DARREN Fee, 41, of Falmouth Road, Alvaston, was given a one-year restraining order, was fined £165 and was ordered to pay £300 costs, a £520 criminal courts charge and a £20 victim surcharge for using threatening or abusive words or behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress that was racially aggravated in Derby on April 19.
A DRUNK dad beat and stamped on his ex-partner ‘like an animal’ and sent threatening, Islamophobic messages after she took a Muslim lover.
Peter Finch was jailed for 12 months at Worcester Crown Court after he beat his ex in a drunken rage which left her with a suspected broken rib.
He denied assault occasioning actual bodily harm against girlfriend Rebecca Harding at her home in Worcester but was found guilty at trial.
The 31-year-old, who said he was a former member of the English Defence League, previously admitted criminal damage to a door and malicious communication which was deemed racially or religiously aggravated between July and October last year.
Finch of Patterdale Drive, Warndon, Worcester, carried out the assault in May last year after Miss Harding, his partner of five years, returned home from work at about 6pm.
Mark Phillips, prosecuting, said: “The relationship was characterised by this defendant becoming aggressive when in drink.
“It was clear he had been out at the pub during the afternoon and was suffering from the effects of drinking too much.
“He accused her of having an affair when she told him she had other plans for the evening other than going out with him.”
The attack happened in a bedroom where she had gone to get changed.
“She described the defendant flying in and punching her in the face.
“The blow with his right hand struck her right cheek. She saw it instantly swelling up. He pushed her to the floor where he held her by the throat.
“She told him she was unable to breathe but still he would not let her go.”
He was described as kneeling on her while he punched her repeatedly in the body.
Mr Phillips said: “Whilst doing so he said ‘this is what I would have done to him’, presumably referring to the man he believed she was having the affair with.
“He stood up. She was curled up in a defensive position, into a ball. She was on her side, exposing her right flank. He then stamped on her ribs.
“She cried out in pain. It was only at that point the defendant seemed to have any sort of remorse about what he had done, saying he was sorry.
“She describes him as behaving like an animal. She had never seen him like that before.”
Miss Harding suffered bruising and a suspected broken rib during the attack. She went to see her doctor and had her medication for depression ‘doubled’, Mr Phillips said.
When Finch learned Miss Harding had travelled to Marrakech and had a new Moroccan boyfriend he sent her a number of abusive texts and WhatsApp messages.
Mr Phillips said: “There was reference to enjoying her time in a burka, clear reference to her being with a Muslim man.
“He refers to himself hating Muslims with a passion and said ‘you were happy to marry a man who hates Muslims with a passion and would wipe them off the planet’. He says he hopes she gets killed.”
In interview he told police: “I was part of the English Defence League.”
Finch represented himself because he was not eligible for legal aid and could not afford to pay anyone to represent him.
He said his ex had sent him messages about sexual activity between her and her new partner. He said: “It was more than disheartening – it was soul-breaking when she sent that to me.”
He added: “I have not been part of the English Defence League for three years. Now my views are completely changed.”
Judge Nicholas Cole said the assault was aggravated because it took place in front of a child. Although the physical injuries were limited to bruising and a suspected broken rib, the emotional impact had been ‘severe’.
He said of the threatening messages that he was satisfied that they were partly motivated by hostility towards Muslims.
He sentenced him to 12 months in custody for the ABH, four weeks for the criminal damage and three months for the malicious communicated with an extra month added because it was religiously/racially aggravated (four months in total). These sentences will be served concurrently to the 12 months, making a total sentence of 12 months.
No separate penalty was imposed for breach of a conditional discharge.
A demonstrator has been jailed for 14 months for throwing objects and hitting people with a flagpole in the Dover riots.
Daniel Spensley, 27, of Proudfoot Drive in Bishop Auckland, Durham, travelled to Kent to take part in a pre-planned march on Saturday 30 January 2016.
