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Jail for Sunderland man who launched racist attack on woman wearing an Islamic head garment

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July 3, 2017
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A serial criminal who launched a foul-mouthed racist attack on a woman wearing an Islamic head garment has been locked up for more than a year.

Peter Scotter’s barrister insisted it was no co-incidence that his client committed the offences just weeks after the Brexit referendum last year and amid continued political discussions

“playing the race card”.

Scotter, 56, of Beach Street, Roker, Sunderland, assaulted the mother, who was shopping with her nine-year-old son and husband, and said “you are in our country now” before beginning his tirade of racial abuse.

The force he then used to pull off the niqab garment in July last year in the Bridges Shopping Centre, Sunderland, caused her to fall to the floor.

Tony Hawks, defending, told Newcastle Crown Court that in the weeks leading up to the attack certain politicians and sections of the press had been “playing the race card”.

He said there was “no doubt that what he did was an ignorant and despicable piece of behaviour” and he was an “ignorant and ill-educated man” who “knows nothing whatsoever about Islam”.

But he added: “It’s no coincidence that this occurred within a week or so of the Brexit referendum. Where the press and politicians were banging the drum about taking our country back.

“They were playing the race card and, in the case of Ukip, a disgraceful advertisement showing a queue of refugees.

“He has to take responsibility for his own actions, but is it simply a coincidence that after listening to weeks of that rhetoric the defendant was not affected?”

Prosecutor Neil Pallister told the court that Scotter was escorted out of the centre by a security guard after the assault but refused to comply with two police community support officers and continued the torrent of abuse.

At a previous hearing he admitted racially aggravated assault by beating and racially aggravated harassment.

He has also been receiving treatment for cancer in his mouth, meaning Monday’s sentencing hearing was postponed a number of times.

The court heard he had 70 previous convictions, including throwing bricks with racist stickers on them at a house with refugees inside.

Mr Pallister said the victim described how she regularly suffers abuse but that this was way beyond what she and her family normally endured.

She said it had left her fearful to go out and “disgusted” that it had happened in front of her son.

Members of the public who ran to her help spoke of their shock and one shop assistant said she was moved to tears.

Jailing Scotter for 15 months, Judge Stephen Earl said he had used “appalling language” in a public place.

He said: “Comments such as these cannot be acceptable in a civilised society.”

He also ordered him to pay a victim surcharge of £140.

Sunderland Echo

Peter Scotter jailed over Sunderland niqab attack

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July 3, 2017
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A man who pulled a niqab off a woman’s face and called her a “stupid” Muslim has been jailed for 15 months.

Peter Scotter shouted “You are in our country now” when he attacked his victim, who was with her young son, at a Sunderland shopping centre last July.

The 56-year-old, of Beach Street, Roker, had admitted racially aggravated assault by beating and racially aggravated harassment.

He was sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court.

The judge said it was “appalling abusive behaviour grounded in religious bigotry”.

At an earlier hearing, the court was told the victim, 29, was standing outside the Bridges shopping centre when Scotter grabbed her veil and almost threw her to the ground.

After his arrest, he said: “She could have been a bomber.”

His victim was left feeling as if she could not go out, prosecutor Laura Lax said.

Tony Hawks, defending, said Scotter had recently been diagnosed with a cancerous tumour under his tongue and was due to undergo surgery.

He had 66 previous convictions, including actual bodily harm and racially aggravated criminal damage.
BBC News

Victim left battered with shoeprint on her face after street beating by Sunderland thug

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July 1, 2017
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A street assault victim found her attacker sound asleep in her bed when she returned home after the violence.

The woman was battered and bruised, with a shoeprint on her face, after a beating in the street by Jordan Stacey.

Newcastle Crown Court heard when the injured mum realised the 24-year-old was asleep in her bed and could not be woken, she locked him in the house and the police were contacted.

Prosecutor Paul Rowland told the court the victim had been in a previous relationship with Stacey, which had broken up a year before the attack on May 8.

Mr Rowland said the former couple had been on the same night out in Ashington where they had kissed and spent time together.

During the evening, the victim began to suspect Stacey had taken her telephone and a bunch of keys, which sparked violence when she confronted him.

The court heard during an initial attack Stacey knocked his victim unconscious with a blow.

When she came to and asked him for her belongings, the violence flared again.

Mr Rowland said: “He punched her with fists, knocked her to the floor and while on the floor she was kicked and stamped on, numerous times.”

The court heard Stacey ran off from the attack, which happened near a pizza shop and the injured victim eventually made her way home.

Mr Rowland added: “She found her front door open. She found her keys and her mobile phone on the table and the defendant was upstairs in bed, asleep.

