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Viewers slam ‘pathetic’ sentence given to vile racist who abused police officer on Call the Cops

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September 3, 2019
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Michael Westwood was filmed hurling abhorrent abuse at police officer Sam.

The sentence given to a racist who hurled vile abuse at a black police officer has been branded “pathetic” after the shocking incident was shown on last night’s episode of Call the Cops.

Viewers were given a glimpse of the abuse suffered by police officers working on the front line in the third episode of the Channel 4 show.

Officers Sam and Josh were filmed responding to a hostile incident involving a couple at an address in Plymouth.

Viewers watched in horror as Michael Westwood made repetitive references to the colour of Sam’s skin, along with references to an Islamaphobic organisation during a prolonged verbal attack.

Westwood was arrested for a racially aggravated public order offence.

The footage left viewers reeling in anger.

Following the show, Devon and Cornwall Police revealed the sentence handed to Westwood, who failed to turn up to his sentencing hearing.

In a tweet the force said: “For those who watched episode three of #CallTheCops, Michael Westwood was charged and pled guilty to a racially aggravated public order offence.

“He didn’t appear at the hearing which took place at Plymouth Magistrates’ Court in August,

“In his absence Westwood was fined £350 plus costs of £85 to go to the CPS and a surcharge of £35.

“Victim compensation was set at £50.

“Unacceptable

Viewers were quick to hit out at the sentence, branding it “pathetic”, “disgraceful” and “shameful”.

One said: “And this is why criminals don’t give a toss, no consequences. That guy made me, just a normal white guy, feel ashamed of my so called fellow race.”

Another added: “Is that it?! So he probably doesn’t have a job and WE will end up paying it. Not a deterrent at all that is it?! Sad times.”

Many felt the offence justified a prison sentence.

One person tweeted: “That is a shameful. That guy deserved jail time.”

While a second viewer wrote: “Should have been jailed for at least 5 yrs…no wonder crime is rife….no punishment!”

There was also widespread support and praise for Sam, who revealed the force had offered to take him off the front line in order to protect him for abuse.

Sam’s experience

Speaking about the racial abuse he has received throughout his career, Sam said: “In all seriousness, I have lost count of the amount of times I’ve been racially abused.

“Peoples attitude towards race had on the whole got better, with the exception of three years ago when the political world started to change.”

Sam went on to admit that the force gave him the option of leaving the front line, in an attempt to stop the racial abuse.

“In 2016 the force legal team, their concern was my welfare,” he said.

“They wanted to know whether I wanted to remain as a response office or whether I wanted to be removed from the front line to save myself being racially abused.

“My response to that was I joined the police to be a response officer and work on the front line. If someone racially abuses me because of the colour of my skin, I’m not the one who has the problem, they’re the ones that have the problem.

“They’re the ones that are going to have to learn that black police officers, male or female reflect the society we live in and we make society safe.

“That was the message I wanted our senior management to be aware of.”

Plymouth Herald

Sunderland yob who ripped off woman’s niqab jailed after attacking former female friend with hammer while out on licence

By
August 27, 2019
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A yob who made headlines when he ripped a woman’s niqab from her face in Sunderland has been jailed after attacking a former female friend with a hammer.

Peter Scotter, 58, hit the woman on the head with the tool in a pub in Sunderland, causing a 5.5cm laceration to the top of her head after she spurned his advances.

At the time of the attack Scotter was on licence for racially aggravated common assault after he tore a headscarf from a Muslim woman in The Bridges shopping centre.

Scotter had told his victim, “you’re in our country now, get out”, and, “our Britain, you live by our rules”, as racial tension in the country ran high in the days after Britain voted to leave the EU.

He was jailed for 15 months before being released on licence.

Newcastle Crown Court heard how at around 10pm on September 3 last year Scotter entered The Charltons pub in Sunderland.

Harry Hadfield, prosecuting, told the court the victim regarded him as a friend until he asked her to be his girlfriend, after which she avoided him.

Mr Hadfield said: “She was standing at the bar and recalls the defendant spoke to her.

“What she felt was a painful blow to the top of her head and when she looked up what she saw was the defendant with a hammer in his hand.

“She was struck with a hammer, one blow, when they were face to face.”

