressing.

“These are serious offences and they are in the context of the record of a man who is now 44 years of age.”

Miss Bell added: “There are two sides to Anthony Forrester. He can be extremely vile and unacceptable, but then there is the Anthony Forrester who wants to change and wants to address issues from the past.

“There are deep-rooted problems here, but the daily issue is the alcohol.”

Magistrates told Forrester: “This was a nasty, alcohol-fuelled incident.”

He was handed an eight-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months with 12 months supervision and an alcohol treatment requirement for using racially abusive language and the same punishment for the assault on Ian Creed, to run concurrently.

He was given no further penalty for the theft and criminal damage charges.

However, he was told to pay £165 costs and £100 compensation to the victims as well as £20 for damage to Mr Creed’s watch and 69p to Marks and Spencer for the chocolate.


Stoke Sentinal

Anthony_Forrester

A 21-year-old man who scrawled “Lee Rigby’s killers should hang”, on the RAF Bomber Command War Memorial in London has been jailed for 12 weeks.

Daniel Smith admitted causing two counts of criminal damage on June 5, at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.

Smith, from Grecian Street North, Salford, Greater Manchester, said he did not realise it was a war memorial.

District Judge Quentin Purdy told him: “There are those who are deeply offended by what you chose to do.”

He added some people would “wish you considerable ill, I am sure, simply because you chose to do it”.

‘Appalling act’

Smith’s defence counsel, Colleen Gildernew, told an earlier hearing he was “disgusted with himself” over the act.

He had also daubed “EDL” and a swear word on the memorial in Green Park.

Damage to the memorial, created to remember the thousands of RAF crew who lost their lives in World War Two, amounted to £870.

The memorial was vandalised twice in just over a week, following the death of Fusilier Rigby in Woolwich, south east London, on 22 May.

Following the sentencing Baljit Ubhey, CPS London Chief Crown Prosecutor, said: “This was an appalling act of vandalism which defaced the memorial to the thousands of men who lost their lives in the Second World War flying for RAF Bomber Command.

“I hope that this prosecution will serve as a warning that such behaviour will not be tolerated in our city.”

Smith also pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to causing £510 of criminal damage to the wall of a commercial property in Knightsbridge.

Smith has 44 previous convictions, related mainly to shoplifting, the court was told.

BBC News

A man has pleaded guilty to scrawling graffiti about Fusilier Lee Rigby’s murder on the RAF Bomber Command War Memorial.

Daniel James Smith
, 21, of Grecian Street North, Salford, admitted writing “Lee Rigby’s killers should hang” on the memorial in central London on June 5 – a monument he did not realise was a war memorial.

Colleen Gildernew, defending, said: “He had no idea that the war memorial was a war memorial.

“He is very disgusted with himself, even more so because of that.”

Smith also daubed “EDL” and “F*** the police” on the memorial in Green Park, prosecutor Izolda Switala-Gribbin said.

Smith was planning on going to Fusilier Rigby’s funeral but was arrested and could not go, Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard.

Ms Gildernew said Smith had applied for a job in the British Army but was unsuccessful “because of his convictions as a young boy”.

The court heard Smith has 44 convictions and has appeared in different courts five times this year.

Ms Gildernew said the experiences of Smith’s two army friends – one who has lost both legs and another who suffers from memory loss as the result of a bomb – had an “emotional impact on him”.

The damage to the memorial, which was created to remember the thousands of RAF crew who lost their lives in the Second World War, amounted to £870.

The memorial was vandalised twice in just over a week following the murder of Fusilier Rigby in Woolwich, south east London, on May 22.

District Judge Quentin Purdy described the content of the graffiti inflicted on June 5 by Smith, and its location, as “highly emotive”.

He added that Smith’s actions clearly challenged the “tolerance we all seek to see in society”.

Mr Purdy said people will want to know what the court is doing about people, “brains in gear or not”, who inflict such damage.

The judge said he was prepared to explore all “reasonable options” for Smith moving on rather than being sent back into custody.

But he said a custodial sentence was a possibility, adding “there may be no alternative”.

Mr Purdy told Smith his punishment should “reflect the public’s concern about your criminal conduct”.

He told the 21-year-old his actions “caused offence to many”.

The court was told that Smith has spent the past 11 weeks in Feltham Young Offenders’ Institution and was released only yesterday.

Mr Purdy said it was “slightly worrying” that Smith was released with few arrangements in place.

Smith’s previous convictions relate mainly to shoplifting, Ms Gildernew told the court.

She said he was brought up by his grandmother and had little in terms of family support, describing his childhood as “unsettled”.

The court heard that he left school at the age of 15 with no qualifications, battled cannabis addiction in his teenage years and struggled with homelessness.

Ms Gildernew said Smith, dressed in a colourful T-shirt, was “shaking and very tearful” before the hearing.

Smith also pleaded guilty to causing £510 of criminal damage to a wall of a commercial property in Knightsbridge.

Mr Purdy remanded Smith in custody and adjourned sentencing until Tuesday November 5 at the same court pending further inquiries into suitable arrangements for him.

Cambridge News

TWO friends obsessed with Norwegian mass murderer Anders Breivik plotted a far-right hate campaign in Torbay, a court was told today.