“She tried to rouse him to get him out of the house.

“He could not be roused therefore she left and locked the defendant in the house.”

The court heard the victim went to her mother’s house and the police were contacted.

Stacey, of Villette Path, Hendon, Sunderland, was arrested and pleaded guilty to assault.

Stacey, who was on a suspended sentence and a conditional discharge at the time, pleaded guilty to assault.

He has previous convictions for domestic violence.

Judge Penny Moreland jailed him for 22 months.

The judge told him: “I have seen photographs of the injuries, abrasions to her face and a clear shoe mark plus two black eyes.

“It was a sustained attack.

“It seems you had taken her keys and phone from her.

“You used her keys to get back into her house, where you went to bed.”

Jamie Adams, defending, said Stacey accepts his behaviour was wrong and he has been taking positive steps while in custody.

Mr Adams said Stacey has an employment history and is “not without intelligence”.
Sunderland Echo

Yobs carrying dog chain and knuckle duster fight in Sunderland park

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July 1, 2017
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A mother and her small children were left terrified as yobs armed with a dog chain and knuckle duster staged a fight in a Sunderland park.

The mum was in Mowbray Park with her daughters, aged six and 13, and another girl, also 13, Sunderland magistrates heard.

All children were in the park’s play area, when the fight took place, at 4pm on Sunday, September 4, the court was told.

Prosecutor Laura Johnson said: “The witness was sitting on a bench in the park when she sees the defendants, Daren Kerr and Sean Ruffell, walking through the park.

“A third male shouts ‘you with the sunglasses’ then goes towards these two defendants.”

Ms Johnson said the third male, who is being dealt with separately, had mistaken Ruffell for somebody else.

However she said Kerr then shouted: “Come on, let’s have a fight.”

“Mr Kerr and the third male then squared up to each other and began to throw a number of punches,” Ms Johnson said.

“Mr Kerr produced a dog chain and started swinging it around in an aggressive manner.

“Mr Ruffell threw two punches at the third male, one missed and the other hit him on the head.

“The witness shouted ‘there’s kids around – grow up’.”

The court heard the trio stated that they would go and fight elsewhere as there were “too many bairns around”.

Ms Johnson said the witness then saw the third male on the ground with Ruffell alongside him.

Police then arrived and intervened. A knuckle duster was recovered from Ruffell.

Kerr was detained, having discarded the dog chain.

Ruffell, 25, told police he and the third male had been ‘dancing’ in a boxing stance.

“He was dancing around like Muhammad Ali,” he said.

Kerr, also 25, said the pair had gone for a drink in a bar and had decided to change their clothing, when they saw the third male in the park.

He asked them if they wanted to go for a drink, to which they said no as the pub would be full of ‘****heads’.

Kerr said the male shouted abuse and he took the dog chain from around his neck.

Ms Johnson said: “He said he had the chain because had been walking his dog earlier, however there were protests in the area and that had made the dog nervous and it had ran off.”

Kerr, of Gartland Road, Grindon, and Ruffell, of Athol Road, Hendon, both admitted possession of an offensive weapon and threatening unlawful violence.

Ruffell admitted the offence in relation to the knuckle duster and Kerr in relation to the dog chain.

Susan Gray, defending, said: “They had both been involved in an earlier incident, where a friend of theirs had been assaulted.

“They were in Mowbray Park when they were approached by the male, who was actually looking for a fight, and they responded.

“Mr Kerr had a dog lead with him

“Mr Ruffell had an ornamental knuckle duster. It had never been used as a weapon, it had been taken off the wall.”

The bench asked for an all-options report to be prepared by the Probation Service, including the possibility of custody.

The pair will be sentenced at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court on March 24.

Sunderland Echo

Man jailed for hitting Muslim woman in the face with bacon

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June 30, 2017
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‘This was a truly shocking incident’ says DC James Payne

Alex Chivers was jailed for 26 and 12 weeks, to be served concurrently Metropolitan Police

Alex Chivers was jailed for 26 and 12 weeks, to be served concurrently Metropolitan Police

A man who abused two Muslim women before striking one of them in the face with a packet of bacon has been jailed.

Alex Chivers made abusive comments to a Muslim teen, who was walking down a road in Enfield, north London, with her mother on 8 June.

After calling her “Isil scum” and shouting “you deserve this”, he then struck her in the face with an open packet of bacon.

“The victim was not injured, but was very distressed,” Scotland Yard said in a statement.

Chivers, of nearby Waltham Cross, was arrested six days later and changed with one count of racially or religiously aggravated common assault and one count of causing racially or religiously aggravated alarm or distress.