Scotter was then escorted out by other people in the pub.

Mr Hadfield told the court that in her victim impact statement the woman had said she had done absolutely nothing to deserve the attack, felt he could have “killed her” and was now anxious to leave her home.

On July 3 2016 Scotter, who at the time had 70 previous convictions, had approached a 29-year-old Muslim woman while she waited for her husband outside a shop.

He then reached out and pulled her niqab veil from her head and threw it on the ground – exposing her face to the public.

The court heard how Scotter shouted, “take that off, you stupid Muslim”, along with other racist slurs and the victim was left exposed and scared by what happened to her.

In relation to the most recent case Anthony Hawks, defending, said: “It is important that the events be looked at against the background.

“The background is that despite what the complainant says, it is she who wanted to have a relationship with the defendant who is married. He declined that.”

Mr Hawks said that Scotter said she had begun a campaign, including posts on social media against him, which lead him to believe that she was responsible for intimidating his mother.

He told the court: “That’s what caused the red mist to descend and for him to behave in the way he did.

“Nothing can justify what the defendant did, it was a cowardly and disgraceful thing to do and the defendant knows that.”

He added that Scotter is working and has stayed out of trouble for the last year since the incident.

Scotter pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and having an offensive weapon at an earlier hearing.

Mr Recorder Andrew Dallas sentenced Scotter, of Hendon Close, Sunderland, to 12-months imprisonment and said: “This was an extremely serious incident.

“It was not spontaneous, it was premeditated.

“You have an appalling record, especially for violence.”

Mr Recorder Dallas also put a five-year restraining order in place, preventing him from contacting the victim and ordered Scotter to pay a victim surcharge.`

Sunderland Echo

Men guilty of smashing windows of MP Helen Goodman’s office

By
July 22, 2019
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Colin Dodds, left, and Alan Dent, right, who have today been convicted of causing criminal damage to MP Helen Goodman’s office window

TWO men “deliberately targeted” the office of Helen Goodman MP in a politically motivated attack by throwing bricks through the windows, a judge has said.

Colin Dodds and Alan Dent have today been jailed after they were convicted of causing criminal damage to the Bishop Auckland MP’s office.

District Judge Helen Cousins has sentenced Dent to eight weeks and Dodds to 12 weeks in custody.

This morning, Dent, 50, of Co-operative Street, Shildon, admitted a charge of causing criminal damage after losing his temper and throwing a brick through a window.

And Dodds, 44, of Douthwaite Road, Bishop Auckland, denied the charge, but he has been found guilty of the offence.

The judge said the pair had deliberately targeted the MP’s office.

She said: “I saw two men walking down the street in a determined way with bricks in their hands and low and behold windows were then smashed.

“I have no hesitation in finding that it was deliberate – there can be no other reason than it being politically motivated for them to chose that building. This was a targeted attack on a sitting MP’s office.”

Teesside Magistrates Court heard how the pair had been supporters of far-right organisations, including the English Defence League (EDL) and had been subject to police surveillance while taking part in Anti-Islamic protest marches across the region.

Dent had told the court that he was ‘fully’ responsible for the damage but denied it was politically motivated maintaining that he lost his temper after spending the day drinking in Bishop Auckland town centre.

He said he was angry after seeing his ex-partner in town and got into an argument with a friend before picking up the bricks and threatening to ‘smash his head in’.

Dent told the court that his co-accused grabbed a brick out of his hand to stop him attacking their friend.

Under cross examination from Ann Mitchell, prosecuting, Dent said: “When I found out he (Dodds) had been arrested, I wanted to come to prove my guilt and prove Colin’s innocence.

“He stopped me doing something worse when he took a brick off me.”

She asked Dent whether he came to court to plead guilty and keep Colin Dodds out of trouble, he said: “It definitely wasn’t a planned attack, I was in my best clothes, it was broad daylight and I was drunk.

“He had absolutely nothing to do with it.”

Two windows at Ms Goodman’s constituency office on Cockton Hill Road, Bishop Auckland, were broken after being hit with house bricks on the evening of Saturday, April 6.

Dodds denied the attack was related to Ms Goodman’s stance on Brexit. He said: “I had no prior knowledge of it before it happened; it wasn’t planned and I had nothing to do with it.”