Fighting broke out when those present were met by other visitors who were holding a counter protest at the same time.
Daniel Spensley – latest jailed Dover rioter. Picture courtesy of Kent Police
Kent Police detectives viewed hundreds of hours of evidential footage captured on the day and witnessed Spensley in a fist fight, attacking a person with a flagpole, and throwing rocks and brick.
He was arrested at his home address on February this year and and subsequently charged with violent disorder.
He pleaded guilty and was sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court last Friday.
Investigating Officer Det Cons Kirsty Bricknell said: ‘We will continue to pursue and convict protestors who acted in violence and without a care for the significant impact it would have on local residents.
“Spensley was one of these violent protestors and he, like many others, who thought they could evade justice by living outside our jurisdiction have been proven wrong time and again.
“Regardless of the difference of political views involved on the day, there is never any excuse for this type of criminal activity and I hope Spensley reflects on this while he is behind bars.”
The rioting had broken out when a march by far right groups such as the South East Alliance and National Front was confronted by anti-fascist protesters.
Ever since police have caught up with offenders and by March, 51 people were convicted.
A convicted killer who bit off part of a man’s ear and then mocked him by waving it about has been warned to expect a long jail sentence.
Ruben White, who has a previous conviction for manslaughter, left his victim Ian Hayward in need of reconstructive surgery following the attack in a residential street.
The 28-year-old, of no fixed address, denied wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, but was convicted with Liam Hudson, 28, of Station Road, Rainham, on a joint enterprise basis.
Hudson’s partner, former House of Fraser beauty sales assistant Amelia Waters, 27, of the same address, was cleared of the charge but convicted of the lesser offence of unlawful wounding.
All three denied affray but were convicted. Hudson was acquitted of possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.
The jury returned unanimous verdicts after deliberating for eight hours and 23 minutes.
Judge Philip Statman said of the wounding: “This is a grave offence and unfortunately it involves violence in the street with premeditation and use of a weapon, namely teeth.
“We have a very ugly injury which has occurred. It is going to be long sentences one way or the other.”
Maidstone Crown Court heard the violence erupted on November 2 last year following bad feeling toward’s Mr Hayward’s family over a previous road rage incident.
His son Samuel had been with his wife Charlotte South and their six-month-old child in their Mitsubishi Shogun driving along Richmond Road in Gillingham.
Prosecutor Peter Alcock said they passed Hudson standing by an Audi A3 driven by Waters. They followed the Shogun.
Samuel phoned his father, who was working at a house nearby, to tell him about the situation.
When Miss South stopped at traffic lights, Waters pulled alongside and shouted: “Don’t smile —— —-, I will bite your —— nose off.”
Miss South replied that they had a baby in the car and she should back off.
She then drove to Cavendish Avenue where Ian Hayward was working. She went into the house with the baby.
The car containing Waters, Hudson and White stopped in the middle of the road and all three got out carrying bats.
They approached Ian and Samuel Hayward and made a group attack on them with bleach being sprayed.
Ian Hayward told of being held face down over a car bonnet when he heard a crunching sound.
“I initially felt very little pain but I just heard like a crunching noise, like somebody eating cornflakes if you like,” he said.
White, formerly of Kingswood Road, Gillingham, then held up a piece of his right ear saying: ‘I have got a bit of your ——- ear.’
Adjourning sentence until July 10, Judge Statman ordered reports on White and Hudson to assess dangerousness. He also ordered a report on Waters.
White, who was jailed for three-and-a-half years in January 2011 for the single punch manslaughter of Lithuanian Saulius Klevinskas, 35, in Gillingham, was remanded in custody.
Hudson and Waters were granted conditional bail. Waters’ father posted a £20,000 surety for Hudson, who will also be subject to a tagged curfew from 6pm to 6am.
Waters will be under a curfew from 8pm to 8am. She and Hudson will also be subject to an “exclusion zone” around Cavendish Avenue.
