A man who carried out a mock hanging of a life-sized golliwog doll while wearing a Ku Klux Klan costume has pleaded guilty to a charge of stirring up racial hatred.
Christopher Philips, formerly known as Darren Clifft, 23, from Willenhall, will be sentenced on 19 December.
Wolverhampton Crown Court heard the hanging happened at an event in Wales in March.
He was arrested after he posted three videos of the mock hanging on YouTube.
Philips pleaded not guilty to a second charge of stirring racial hatred, which will remain on file after a request from the prosecution.
The final man out of a group of seven far right sympathisers who beat up anti-fascist demonstrators in Liverpool was jailed after failing to turn up at his original hearing.
Nathan Smith, 21, was jailed for 14 months after admitting violent disorder and given an extra month for breaching his bail conditions.
On Thursday six men, said to be members or sympathisers of far right groups including the British National Party (BNP), were jailed for between nine and 17 months after they attacked a group of people headed for a benefit gig at News From Nowhere on Bold Street in July 2012.
Smith, of North Road, St Helens, failed to attend and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Police picked him up at his home later that evening.
Patrick McLoughlin, defending, told the court that he had got his dates mixed up despite his mum being present at court on the right day.
He said Smith, an almost-qualified central heating engineer, originally from Huyton, had found his life going in a “reverse direction” after his parents split up and found support in the “family of the BNP”.
Smith was one of the men in the thick of the fighting which crashed into cafe Tabac on Bold Street on July 6 last year and was caught on camera punching and kicking at least two victims, one of whom was on the floor.
Judge Robert Trevor Jones, said: “The violence that was accepted yesterday when I sentenced your co-accused was unplanned but of course it was always going to be a volatile situation with a confrontation between two groups with opposing views.”
He added that Smith was “fairly and squarely” involved in the fighting.
Liverpool Echo
Liam Pinkham, Shane Calvert, The unnamed 17 year old, Peter Hawley
Six far-right sympathisers who ambushed people going to an anti-fascist benefit gig in front of shocked city centre onlookers have today been jailed.
The men pleaded guilty to violent disorder following an incident in Liverpool city centre on 6 July 2012.
Liam Pinkham, 35, from Birkenhead, was sentenced to 17 months in prison.
Michael Kearns 41, from Liverpool, was sentenced to 14 months in prison.
Matthew Coates, 22, from Southport, was sentenced to 10 months in prison.
Peter Hawley, 53, from Blackburn, was sentenced to 13 months in prison.
Shane Calvert, 32, from Blackburn, was sentenced to 14 months in prison.
Stephen Dumont, 18, from Netherley, has been sentenced to 5 months detention in a Youth Offenders’ Institution for this offence and a further 4 months for an offence of racially aggravated assault.
Nathan Smith had pleaded guilty to violent disorder at an earlier hearing but failed to turn up to court today and a bench warrant has now been issued for him.
During the case, the court heard that the men shared right wing views and had meant to disrupt an anti-fascist group benefit gig at the News from Nowhere bookshop in Bold Street in Liverpool city centre on 6 July 2012.
However, Anya Horwood, Senior Crown Advocate for CPS Mersey- Cheshire, said in court: “While this may have been the backdrop, what actually happened was a wanton act of public disorder which resulted in real fear, injury and damage.”
The defendants attacked members of the anti-fascist group as they walked up Bold Street and in the Tabac bar and cafe, which is near to the News from Nowhere bookshop, shortly before the benefit gig was due to begin.
Anya Horwood said: “This was an entirely unprovoked attack by the defendants and others. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries.”
After the sentences were handed out, Helen Morris, Senior Crown Prosecutor with the Crown Prosecution Service, Mersey- Cheshire, said: “The violence used by the defendants on that day caused real fear among the ordinary members of the public who just happened to have the misfortune to be in the area.