Under cross examination, Dodds vehemently denied hurling a brick through the window and maintained they were walking to his home on the Woodhouse Close estate.

Northern Echo

Tommy Robinson given nine-month jail sentence for contempt of court

By
July 11, 2019
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Far-right activist will serve 10 weeks after being found guilty of breaching reporting ban

Tommy Robinson pictured outside the Old Bailey, where his supporters later clashed with police. Photograph: Luke Dray/Getty Images

Tommy Robinson has been given a nine-month prison sentence – of which he will serve about 10 weeks – after he was found guilty of contempt of court at an earlier hearing.

Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, broadcast reports that encouraged “vigilante action” and “unlawful physical” aggression against defendants in a sexual exploitation trial, according to the judges who found him guilty last week.

Passing sentence on Thursday, Dame Victoria Sharp said of Robinson: “He has lied about a number of matters and sought to portray himself as the victim of unfairness and oppression.

“This does not increase his sentence, but it does mean that there can be no reduction for an admission of guilt.”

Robinson, 36, from Luton in Bedfordshire, had denied breaching a reporting ban by livestreaming footage of defendants arriving at court. He insisted he had only referred to information already in the public domain.

After deduction for time served, the sentence will amount to 19 weeks, of which he will serve half before being released.

The former leader of the far-right English Defence League flashed a V for victory sign to the public gallery upon hearing the sentence, and later winked as he slung a bag over his shoulder and was led away by prison officers.

He arrived outside the Old Bailey dressed in blue jeans and a black T-shirt bearing the words “convicted of journalism”, but was wearing a plain black one inside, where his barrister apologised for the defendant’s late arrival. Sharp, the lead judge, said: “Well, it’s not a very good start, is it?”

Police officers put on riot helmets and drew batons as bottles and cans were thrown when a crowd of Robinson supporters outside the court erupted with anger after the news from inside filtered through.

At least three people were arrested, City of London police said. The crowd later made its way to the Carriage Gates of the Houses of Parliament, blocking roads as they went.

Blocking the roads outside parliament they waved signs bearing slogans including “Tommy Robinson: political prisoner”, chanted support for the far-right activist and other slogans in favour of Brexit, as well as calling MPs “traitors”.

There were some briefly chaotic scenes as some protesters shouted abuse at police, and then crowded and jostled officers when one person was detained. Some protesters yelled “Paedophile protesters!” at police.

Several members of the crowd were holding cans of beer or cider, and one was overheard making racist comments.

The crowd, diminishing in numbers, moved around Parliament Square for a period before heading in the direction of Victoria.

Passing sentence at the Old Bailey alongside Mr Justice Warby, Sharp told Robinson they were in no doubt the custody threshold had been passed and the judges had taken account of information including the impact of prison on his health and family.

Aidan Eardley, the barrister for the attorney general, who had made the application for Robinson to be jailed, began earlier by outlining the sentencing options, adding that complicating factors included time already served, which amounted to 68 days in custody.

Robinson had been sentenced to 10 months when he was first jailed for the video he livestreamed from outside Leeds crown court, but appeal judges then ordered the case be reheard in full.

His barrister, Richard Furlong, said there had been no further incidences of contempt and asked the court to consider any actual harm caused by his client’s actions.

“Notwithstanding the seriousness of what has been found to be proven against him, in terms of actual harm to the trial of the criminal defendants in Leeds, there is no suggestion that the criminal defendants in Leeds did not have a fair trial, notwithstanding his conduct outside the court,” Furlong said.

Addressing his client’s state of mind, Furlong said there were a number of relevant categories, and “recklessness” was not as serious as others from the point of view of sentencing.

After sentencing, Furlong raised the possibility of an appeal against the court’s decision on contempt and was told he had 28 days to apply.

Speaking afterwards, the attorney general, Geoffrey Cox, said: “Today’s sentencing of Yaxley-Lennon serves to illustrate how seriously the courts will take matters of contempt.”

Nick Lowles, the chief executive of the campaign group Hope Not Hate, said: “Stephen Lennon put at risk the trial of men accused of horrendous crimes with his livestreaming antics. He doesn’t care about the victims of grooming, he only cares about himself. He now faces yet another stint behind bars.”