John Roddy, 20, and Tobias Ruth, 18, daubed racist graffiti on a mosque and spray painted Brixham police station

bomb

The pair styled themselves as Knights Templar in homage to Breivik and sent letters to Islamic centres telling worshippers to leave the country.

At Exeter Crown Court today Ruth, from Brixham, was sent to a Young Offenders Institution for two years and nine months

He had previously admitted conspiracy to cause criminal damage and to send malicious communications.

Roddy, from Torquay, walked away from court with a suspended jail sentence. He admitted the conspiracy charges and possessing a terror manual on his computer.

Their arrests came in January after an area of Lymington Road in Torquay was sealed off by armed police who feared they may be dealing with a terrorist cell.

Exeter Crown Court was told that police had been hunting whoever was responsible for a series of graffiti attacks on various buildings in Torquay and Brixham dating back to July the previous year.

Red spray paint and the initials KT had been daubed on buildings and 72 incidents of criminal damage were later attributed to the pair.

Among the buildings targeted were Brixham police station; a council-owned building in St Mary’s Park; the Union Street car park in Torquay and a children’s play area in Plainmoor.

Racist slogans were sprayed on the Torquay Islamic Centre.

Police arrested Roddy after a large billboard had been daubed by the words ‘Knights Templar’

Police analysed Facebook traffic between Roddy and Ruth and discovered the pair had been in conversation about places to target.

Roddy’s laptop was found to contain an “al-Qaeda training manual” and Breivik’s ‘2083 A European Declaration of Independence’.

Jeremy Atkinson prosecuting, said: “Both developed an obsession with the personality and ideology of Anders Breivik, the convicted Norwegian terrorist and mass murderer.

“The defendants had attempted to act out to some extent their own form of activity under the banner of Knights Templar, an organisation discussed at some length by Anders Breivik and aspired to be part of that organisation or their own version of it.”

He said in July the pair had taken part in an ‘initiation right’ with each of them branding the other on the upper arm with a hot metal cross to signify their allegiance to the Knights Templar.

Letters sent to the Islamic Centre in Torquay included the words ‘Leave this town today or there will be hell to pay.’

Identical letters, shown to have been addressed by Roddy and using cut out letters from newspapers, were also sent to mosques in Brighton and Plymouth.

Lee Brembridge mitigating for Roddy, now of Old Mill Road,said there was no evidence any of the material found in his possession would be used for terrorist purposes and the material had not been distributed.

He said Roddy was shy and had been assessed by a mental health team. He also had Asperger’s and autism.

Roddy, he said, had come under the influence of Ruth after the pair met on a bricklayer’s course at South Devon College, at which point his family had started to notice a behavioural change.

Kevin Hopper, mitigating for Ruth, said his client was a ‘social inadequate’ who was easily influenced by others. He said Ruth had been 17 at the time and compensation claimed for the graffiti only amounted to £500.

But Judge Francis Gilbert QC said the real cost was far higher and ran into thousands of pounds.

“At least one of the acts of criminal damage was motivated by racial hatred,” he added.

“The racial element of the offences is obvious.”

Roddy was given 23 months in a Young Offenders Institution, suspended for two years and 18 months supervision.

Torquay Herald Express

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.

Read more at http://www.devonlive.com/man-launched-drunken-attack-exeter-mosque/story-17210666-detail/story.html#axzz2UdZMRgja#uZtE5ZJTB75XHro6.99

March 5th 2012

This Is Exeter

A RACIST thug downed more than 15 pints and numerous shots before abusing Asian taxi drivers and smashing a taxi window.

When police asked Jamie Takle how he thought the drivers felt about being racially abused, he replied: “To be honest I vote BNP – what does that tell you? They should all go back to their own country.”

Takle, of Aldwick Avenue, Hartcliffe, had been so aggressive on the night in question that a police officer had to spray CS gas in his face to arrest him.

The 23-year-old appeared at Bristol Magistrates’ Court yesterday to be sentenced after pleading guilty to three counts of racially aggravated harassment, one of racially aggravated criminal damage and one of harassment on December 24 last year.

Paul Ricketts, prosecuting, said Takle had been drinking at several pubs with friends including the Hartcliffe Inn and Three Lions in Bedminster by which time he had consumed nine pints of cider.

Later Takle went into town and headed to Antix on Park Street where he continued to down pints and shots, Mr Ricketts said.

“The defendant left the club and walked down Park Street where he flagged down a taxi,” he said.

“There was then a dispute about a fare and the taxi driver was subjected to racist abuse.

“The defendant then removed his belt, wrapped it around his fist and punched the side window with the buckle causing it to smash.”

Mr Ricketts said a second taxi – in which the occupants were also Asian – witnessed the incident and were also racially abused by Takle.

Mr Ricketts said: “Police arrived a short time later and the defendant made off resulting in a short chase.

“The defendant still had the belt wrapped around his hand. The defendant moved towards the police officer who deployed CS gas spray and the defendant was arrested.

“In interview the following afternoon he was asked how he thought the victims of his abuse would feel.

“He replied ‘To be honest I vote BNP – what does that tell you?

“They should all go back to their own country.”

Mr Ricketts added that the first taxi driver was strongly offended and felt he should not have to put up with abuse while he was at work.

John Search, defending, said it was only right that Takle was assessed by the probation service so they could address concerns about his alcohol abuse and racism issues.

Takle will be sentenced on March 23. He was released on bail.

This is Bristol