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Nine in court for Nottingham rally offences

By
October 21, 2024
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Nine people have appeared in court following their part in the unrest in the Nottingham City Centre on Saturday 3 August. They were among 20 people arrested for their conduct during the far-right rally and counter protest in the city.

Hearings have been taking place at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court in the weeks following the events in the centre of Nottingham.

Janine McKinney from the Crown Prosecution Service said: “The arrests, charges, convictions and sentences we have seen over the last weeks make clear the consequences for those criminals on our streets and on social media. These individuals have paid the penalty that awaits anyone caught wreaking such havoc.

“We will continue to work at pace, alongside partners in the criminal justice system, to put anyone whose conduct has crossed the line into criminal behaviour before the courts to face the full consequences of their actions.”

Paul Dixon, 35, Tony Campion, 29, David Witney, 39, and Dominic Lane, 46, appeared at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court to face charges of using threatening words or behaviour with intent to cause fear or provoke violence for their part in an escalation of hostility involving an Asian male victim. Dixon pleaded guilty on 15 August and Campion pleaded guilty at a hearing on 16 August. Both were sentenced to four months’ imprisonment. Witney pleaded guilty on 22 August and was given a three-month sentence, suspended for 18 months. He was ordered to complete 200 hours’ unpaid work, attend five days’ rehabilitation requirement, complete a six-month alcohol treatment programme and to engage with the probation service. Lane pleaded not guilty and will face trial in October. A fifth defendant, Keith Edwards, 81, was also charged in relation to this incident and will appear at the same court on 6 September.

Anthony Chadwick, 36, from Nottingham appeared on 22 August for using threatening words or behaviour with intent to cause fear or provoke violence. Chadwick came to the protest drunk, shouted threats of violence to police officers and tried to hype up the people around him. He was fined £365.

Kevin Musgrave, 37, from West Hallam in Derbyshire appeared on 15 August for assaulting an emergency worker and criminal damage. He tried to obstruct police officers from making an arrest when things threatened to boil over into violence. He pushed a police officer to the ground and spat in the police van and in his cell after he was arrested. He appeared at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court, pleaded guilty and was given a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for a year and ordered to do 100 hours of unpaid work and to pay £150 in compensation.

Joshua Witts, 36, from Long Eaton, appeared at Derby Magistrates’ Court on 20 August, pleading guilty to using threatening words or behaviour with intent to cause fear or provoke unlawful violence. He will be sentenced on 27 August.

Owen Lawrence, 18, from Nottingham and Mervyn Lewis, 40, from Edwalton also appeared at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on 15 August and pleaded not guilty. Their cases were adjourned for trial later in the year.

These court appearances follow the conviction and sentencing of Victoria Gray on Monday 3 August.

CPS

Man, 81, sentenced after city centre protests

By
October 7, 2024
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An 81-year-old man who stamped on another man who was being arrested during protests in Nottingham city centre has been sentenced.

Keith Edwards, of Kinglake Place in The Meadows, Nottingham, was charged following demonstrations on 3 August.

On Monday, Edwards admitted assault by beating and was given a 28-day suspended sentence at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Monday.

He is thought to be the oldest person to be charged in the wake of the disorder that broke out across the country following the killings of three young girls at a dance class in Southport.

Hundreds of people gathered in the city centre as part of demonstrations organised by rival groups.

Police arrested 15 people on the day, though the force said events remained “largely peaceful”.

Denis Quinn, prosecuting, said Edwards had claimed he had gone into the city centre to buy a loaf of bread, but got “drawn into what was happening”.

In footage shown to the court, Edwards could be seen walking over to a man on the floor who was being detained by three police officers, and stamping on his leg.

He was also identified in an earlier clip, played in court, telling a protester “children killed in Southport by your friends”.

In bodycam footage showed to the court, Edwards was told he was being detained for “kicking the man on the floor”, to which he corrected the officer, saying “I stamped on his leg”.

Jim Buckley, defending Edwards, added: “Clearly this was out of character.”

Edwards had no previous convictions and told police he had never previously been arrested, the court heard.

‘Wholly unnecessary’

During sentencing, district judge Sunil Khanna told Edwards he had, “until now”, been a man of “impeccable character”, but got himself embroiled in what he called “large-scale civil disorder”.

He said: “A male who was being beaten up was detained by police.

“He was lying face-down on the floor, hands behind his back, three police officers on top of him with no threat to any person.

“Despite that, you walked up and stamped on his leg.

“It’s beyond me why you felt the need to do this, because clearly, everything was under control, the police had everything under control – what you did was wholly unnecessary.”

He added: “You’ve never done anything like this before and I’m sure you won’t again.”

Edwards was also ordered to pay court costs and a victim surcharge totalling £239.

BBC News

Two sentenced over threats during Nottingham protests

By
August 25, 2024
Uncategorized

The two men were among 20 people arrested during the protests on August 3 in Nottingham

Two men have been sentenced for threatening a man during protests that took place in the centre of Nottingham. The Crown Prosecution Service has released sentencing details for Tony Campion, 29, and David Witney, 39.

Both men appeared at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court to answer charges relating to unrest in Nottingham on August 3. Campion and Witney were among 20 people arrested during the far-right rally and counter-protest.

Campion pleaded guilty to charges of using threatening words or behaviour with intent to cause fear or provoke violence for their part in an escalation of hostility involving an Asian male victim. Campion pleased guilty at an August 16 hearing, being sentenced to four months’ imprisonment.

Witney pleaded guilty during a hearing on August 22 and was given a three-month sentence, suspended for 18 months. Witney was also ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work, attend five days of rehabilitation requirement, complete a six-month alcohol treatment programme and to engage with the probation service.

Paul Dixon, 35, also pleaded guilty to the same charge whilst Dominic Lane, 46, pleaded not guilty. Lane will face trial in October whilst a fifth defendant, 81-year-old Keith Edwards, was also charged in relation to this incident and will appear in court on September 6.

Janine McKinney from the Crown Prosecution Service said: “The arrests, charges, convictions and sentences we have seen over the last weeks make clear the consequences for those criminals on our streets and on social media. These individuals have paid the penalty that awaits anyone caught wreaking such havoc.

“We will continue to work at pace, alongside partners in the criminal justice system, to put anyone whose conduct has crossed the line into criminal behaviour before the courts to face the full consequences of their actions.”

Nottingham Post