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

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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

Why a white supremacist who wanted to ‘hang the black race’ was back in court

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August 2, 2019
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A white supremacist who admired Hitler and wanted to “hang the black race” was jailed and released after breaching the terms of his prison sentence by attending a National Front rally.

Lawrence Burns from Cambridge during his appearance at Crown Court in Cambridge last year

Lawrence Burn

Lawrence Burns, 25, of Coldham’s Lane, Cambridge, was found guilty of inciting racial hatred in a series of inflammatory Facebook posts in 2014.

He also “shared images of Hitler” and, later on, gave an inflammatory speech at a memorial demo for a US white supremacist.

Burns was jailed for four years, but the sentence was reduced to two-and-a-half-years by the Court of Appeal the same year because of his young age and “poor educational background”.

Cambridge Crown Court heard today (August 1) that after being released, he was spotted at a National Front rally on November 11 last year.

As part of his March 2017 sentence, he was also given a criminal behaviour order (CBO) which prevented him from attending rallies without notifying authorities three days before – which was still active after he was released.

He had not told the authorities he was going to be at the rally.

Burns was then imprisoned for breaching this condition in January this year, and had been in custody since.

A “foolish error”

At sentencing this afternoon, Burns admitted breaching the order – but his defence counsel Adrian Davies told Judge Jonathan Cooper it was not intentional and was a “foolish error.”

Mr Davies said Burns had complied with the CBO by not attending a political meeting after the rally.

In passing his sentencing, Mr Cooper said he was “sceptical” of Burns’ excuse – being the same judge who sentenced him in March 2017.

Mr Cooper said he considered Burns an “intelligent young man” after observing him during the trial.

Addressing Burns, he said: “I am going to impose a sentence upon you which will be a prison sentence which will result as a guarantee in your immediate release. If not today, tomorrow.

“I said to you at the time of the original sentence how important freedom of speech was, and also the expression of political opinions and that the CBO imposed was not in itself designed to thwart the proper exercise of those freedoms.

“It was made clear the CBO did not prevent you from attending political meetings, permission to attend political meetings, it required notice in order to monitor your conduct.

“So I am mindful of the fact that in this case the demonstration wasn’t illegal, nothing said was illegal, nothing said or done by you would have been a criminal offence apart that it breached the order.”

Burns was sentenced to six weeks in prison, half in custody – which he had already served on remand after his initial sentence expired on June 20.

He was therefore released from prison. The criminal behaviour order stood in place.

Burns was handed a printed sheet of the conditions so he could not make the excuse again.

Cambridge News

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

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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

Gloucester teenager GUILTY of planning mass killing, jury finds

By
July 22, 2019
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Today a jury of seven women and five men rejected Davies’ claim that he intended to kill only himself with the gun

Kyle Davies, 19, who has been convicted of attempting to possess a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life following a trial at Gloucester Crown Court

A 19-year-old man who ordered a deadly handgun and ammunition from an American dealer intended to use them to carry out a massacre, a jury at Gloucester Crown Court decided today.

Kyle Davies, of Wotton, Gloucester, wanted the Glock pistol and rounds of ammunition to copy such infamous killers as the 1999 Columbine school gunmen in America and Norwegian Anders Breivik, who shot 69 teenagers dead on a beach in 2011, it was alleged during his two weeks trial.

Today a jury of seven women and five men rejected Davies’ claim that he intended to kill only himself with the gun. They decided that he did have an intent to endanger life with the gun.

Handout photo issued by South West Regional Organised Crime Unit of a Glock pistol and ammunition shown in evidence during the trial of Kyle Davies, 19, who has been convicted of attempting to possess a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life following a trial at Gloucester Crown Court

Jurors unanimously convicted Davies of two charges attempting to import the gun and attempting to import five rounds of ammunition with intent to endanger life in June last year.

Davies’ mother, sitting at the back of the court, buried her head in her hands as the jury foreman announced the guilty verdicts.

Judge Paul Cook told Davies: “Clearly you are looking at a significant period of custody but I need to know more about you before I proceed to sentence.

“I need to know the risk you pose to society. Therefore I am ordering psychiatric and probation reports to be prepared on you.”

Sentence was adjourned to a date to be fixed in about two months time.

During Davies’ trial the jury heard details of the ‘manifesto of death’ that Davies had compiled with detailed lists of weapons, explosives and body armour that would be needed for a successful mass killing.

His laptop, mobile phone and a memory stick were found to contain a mass of detail, including timelines, which the prosecution said proved he was planning a mass killing.

The prosecution said he had made ‘poster boys’ of the Columbine killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold and also of Norwegian mass killer Anders Breivik.

Davies, however, maintained all his research into the infamous murders was carried out merely because he was interested in the mindset of a mass killer.

Interviewed after his arrest by armed police at his Gloucester home in June last year Davies maintained he wanted the gun just to take his own life. He repeated that in evidence to the jury last week.

The court heard that he ordered the £300 pistol and ammunition via the Dark Web.