Earlier this week, Robinson made an emotional appeal to the US president, Donald Trump, to grant him asylum, claiming he faced being killed in prison.

On Thursday, he was supported in court by the far-right commentator Katie Hopkins. Others in court included Ezra Levant, the founder of the Rebel Media, a Canadian far-right website.

Gerard Batten, the former Ukip leader who had taken on Robinson as an adviser before the party was wiped out in the European parliament elections in May, addressed the crowd outside from a stage.

Robinson meanwhile issued an appeal using the Telegram messaging app for supporters to protest outside prison on Saturday.

A full decision of the high court, released on Tuesday, explained the reasons for ruling against him. Sharp, the president of the Queen’s bench division, and Warby produced a three-page judgment setting out their findings last week.

“We are entirely satisfied that [Robinson] had actual knowledge that there was an order in force restricting reporting of the trial,” the judges concluded. “He said as much, repeatedly, on the video itself.”

Robinson was found to have committed contempt by breaching a reporting restriction, risked impeding the course of justice and interfered with the administration of justice by “aggressively and openly filming” the arrival of defendants at court.

Commenting on the impact of Robinson’s actions, the judges said: “The dangers of using the unmoderated platforms of social media, with the unparalleled speed and reach of such communications, are obvious.”

The Guardian

Mum stripped, doused in vodka and punched by EDL thug after she said no to marriage

By
July 10, 2019
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Gemma Hudson, 29, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, had to be put into a coma because her injuries were so severe

Gemma was brutally beaten for saying no to a marriage proposal

When mum-of-five Gemma Hudson turned down her boyfriend’s marriage proposal she could not have imagined the horror that was the come.

The 29-year-old was stripped naked, doused in vodka and punched so hard she crashed through a patio window during her terrifying four hour ordeal.

Gemma, of Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, was so brutally attacked by EDL thug Bernard Holmes she was vomiting blood as she begged him to stop.

Holmes choked, headbutted, ripped out chunks of Gemma’s hair, threw her to the floor, kicked her, banged her head against a wall and radiator and bit her on the face and mouth.

What makes the brutal assualt even more chilling is just moments earlier, he had been pleading with her to marry him.

Holmes subjected Gemma to a horrific four hour ordeal (Image: Focus Features)

Gemma finally escaped the terrible attack when she grabbed a back door key and fled wearing just a hooded sweatshirt.

She said: “One minute he was asking me to marry him, the next he was punching me over and over again.

“I really thought I was going to die. He was like a mad man.”

Gemma’s injuries were so bad she had to be put into an induced coma for three days with a bleed on the brain.

She also had soft tissue damage to the jaw, which meant she was forced to eat a liquid diet and had bruises all over her face and body, as well as bite marks.

And while her panic-stricken mother, Lesley, sat at her hospital bedside, Holmes, who was jailed for 18 months in 2012 for leading a violent English Defence League protest in Blackburn, was texting her telling her to ‘stop milking it’.

Holmes, who led other EDL protests outside a KFC dressed as a chicken in 2010, went on the run for 10 days after beating up Gemma, the mother of his seven-month old son, Harley-Ryan.

Gemma, who works as a kitchen assistant at a care home during the week and a licensed door supervisor at weekends, said: “He asked to meet up with me, so I went to his house to talk to him.

“Everything was fine at first. He said he wanted to get back with me and be a proper family.

“He’d asked me to marry him several times before but this time he got down on one knee and asked me again.

“Things had not been right between me and Bernard, and we had been off and on for several months.

“He had never been violent before, but I told him that it could never work between us.

“He seemed to take it in, but then he took my phone and started scrolling through the messages.

“He found an invitation to a hen night and hit the roof. He texted all my friends to tell them I wasn’t going.

“The next minute he was raining punches on me to the point I was sick all over his living room floor.

“I looked up and saw him taking photos of me being sick and shared them on WhatsApp. He was laughing like a madman.

“He would ask me questions while strangling me. He would count down ‘five, four, three, two, one’ then he would either punch me, headbutt me or bite the side of me face and then floor me.

“He would then pick me back up by my hair or my throat.

“He punched me so hard, I fell through the patio door. I could feel the cold air on my face and I tried to scream for help and he put his hand over my mouth and dragged me back in.