After pleading guilty at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court, he was sentenced to 26 weeks’ imprisonment for the assault and 12 weeks’ imprisonment for a public order offence – to run concurrently.

Calling the incident “truly shocking”, DC James Payne from Enfield Community Safety Unit, said other people were present at the time of the assault, “including an associate of Chivers’ who filmed the incident”.

He added that enquiries were ongoing to try to identify them.

London’s Metropolitan Police said that hate crimes of this type remain “largely under reported”, adding that it “stands together with policing partners, colleagues and groups to investigate all hate crime allegations, support victims and their families, and bring perpetrators to justice”.

Police figures released in March, showed a considerable rise in hate-related crime in London over the previous year.

The number of victims of religious and racist hate crime had risen by almost 20 per cent, from 14,004 to 16,618, and victims of faith hate have seen an 18 per cent increase from 1,699 to 2,000.

Homophobic incidents had also increased by 12 per cent, from 1,816 to 2,033, while the number of disability hate victims increased by 216 per cent in the last year alone, up from 251 in 2015/16 to 794 in 2016/17.

In February, it was revealed that the number of hate crimes recorded by regional police forces rose by up to 100 per cent in the months following the Brexit vote.

The Independent

A Folkestone father broke down in court after he was jailed for his part in an ‘ugly’ bar brawl.

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June 28, 2017
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A father and son broke down after being sentenced for their part in a brawl at a bar in Folkestone.

Jordan Manwarning, 20, and Paul Manwarning, 40, both pleaded guilty to possessing an offensive weapon in a public place and affray.

Paul Manwarning was sent to prison for the incident.

Paul Manwarning was sent to prison for the incident.

At Folkestone Magistrates’ Court yesterday (June 27) the 20-year-old was handed a 12 month suspended sentence for two years and stood next to his father in the dock as he was sentenced to 12 months. He will spend six months in custody and the remaining six on license.

The charges relate to an incident in January 21 at the Office Bar in The Leas.

Frances Lawson, prosecuting, said: “At 11pm two groups of young people were involved in an altercation in the bar, each group containing five individuals. One of the groups included the defendant, Jordan Manwarning.

“Forty-five minutes later he was seen returning to the bar with a group of males, including his father.

“They were seen holding weapons – Paul Manwarning had a baseball bat. Jordan Manwarning carrying a snapped pole or wooden stick.

“Their behaviour was described as aggressive and they were shouting ‘where are they?’

“CCTV footage shows Jordan Manwarning pushing his chest into members of the public trying to calm the situation down.”

Ms Lawson read out a statement from the bar manager who tried to stop the fight where she said it was the ‘first time in 13 years she had felt frightened’ while working at the bar.

‘An ugly incident’

Jordan Manwarning was seen throwing punches and being pulled back by his father who then swung the baseball bat.

It snapped on a man’s shoulder but the victim did not co-operate with prosecution in the case.

Defending, Kerry Waitt said it was unusual behaviour and he was sorry about the incident.

He told the court: “This is an ugly incident, a very disturbing and frightening incident for anyone present at the bar and not the sort of behaviour representative of my client’s ordinary conduct.

“He is remorseful and that is evident by his plea at the earliest opportunity.”

Phil Rowley, representing Paul Manwarning, agreed with Mr Waitt’s description of the night’s events.

He said: “It was an ugly incident and one the defendant is truly ashamed of his part in.

“He was not intending on involving himself in any unlawful behaviour that evening. He had spent the evening at his partner’s house and returned home once his three year old had gone to bed.”

Manwaring received a call from his son who was distressed and he arrived at the venue to help him.

He also said Mr Manwarning has previously suffered with anxiety and depression and stopped taking medication for this until the case started again.

Read more: This dangerous driving caught on camera in Sandgate has left everyone very confused

As Judge Branston began to read his judgement, the 40-year-old began to cry and put his head in his hands and called out ‘I’ll lose everything.’

His partner was also crying in the public gallery.

Judge Branston said: “Violence like this can not be tolerated. You are his father. you should lead by example and the example you lead by is an appalling one.

“You were the older man and a mature adult and your involvement was more dangerous.”

Jordan Manwarning was ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work and subject to a curfew between 7pm and 5am.

Kent Live

Violent protester locked up over immigration clash

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June 26, 2017
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VIOLENT protester Patrick Edwards, who wore a skull mask during a disturbance at an anti-immigration rally in Dover, has been jailed for 16 months.

He threw an object at rival demonstrators when trouble broke out on January 30 last year.

Far right supporters held a demonstration against immigration and they clashed with anti-fascist groups.

The 27-year-old was recorded attempting to break through a police cordon, and at one point showed his face by lowering his mask to argue with officers.