“They launched an unprovoked assault on their victims in a public place and were reckless as to the effect of that on anyone around them. These offences are serious and that’s reflected in the sentences imposed by the Court.”
A MAN who looked after a gun and bullets in exchange for having a debt written-off has been jailed for five years.
Police found a Webley 8mm pistol and two rounds of ammunition when they raided Paul Duffy’s house, after a tip-off in December.
Officers also discovered a prohibited CS gas spray and a small amount of amphetamine during the search at Warkworth Close, Washington.
Prosecutor Neil Pallister told Newcastle Crown Court the gun, which had been manufactured in Italy and adapted in the UK, was tested by experts who confirmed it had “lethal potential.”
The bullets were live and capable of firing.
Duffy told detectives he was looking after the firearm and ammunition in exchange for a drug debt being wiped out.
The 47-year-old said he had been due to give the CS gas spray to a young woman who was concerned for her safety due to the number of rapes in the Washington area, and wanted to carry it for protection.
Duffy admitted possessing a prohibited firearm, live rounds of ammunition, a prohibited weapon and a small amount of amphetamine.
Judge Brian Forster told him: “Anyone who has in their possession a prohibited firearm commits a very serious offence.
“Parliament has decided that judges must impose a minimum sentence of five years imprisonment in such cases and the reason is clear.
“There must be a deterrent sentence to ensure that people do not take such weapons into their possession.
“Weapons such as this are usually carried in offences of robbery.
“While they are carried there is a real risk of death or serious injury to those who may be the victims of such crime.”
Lee Fish, defending, said Duffy is in poor health and uses a walking stick due to back and leg problems.
Mr Fish said: “He was holding the gun for someone else. He has no previous convictions which involve weapons or firearms.”
AN anti-mosque protester avoided jail after he was found to be carrying cocaine following a street demonstration.
Warren Faulkner also offered to “sort out” his differences with a police officer when they clashed during the protest in Millfield, Sunderland.
Newcastle Crown Court was told Faulkner was among a group demonstrating about plans to build a mosque in St Marks Road.
The 42-year-old, of Webb Avenue, Westlea, Seaham, was then spotted by an officer in a back lane shouting “come on, come on, bring it on”.
The court heard Faulkner tried to trip up the officer, who was separating the right-wing demonstrators from the anti-fascist group. As he was being detained, Webb told the officer: “I will give you my phone number, and we can sort this out without your uniform on”.
Prosecutor Michael Bunch said: “Following this, a small packet of cocaine was found in his trouser pocket, with a street value of £34.”
Faulkner, who had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to possession of a controlled substance with intent to supply, and a public order offence, claimed he was only carrying the drug after someone asked him to keep it for them.
Vic Laffey, defending, said Faulkner had lost his job as a result of being brought before the court.
He said: “This was a straightforward agreement with the friend to keep the drugs, with no suggestion at all that he would make money or a profit from them. He intended to give the drugs back.”
Judge Simon Hickey QC sentenced Faulkner to six months in prison, suspended for 12 months. He also ordered him to do 100 hours’ unpaid work and abide by a supervision order.
Judge Hickey said: “You were there to deliberately antagonise the other group, and you offered to sort it out with him if he removed his uniform.”
The court was told Faulkner had 22 convictions, his last back in 2002.
A HERD of llamas starved after being deprived of food on a holding in Yorkshire, a court was told.
Harrogate magistrates heard five of John Shaw’s llamas died, while the other animals were found in an emaciated state in a frozen field on the outskirts of Knaresborough in February, with scant grazing, an empty ring-feeder and dilapidated shelter.
Shaw, 41, of Littondale Avenue, Knaresborough, said he could not afford to feed them.
He pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering leading to death and two counts of not providing a suitable diet and failing to protect the llamas from pain, suffering and disease.
He was jailed for 12 weeks, suspended for a year, and ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work, with £3,050 costs, and given a 10-year ban on keeping animals.
Far-Right Criminals 