“I was thrown on settee by my hair and punched in the face. I asked to wash my mouth out. I could feel myself choking on my own blood.

“I spotted the back-door key on the kitchen work top. I put the tap on to pretend I was washing my mouth out and managed to grab the key and get out of the door.

“All I had on was one of his hoodies. I had nothing on my feet.

“I ran to the next street to get help. He was seen on CCTV chasing me round the street and round a car.

“I was screaming at the top of my voice. I thought I was going to die.

“A man came out and helped me, followed by another. Then I remember blue flashing lights.

“Bernard ran off and was on the run from the police for 10 days.”

Gemma, who met Holmes while stewarding at Accrington Stanley two years ago, said she was aware of his past when she met him but not the full extent of it.

She said she wished she had looked into Clare’s Law, the domestic violence disclosure scheme, when she met him and encouraged other women to do so.

During their relationship, Gemma said binge-drinking Holmes would regularly accuse her of cheating on him and verbally abuse her.

She added: “I no longer feel safe going out. I’m practically a prisoner in my own home. I feel trapped. I’m terrified of something happening to me and my kids.

“He ripped clumps of my hair out and left me with bald patches. I feel so self-conscious and paranoid.

“I do regret meeting him. I should have listened to others who said he was violent.

” I had no idea what he was really like and I had no idea about the far-right marches and all the violence.

“I was disgusted when I found out. The only good thing that has come out of this is my son.”

Holmes, who was jailed for 28 months in 2010 for leaving victim Sean Baxendale with catastrophic injuries in a two-punch attack outside Bar Ibiza in Blackburn, pleaded guilty to ABH and harassment.

He was jailed for three years at Preston Crown Court and Recorder Murray also imposed a restraining order banning Holmes from contacting Ms Hudson for life.

Det Con David Richardson said: “This was a nasty and sustained attack and Holmes deliberately caused more harm than was necessary, leading to significant injuries.

“The police will continue to deal robustly with perpetrators of domestic violence and put them before the courts.”

Daily Mirror

Blackburn far-right thug subjected girlfriend to brutal four-hour attack

By
July 9, 2019
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A BRAVE mother-of-five has spoken of her terror at having to run away from her abusive and controlling partner in nothing but a hoodie after a brutal and prolonged attack.

Gemma Hudson, 29, told how she was vomiting blood as her ex-boyfriend, convicted right-wing thug Bernard Holmes, landed punch after punch in his Blackburn home on the same day he asked her to marry him.

She said he also choked her, headbutted her, ripped out chunks of her hair, threw her to the floor, kicked her, banged her head against a wall and a radiator, and bit her on the face and mouth in the four-hour attack on April 14.

Ms Hudson was put into an induced coma for three days with a bleed on the brain. She also had soft tissue damage to the jaw, which meant she was forced to endure a liquid diet and had bruises all over her face and body, as well as bite marks.

While Ms Hudson was in hospital Holmes, who was jailed for 18 months in 2012 for leading a violent English Defence League flashmob protest in Blackburn, was texting her telling her to ‘stop milking it’.

Holmes, who led EDL protests outside Blackburn’s Haslingden Road KFC dressed as a chicken in 2010, fled after beating up Ms Hudson – the mother of one of his two children – in Pilmuir Road but gave himself in after 10 days.

Reliving the terrifying attack Ms Hudson, who works as a kitchen assistant at a care home during the week and a licensed door supervisor at weekends, said: “I went to his house at about 3pm. For an hour it was fine. From about 4pm to 8pm it was constant beating.

“I had asked to got to my friend’s hen party on the Thursday. It was for the older friends and relatives and those with children who couldn’t go to the one abroad. It was a surprise thing so, because I had to keep it to myself, I had only told him a few days earlier. He was scrolling through my phone and had text my best friend and told her I wasn’t going without my knowledge.

“The next minute he was raining punches on me to the point I was sick all over his living room floor. He took pictures of me being sick and shared them on Whatsapp.

“He would ask me questions while strangling me. He would count down ‘five, four, three, two, one’ then he would either punch me, headbutt me or bite the side of me face and then floor me. He would then pick me back up by my hair or my throat.