Kent Police detectives reviewed hundreds of hours of footage from the day in order to identify those responsible with help from other forces across the UK.

Edwards, of Malvern Road, Portsmouth, was tracked down to his home address where he was arrested on February 8, 2017.

He was charged with violent disorder and pleaded guilty prior to his sentencing at Canterbury Crown Court.

Investigating officer Detective Constable Kirsty Bricknell said: ‘Wearing a mask to a demonstration is not something a peaceful protestor would do, and peaceful is not a word that could be used to describe Patrick Edwards on this occasion.

‘He showed a complete disregard for the law and is now behind bars as a result.’
Portsmouth News

Nigel Pelham jailed for nearly two years for posting racial hatred on Facebook

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June 26, 2017
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A MAN has been jailed for nearly two years for attempting to stir up racial hatred on Facebook.

Unemployed Nigel Pelham, 49, suggested Britain should introduce “bomb a mosque day” and invited his Facebook followers to “put a Muslim on top of a bonfire.”

He pleaded guilty to eight counts of publishing threatening written material intending to stir up religious hatred between February 24, 2015 and November 16, 2015, at Lewes Crown Court in March.

Last week he was sentenced at Blackfriars Crown Court, London, to 20 months for each of the eight counts to run concurrently.

He was also ordered to pay a £100 victim surcharge and had two hard drives and his computer confiscated.

The charges are not used very often and are so serious they needed apporval from the Attorney General.

Pelham, of Freehold Street, Shoreham, previously denied the charges when he appeared before magistrates in Worthing last month.

Sergeant Peter Allan, from Sussex Police’s hate crime unit, said: “The charges brought in this case are extremely serious and were only brought against four people in England and Wales during 2016.

“Nigel Pelham used Facebook to express some truly offensive views, with no understanding of how serious his actions were.

“Many people see social media as a harmless and sometimes faceless place to air their opinions, however I hope this shows we will not tolerate this type of behaviour and will act when someone reports their concern about what someone is posting.”

He sentencing came just days before a man drove a van into a crowd of Muslim worshippers in north London. One man died and several others remain in hospital.

Sgt Allan said: “I hope the sentence acts as a deterrent and sends a reassuring message to those who may be directly targeted or are more widely affected by people’s use of social media to spread messages of fear and hate. I encourage people who witness such content, to report it to the provider of the social media platform, but such reports can also be made to us online.”

Brighton Argus

Rival football hooligan gangs punished for violence in front of families at Rotherham Railway Station

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June 26, 2017
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Gangs of rival football hooligans – who caused mayhem at a train station in full view of young families – have been sentenced with one yob banned from attending any games for three years.

Violence flared at Rotherham Railway Station when fans were waiting to catch their train home following a Championship fixture between Rotherham United and Derby County on March 12 last year.

Witnesses described seeing Rotherham fans taunt Derby fans on the opposite platform to come over to them for a fight.

British Transport Police said a group of Derby fans then headed across the footbridge and a fight broke out between the rival groups, in full view of families and children also waiting on the platform.

Nine men were later arrested and charged in connection with the brawl, with them all pleading guilty to affray at Sheffield Crown Court on May 17.

Among these was Grant Lowe, aged 23, of Robin Hood, Whatstandwell, Matlock in Derbyshire, who was handed an order banning him from attending any football games for the next three years.

He was also ordered to carryout 180 hours of unpaid community work, handed a 12 month community order and made to pay £200 in costs at Sheffield Crown Court on Friday, June 23.

After the case, detective constable Ian Grice said: “Despite being surrounded by young children and their families, these men behaved in a totally unacceptable and violent manner, frightening those around them with their aggressive behaviour. How would they have felt if their own families had been caught up in this?

“Fans like these need to be reminded that the station and trains are not only used by them and need to behave accordingly. The general public should not have to witness this. Railway stations are not an extension of football stands.”

Five Rotherham United fans were each ordered to carry out 180 hours of unpaid community work, handed a 12-month community order and made to pay £200 in costs.

They are:- Owen Dennedy-Roughley, aged 18, and Ryan Dennedy, aged 21, both of Windsor Street, Thurnscoe, Wayne Cadman, aged 52, of Probert Avenue, Goldthorpe, Simon Cragg, aged 33, of Nicholas Lane, Goldthorpe, and David Beckett, aged 33, of Albert Road, Morley.

Three Derby County fans were handed the same sentence. They are:- Adam Parker, aged 28, of Water Street, Wirksworth, Derbyshire, Daniel Oven, aged 25, of King Street, Middleton-by-Wirksworth, Derbyshire, and Jack Higton, aged 23, of Bournebrook Avenue, Wirksworth, Derbyshire.

Sheffield Star