When it arrived in the UK it was intercepted by police and a dummy package was made up to look like the original, it was then delivered to Davies at his home by an undercover policeman posing as a deliveryman.

Later, armed police surrounded Davies’ home and arrested him.

In the witness box Davies said he had tried to kill himself when he was 15 but was found by police and taken home.

He told the jury he could see no point in being alive and he was depressed and thought about suicide every day.

He denied being obsessed with the Columbine killers and Anders Breivik and said he was just interested in them because they were relevant to his A level psychology studies.

Judge Cook said he will sentence Davies in about two months time, possibly at Taunton Crown Court.

Gloucester Live

Neo Nazi who wanted to train army for race war is jailed

By
July 19, 2019
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Daniel Ward when he applied to join National Action wrote ‘All I have to offer is my thirst for gratuitous violence’

A former member of the Midland branch of a banned far right terrorist organisation who wanted to train an army to fight a “race war” has been jailed for three years

Daniel Ward, who joined National Action, also had an interest in weapons and explosives and took part in a number of the group’s demonstrations.

Ward, 29, of Highmore Drive, Bartley Green, had previously admitted being a member of National Action.

Birmingham Crown Court was told that National Action, formed in 2013, was a small, select and secretive organisation which had a number of cells across the country and which held racist, anti semitic and homophobic views.

It members were a committed group of individuals prepared to flout the law and it was banned by the Home Secretary on December 16 2016.

Ward joined National Action three months prior to the ban describing himself as a “fanatic” and that he was “ready to fight.”

He also said in his application that he was “100% committed ” and “All I have to offer is my thirst for gratuitous violence.” as well as expressing his admiration their military type actions.

Daniel Ward performing Nazi salute in Dudley on October 22, 2016

He attended the organisations demonstrations and regional meetings in Dudley and Nottingham.

His internet searches revealed an interest in explosives and how to make them and also in obtaining weapons.

In December 2016 Ward left National Action after becoming frustrated at what he perceived as a lack of action saying he “needed to fight for my people.”

Naomi Parsons, prosecuting, said however that four months later Ward “came back to the National Action fold” saying he had felt at a loose end.

He then was a “vocal member” in chat groups in which he talked about recruitment, issues of security and training.

Air rifle seized from Ward’s home in police raid

Ward suggested the setting up of a training camp under the guise of a fitness group so that he could “build an SS and prepare for a race war.”

He said he was “desperate for action” and that the goal was to cause conflict between different groups of people, the collapse of society and to become agitators.

Miss Parsons said Ward had made three attempts to join the army, had been successful once but had dropped out.

The defendant was not arrested until September 5 last year and when police searched his home they found evidence of his extreme right wing views as well as recovering an air pistol and ball bearing firing one and two air rifles.

He said “You threw yourself into the membership of National Action heart and soul.

“Others in the organisation looked at you as someone who would be prepared to act.”

Thomas Schofield, defending, said Ward had only been involved for a short period of time and at the time he was isolated and looking for the membership of a group.

“What he was doing was talking and not acting,” he said

Birmingham Mail

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

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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

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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

Belfast man who threatened to kill Muslim after New Zealand terror attack given four month jail sentence

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June 28, 2019
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A Belfast man who phoned a Muslim to say he was going to be killed in the wake of the New Zealand terrorist massacre has been jailed for four months.

Billy Dean, 50, was told he had committed an “appalling” offence by contacting the victim in England a day after the shootings at two mosques which claimed the lives of 51 people.

Dean, of Ebor Street in the city, was convicted of improper use of communications to cause anxiety.

Belfast Magistrates’ Court heard he made the call on March 16 this year after obtaining the victim’s number on a Facebook page for a mosque in Birmingham.

Prosecutors said he phoned the man and stated: “You will die today you stupid Muslim, you will be killed.”

West Midlands Police were alerted and traced the number to Dean.

When officers went to the defendant’s home days later and made a call to that number his phone started to ring.

Dean was arrested and claimed he did not remember anything about the incident because he had been drinking, the court heard.

He told police that he had been agitated for the previous couple of weeks.

A Crown lawyer confirmed that the victim is attached to a mosque in Birmingham.

“This phone call was made the day after the incident in New Zealand; the injured party reported that they were concerned for their family,” she said.

On March 15 this year a gunman opened fire at two mosques in Christchurch in a rampage live-streamed on Facebook.

Another 49 people were wounded in the attacks.

Dean’s barrister stressed he was at home in Belfast when he made the call and had not attempted to conceal his own number.

“He accepts that he does have anger management problems and that if somebody doesn’t agree with his views he can, to put it bluntly, fly off the handle,” counsel said.

“He accepts that he made this phone call because of what he saw on television in New Zealand at the time.”

Highlighting the context of Dean’s actions, District Judge Fiona Bagnall said: “The timing of it aggravates it even further from just the content, which is appalling in itself.

“There will be four months immediate custody.”

Dean was then released on bail pending an appeal against the prison term imposed.

Belfast Telegraph

Football fan jailed for assaulting Blackburn stewards

By
June 27, 2019
Uncategorized

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