“After a while I asked to wash my mouth out. I could feel myself choking on my own blood. I put the tap on to pretend I was washing my mouth out and managed to run out the door. All I had on was one of his hoodies. I had nothing on my feet.

“I legged it to the next street to get help. He was seen on CCTV chasing me round the street and round a car. When everyone came out because they could hear me screaming he ran off and was on the run from the police for 10 days.”

Ms Hudson, who met Holmes while stewarding at Accrington Stanley two years ago, said she was aware of his past when she met him but not the full extent of it.

She said she wished she had looked into Clare’s Law, the domestic violence disclosure scheme, when she met him and encouraged other women to do the same.

During their relationship which she described as being “on and off like a light”, Ms Hudson said Holmes assaulted her on more than one occasion – although she never reported that to the police – would regularly accuse her of cheating on him, throw her belongings out of the car, kick her out of the car and make her walk home and verbally abuse her.

Ms Hudson, of Oswaldtwistle, said she has now lost confidence and fears reprisals. She said she has been unable to go out because she has been left with bald patches where Holmes had ripped her hair out and has been left with jaw pain.

She added: “I do regret meeting him. I should have listened to everybody else who said he was a girl beater and violent. The only good thing that has come out of this is my son,”

Holmes, who was jailed for 28 months in 2010 for leaving victim Sean Baxendale with catastrophic injuries in a two-punch attack outside Bar Ibiza in Blackburn, pleaded guilty to ABH and harassment.

He was jailed for three years at Preston Crown Court and Recorder Murray also imposed a retraining order banning Holmes from contacting Ms Hudson for life.

Det Con David Richardson said: “This was a nasty and sustained attack and Holmes deliberately caused more harm than was necessary, leading to significant injuries. The police will continue to deal robustly with perpetrators of domestic violence and put them before the courts”

For help and advice on domestic abuse visit http://www.lancashire.police.uk/help-advice/personal-safety/domestic-abuse

Lancashire Telegraph

Tommy Robinson guilty over Facebook broadcast

By
July 5, 2019
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Ex-English Defence League leader Tommy Robinson has been found in contempt of court for his Facebook Live broadcast of defendants in a criminal trial.

He was found guilty of interfering with the trial of a sexual grooming gang at Leeds Crown Court in May 2018.

High Court judges found his conduct “amounted to a serious interference with the administration of justice”.

The court ruled that Robinson committed contempt by breaking reporting restrictions.

The 36-year-old, from Luton, had denied any wrongdoing, saying he did not believe he was breaching reporting restrictions and only referred to information that was already in the public domain.

One of the senior judges, Dame Victoria Sharp, said the court will consider what penalty to impose for the contempt – which carries a maximum penalty of two years – and give full reasons for the decision at a later date.

He was originally jailed for 13 months after being found in contempt of court on the day of the broadcast but was released two months into his sentence after winning an appeal.

The case was then referred back to the attorney general, who announced in March that it was in the public interest to bring fresh proceedings.

BBC News

Football fan jailed for assaulting Blackburn stewards

By
June 27, 2019
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Ewan Corbett admitted assaulting two stewards at a Blackburn Rovers match

A fan who assaulted two stewards at a football match has been sentenced to 23 weeks in a young offenders institution.

Ewan Corbett, 20, punched one steward and pushed another one over at a match between Blackburn Rovers and Middlesbrough in February, police said.

Security staff were attempting to remove a supporter from Ewood Park’s away end when Corbett attacked them.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of assault at Preston Magistrates Court on 17 June.

Corbett, of Albermarie Drive, Catterick Garrison in North Yorkshire, was also given an eight-year football banning order.

PC Dan Fish said: “Corbett’s actions against two stewards just doing their jobs were shocking and disgraceful.

“This kind of behaviour cannot be tolerated and this kind of sentence shows the seriousness of behaving in this manner.”

BBC News

‘You equate all those of Muslim heritage with grooming gangs and terrorism’ – Judge jails ‘highly racist’ dad who organised Stoke-on-Trent far-right march

By
May 2, 2019
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Racist David Shufflebottom has been locked up after he helped organise an anti-Muslim demonstration in a town centre.

The 33-year-old was a member of far-right group Stoke-on-Trent Infidels, which arranged the ‘Britain First’ protest in Burslem.