Judge Statman said of White and Hudson: “It seems to me there is no alternative to a substantial custodial sentence.
“This is grave violence and it needs the defendants to understand if they go about doing these things in revenge attacks or otherwise, they are going to go to prison.
“There is a history. Lord only knows whether I have heard the whole of the history in this case.”
A man has been jailed for three and a half years after admitting killing another man with a single punch.
Ruben White, 22, of Kingswood Road, Gillingham, was sentenced for the manslaughter of Saulius Klevinskas at Maidstone Crown Court today, Friday.
White was arrested following the death of 35-year-old Mr Klevinskas in Balmoral Road, Gillingham on August 21 last year. The incident happened outside a shop where White and three other man were sitting in a car.
Mr Klevinskas, who was originally from Lithuania, but was living in Grays, Essex. was coming out of the shop with two friends when it was alleged that someone in the car threw a can at them.
An argument began and Mr Klevinskas then went over to the car and smashed a window. White got out of the vehicle and an altercation between the two groups broke out. Mr Klevinskas received a single punch causing him to fall to the floor. He died from his injuries five days later at Medway Maritime Hospital with his family by his bedside.
After sentencing, DI Geoff Payne said: `This was a violent assault which had fatal and devastating consequences. Ruben White may not have intended to kill a man that day, but his aggressive actions and thoughtlessness resulted in the most devastating circumstances imaginable.
“I would like to thank the witnesses and residents for their help in coming forward to help with the police investigation into this incident. I would also like to thank the off duty Accident and Emergency Nurse who was at the scene and helped attended to the victim before the ambulance could arrive.
“This was a tragic case and highlights how one person’s irresponsible actions can prove fatal. If other people find themselves in this situation hopefully they will not act so senselessly, as it is clear from this incident that even one punch can prove to be fatal.’
Story from 2011.
Stephen Weeks and Drew Thorpe were found guilty by a jury at Warwick Crown Court after a five week trial.
These are the faces of two men sentenced to life following the murder of ‘lovable rogue’ Lee Brooks.
Stephen Weeks, 48, and Drew Thorpe, 19, were told on Thursday by a Crown Court judge that they would spend at least 16 years and 12 years in prison respectively.
The pair were found guilty by a jury at Warwick Crown Court after a five week trial.
The pair attacked Mr Brooks with a claw hammer and a spanner while he slept at Weeks’ home in Hugh Road during the morning of August 26, 2016.
Stephen Weeks (left) and Drew Thorpe (right)
Despite the best efforts of the emergency services and medical staff, he died five days later in hospital.
Weeks, of Hugh Road, Stoke, and Thorpe, of Hollis Road, Stoke, had denied murder.
Sentencing judge Richard Griffith-Jones said: “I am acutely aware of the terrible shock that it is when a loved one dies suddenly.
“When that happens in circumstances of this brutality it is all the more shocking. So also is it a terrible thing for a person to outlive their own child.
“I hope they will be able to pass onto Lee Brooks’ children memories of him and his character which will be so important…that they will be able to have affection and pride in the person that gave them life that is no longer there.”
Coventry Telegraph
A right wing activist who intended to photograph defendants during has narrowly avoided prison.
Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, better known as Tommy Robinson, of Bedfordshire, admitted contempt of court on May 8 and was given a three-month prison sentence suspended for 18 months by Judge Heather Norton.
Because of Robinson’s actions both the jury and defendants had to be hustled out of the building away from the normal front door.
Security staff told Robinson not to film within the precincts of the court and warned him he would be arrested.
‘He will be put in jeopardy if he goes to prison’
Robinson claimed he had only been working for an internet TV company for six weeks and hadn’t been taught media law .
He was looking to photograph or confront the defendants who included a juvenile which is against the Contempt of Court Act of 1925 – which makes it illegal to photograph witnesses, defendants or jurors within the court precincts.
