Tag Archives: Joseph Bradford

A man has been sentenced to 20 months in jail for his role in a city centre protest which turned violent.

Joseph Bradford, 20, of Bishopsworth, Bristol, pleaded guilty to one offence of violent disorder after a video showed him as part of a group shouting at police and throwing a can at officers in Bristol on 3 August.

He was sentenced to 30 months detention, reduced to 20 months at Bristol Crown Court on Friday.

Sentencing Bradford, Judge Hart told him: “It took little to provoke you to express unacceptable attitudes and to translate them into serious public disorder.”

The unrest occurred when protesters and counter protesters gathered near Castle Park in the city centre.

Prosecutors said Bradford took part in a planned protest in Bristol which had been advertised by a far right group.

Police tried to keep the protesters and counter protesters separate, but right wing protesters became violent, Bristol Crown Court heard.

Bradford had been at the protest in Castle Park and on the Bristol Bridge, the court heard.

He can be seen on video footage confronting police and throwing a can at them.

After police searched for him, Bradford handed himself in on 11 August.

Mr Maunder, defending, said: “It’s fair to say, he is embarrassed and ashamed.

“That is genuine and deep felt. He recognises his abject stupidity involving himself in such an ugly incident and sentiment.

“He has no political motivation or even thoughts. His grandparents were immigrants from the Caribbean.”

Judge Hart said the defendant was “”apologetic and remorseful” during police interviews.

“People who support you will be astonished to see you could behave like this. How you came to do what you did is a mystery to those who knew you. It mystifies me,” he said.

“Our law protects right of peaceful protest and won’t criminalise holding of views, it will not tolerate resort to violence and threats and disorder.”

Demonstrations took place across England after three young girls were killed in Southport, Merseyside, on 29 July.

BBC News

Man, 20, pleads guilty to violent disorder

By virginiagolden

August 13, 2024

Uncategorized

A 20-year-old man has admitted taking part in disturbances in Bristol city centre.

Joseph Bradford, of Bishopsworth, Bristol, was charged as part of a police investigation into the unrest which took place on 3 August.

He pleaded guilty to violent disorder at Bristol Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday and has been remanded in custody ahead of an appearance at Bristol Crown Court on Friday.

A total of 27 people have now been arrested as part of the investigation, including a 15-year-old boy.

Avon and Somerset Police said the teenager was arrested on Monday night on suspicion of violent disorder.

Officers also arrested a man, aged in his 30s, for the same offence on Tuesday and he remains in police custody.

Prosecutor Stephen Sadler said Bradford, who was supported by 10 family members in court, said he had been “right at the front line” of the disorder on Bristol Bridge and was seen “amping up the crowd”, “encouraging chanting” and “gesticulating to officers”.

He added that Bradford had thrown a can at police officers and had been part of a group which had rushed at the police three times, forcing them backwards.

Defence lawyer Ian Kelsey said his client had accepted his behaviour had been “idiotic” but that he had acted with the “naivety of youth” and had left the scene early, texting his mother to tell her he “didn’t want anything more to do” with the violence and that the situation had “got out of hand”.

Remanding him into custody Judge Joanna Dickens, who joined the hearing from Swindon Magistrates’ Court, said there was concern that “those who have done it once [taken part in recent violent disorder] might do it again”.

The force has charged 10 people in connection with the unrest in Bristol, when violent scenes occurred after hundreds of far-right protesters and a counter-protest group gathered for two demonstrations near Castle Park.

A total of 27 people have now been arrested in connection with the disorder, after two women were arrested on suspicion of violent disorder on Tuesday afternoon.

Tensions have been high across England after the killing of three young girls in Southport, Merseyside, on 29 July.

False claims were spread online that the person responsible was an asylum seeker, who had arrived in the UK by boat.

Detectives have reviewed hundreds of hours of CCTV and body-worn camera footage, as well as images and videos shared by the public, in order to try to identify those involved in the disorder.

BBC News