He was captured on police body-cam footage waving a huge Union Flag and shouting racist and religious abuse – in the presence of children.

Shufflebottom also posted several offensive posts on Facebook encouraging people to attend an English Defence League march in Worcester.

He has now been jailed for 15 months at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court, as a senior judge branded him ‘highly racist’.

‘The defendant is entrenched as anti-Muslim…’

Prosecutor Richard McConaghy described Shufflebottom as ‘an orchestrator’ of the Britain First march, which took place in October 2017.

He said: “The defendant is entrenched as anti-Muslim, involved in Britain First marches and a member of the online group the Stoke-on-Trent Infidels.

“The defendant attended the Burslem march and to a certain extent was an orchestrator of what took place. He is seen on the footage repeatedly shouting anti-Muslim abuse.”

Shufflebottom, of Wellfield Road, Bentilee, was arrested in February 2018 and interviewed by police. Mr McConaghy said: “He made it clear he was anti-Muslim and directly criticised the Koran.”

In August last year, while he was still on police bail in relation to that incident, he wrote several posts on his own Facebook page in support of an English Defence League march in Worcester.

He made a number of derogatory comments about Islam, and posted a map of Worcester indicating routes those involved could use to get away from the area where the march was planned.

Shufflebottom also posted a ‘rant about Muslim taxi drivers’ on the Stoke-on-Trent Infidels Facebook page.

The father-of-two pleaded guilty to two charges of racially or religiously-aggravated intentional harassment, alarm or distress.

The court heard he had 12 previous convictions for 20 offences including racially aggravated public order offences.

Adrian Harris, mitigating, said Shufflebottam had spent his formative years in the care system mixing with certain people that had ‘skewed his thinking and how he perceived the world’.

Mr Harris said: “Between 2012 and 2017 he committed no offences. He moved out of town, had a settled family and accommodation. The tragedy is they then moved to another area, work was not what it was and things spiralled.

“He is a man with an addictive personality and he then found Facebook. It was not his friend.”

The court heard the defendant had now ‘stepped away’ from these type of protests and social media, and wanted to become a role model for his two children.

”Racism is evil…’

Sentencing Shufflebottom to 15 months in prison, Judge Paul Glenn told him: “I find you are highly racist. You seem to equate all those of Muslim heritage with paedophilia, grooming gangs, Muslim extremism and terrorism. You are unable to keep those views to yourself.

“Racism is evil and there is no doubt whatsoever that these offences are so serious that only immediate custody is appropriate.”

Stoke Sentinel

Racist dad abused black school teacher then turned up at gates with an axe

By
March 22, 2019
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A dad hurled racist abuse at his child’s school teacher after they were injured in a playground accident, before returning to the school the next day armed with an axe, a court heard.

Stephen Cosgrove, 36, targeted the teacher, who is black, verbally attacking him with racist and homopohobic slurs after his child’s arm was broken.

The next day, on February 8, he turned up at the gates of Brownhills School in Walsall, West Midlands and continued his rant towards teachers while holding the terrifying weapon.

Stephen Cosgrove has been jailed for a year for racially abusing his child’s black teacher at school and turning up at the gates with an axe

Stephen Cosgrove has been jailed for a year for racially abusing his child’s black teacher at school and turning up at the gates with an axe

Unemployed Cosgrove, of Walsall, has been jailed for a year and handed a restraining order for the public order offences.

He has been ordered not to contact any employee of Brownhills School and not to go within 100 yards of the building.

n a victim impact statement, the teacher, who has not been named, said: ‘I am a black teacher and this is my fifth year in my teaching career.

‘I have never experienced extreme racial abuse, violent threatening behaviour and intimidating far right views from parents at school, as demonstrated by Cosgrove.

‘The constant thought of his threatening acts of violence has caused me to avoid going out publicly due to the overwhelming fear of being injured or assaulted, which has left me feeling vulnerable.’

PC Paul Watts, from West Midlands Police, said after the case: ‘Both the aggressive incidents were witnessed by students at the school, who heard the swearing and racist language.

‘What Cosgrove did was unacceptable and created fear for not only pupils, but the teachers who had to face him.

‘I am glad we have brought this man to justice and hope it can serve as an example that we will not tolerate this type of abuse in our community.’

Metro