Richard Kovaleski, defending, said Robinson had been given warnings that Al Shebab a Muslim extremist group is out to get him.
He said: “He is a marked man. This is not fanciful. He will be put in jeopardy if he goes to prison. Today could be a life changing event.”
‘I take a dim view of your actions. If you commit further offences this sentence will be activated’
Judge Norton said although Robinson only filmed himself in the court building his intention was clear.
She said: “Your intention beyond any doubt was to film the defendants but you were not able to do so.”
There are notices all over the court building prohibiting filming.
Judge Norton said: “This was a deliberate action on your part.
“Your intention was to seek out the defendants. It is abundantly clear you were on a mission to film the defendants.This is not about free speech or freedom of the press, legitimate journalism or political correctness.
“This is about justice. It is about being innocent until proven guilty.
“I find clear evidence of contempt. I take a dim view of your actions. If you commit further offences this sentence will be activated.”
She said any further contempt and Robinson would be sent to jail for three months on top of any further sentences.
David Gallacher was described by the judge as a “shabby racist” and a “thug”
A “shabby racist” who repeatedly kicked a pregnant Muslim woman, resulting in her losing her unborn baby, has been jailed for almost four years.
David Gallacher, 37, of no fixed address, attacked Samsam Haji-Ali, 34, and her husband outside a Co-op in Bletchley, Buckinghamshire, in August.
He admitted actual bodily harm, assault by beating and two counts of racially or religiously aggravated assault.
The judge called him a “thug and a racist to boot.”
Aylesbury Crown Court heard Somali Ms Haji-Ali was racially abused by Gallacher in the Water Eaton Road shop on 4 August.
He swore at her and said: “You come here with your clown outfit on…”
As her husband Abdullah Sulamain, 40, attempted to calm him down in the car park outside, Gallacher hit him on the head with a bottle of wine and a bag of ice.
He then kicked Ms Haji-Ali in the stomach.
Judge Francis Sheridan said: “She told him she was pregnant and he continued to kick her again, after he was told she was pregnant.
“She is left rolling around on the ground in agony and later found there is bleeding, before she lost the baby.”
Ms Haji-Ali miscarried on 24 August
Judge Sheridan said her pregnancy had been “absolutely fine” before the attack, and in his view “the loss of that baby was a direct result of a kick to the stomach of a pregnant woman”.
He told Gallacher: “There was a racial element to this attack.
“The defendant is a shabby racist on the language that he used towards this lady.
“It is time you learnt that your vile conduct and abhorrent views are a thing of the past.”
Gallacher admitted two counts of racially aggravated assault occasioning actual bodily harm and three counts of assaulting a police officer during his arrest in September last year.
He was jailed for three years and seven months for the race attacks and four months for the officer assault, to run consecutively.
A new father from Whitchurch punched his partner while she was in a hospital delivery room giving birth to their child, a court heard.
The following day she was kicked and punched by 24-year-old Myles Davies outside her home which left her with a broken wrist.
The victim also suffered bruising to her legs and body in the assault less than 24 hours after giving birth. That morning, Davies had complained the victim rocking the child’s cradle kept him awake.
The police and social services had already been alerted when the victim was punched on the shoulder at Telford’s Princess Royal Hospital in the delivery suite.
At Shrewsbury Crown Court yesterday Judge Peter Barrie said Davies had been involved in ‘aggressive and nasty’ behaviour.
“Anyone who hears about this behaviour towards your partner and mother of your child would realise you are in serious need of help,” he said.
He told Davies that he was a high risk to the public and to partners, present and future and to children.
Judge Barrie said it was to the victim’s credit that she said in her statements that, despite being upset, she acknowledged that Davies had mental health issues and had not been getting the support he needed.
Davies was given a two-year community order which involves intense relationship and rehabilitation programmes.
The court heard Davies had been on remand for over six months which was equal to getting a 15-month prison sentence.
Judge Barrie said it was in the public interest to change the defendant’s attitude and prison was not the harsh punishment for him that it was for others.
An indefinite restraining order was also imposed on Davies for him to have no contact with the victim and any access to his young child was to be through the official channels.
Davies, of Alkington Road, Whitchurch, who appeared in court via a video link from prison, had pleaded guilty to charges of common assault and assault causing actual bodily harm on November 14 and 15 last year.
The court heard Davies had previously been jailed for assault when he was a member of the English Defence League, threatening behaviour at an EDL demonstration and a football banning order for being on Shrewsbury Town’s pitch while in possession of a firework.
Mr Kevin Jones, prosecuting, said that Davies was involved in ‘controlling’ behaviour with the victim at her home and had behaved strangely at the hospital delivery room causing staff to alert social services and police.
He said that Davies had struck her on the shoulder three or four times while she was in labour.
The next day Davies had issues with the victim nursing the baby, having a light on and having to feed the child and complained her rocking the child’s cradle kept him awake.
Mr Jones said Davies left at 2am but returned a few hours later and was unhappy that the victim had the baby on the bed with her and had complained that doors in the house were left open.
When Davies was later leaving he had pushed her back into the flat but as she tried to get to a relative’s car outside she fell and was kicked and punched on the body and legs by the defendant.
Mr Stephen Scully, for Davies, said that psychological reports indicated his client had poor self esteem, unpredictable emotions and insecurity and lost his temper when under stress and when he felt threatened.
He said Davies thrived in the secure and structured prison regime and was working to dealing with his mental health issues and the reasons for his offending.
Daniel Boylett threw a punch at Crystal Palace’s eagle mascot
A Charlton Athletic fan has been jailed for throwing a punch at Crystal Palace FC’s eagle mascot during a football match.
Daniel Boylett, 36, was today locked up for a total of 21 months for violent disorder and the attack on bald eagle Kayla during an away game at Selhurst Park in September 2015.
He was also banned from going to any football matches for six years.
Boylett, from Eltham in south east London, launched his attack on the 25-year-old bird of prey during a third-round cup tie which had descended into violence.
The eagle handler was walking Kayla around the pitch on his forearm when Boylett swung the punch.
Last month a jury found Boylett guilty of violent disorder and attempted criminal damage for the attack on Kayla after a trial lasting two weeks.
On Friday at Croydon Crown Court he was sentenced to 21 months imprisonment for violent disorder and three months in prison for attempted damage on the eagle. Both sentences will run concurrently.
Boylett’s lawyer claimed he had acted in self-defence as he did not expect to see a bird flying towards him.
The eagle sanctuary in Dartford where Kayla lives today said they were pleased Boylett had been jailed and his sentence shows attacks on animals are being taken seriously.
Samantha Ames, one of the directors at Eagle Heights Wildlife Foundation, told the Standard: “We are feeling very pleased that it’s been taken seriously and we are glad it sets a bit of a precedent to people.
“The way you treat animals is taken seriously.
“We were shocked and quite sad when it happened. It was quite a sad thing to hear about because she’s an innocent animal and she’s so beautiful and has such an amazing story.
“For someone to try and punch her we were shocked and sad.”
Ms Ames said Kayla was fine following the attack but since then the club and handlers have changed the way she interacts at the football ground.
“Now they don’t really take her close to the stands,” she said. “Which is unfortunate for the other people. ”
Prosecutor Daniel Higgins previously told the court: “As he [Chris Belsey, eagle handler] passed the stand he noticed three or four fans were shouting abuse and one of these three or four lent over the barrier and threw a punch directed at Kayla.
“Mr Belsey is unsure if the punch directed at the eagle had landed.”
Kayla joined Crystal Palace, whose nickname is the Eagles, as a mascot in 2010. Female bald eagles typically have a wingspan of around seven feet and live for an average of 20 to 30 years.
Evening Standard
Far-Right Criminals 