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White supremacist admits being behind ‘Punish a Muslim Day’ hate campaign

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October 12, 2018
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A white supremacist behind the Punish a Muslim Day letters who encouraged murder and sent hoax letters to The Queen, Theresa May, and David Cameron is facing years behind bars today.

David Parnham, 35, targeted Asian MP, high profile political figures, Royalty, and Muslim centres including Finsbury Park Mosque with hundreds of poison pen letters threatening violence which stretch over two years.

Also among the victims was Tory peer and former security minister Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon.

Parnham sent dozens of envelopes of white powder to his intended targets from his home in Lincoln.

He sparked full scale alerts over fears that it was anthrax or other poisons. However, the substances eventually turned out to be harmless.

He signed off letters to Asian MPs and Mosques as “Muslim Slayer” and included the phrase “P*ki filth”, according to prosecutors.

In a message to then-Prime Minister Mr Cameron, Parnham wrote the phrase “Allah is great”.

Mrs May, then Home Secretary, and The Queen were among the targets of a series of letters containing white powder which included the sinister phrase: “The clowns R coming 4 you”.

At the Old Bailey today, Parnham pleaded guilty to a series of charges including soliciting murder, making hoaxes, and sending letters with intent to cause distress.

He admitted being the source of the Punish a Muslim Day series of letters, which caused widespread alarm and panic when they spread on social media in March and May this year.

He had also sent out hate letters under different titles, including “The Great Cleanse” which was aimed at Mosques around London in August last year. In those notes, he suggested that Muslims should be “exterminated”.

In Parnham’s so called “Jigsaw” letters from February 2017, he included a picture of a person being decapitated with a sword with a Swastika insignia, including the phrase “blood will be spilled”.

In March last year, Parnham sent letters to homes around the University of Sheffield campus, urging people to “commit exterminations of minority racial and religious groups” and offering £100 for each murder.

A letter to a mosque in Sheffield in August last year read: “To filthy sub-human c********ers I have left a little present for you.it will go off in a short period of time.

“The results will be explosive! Muslim blood will make the floors sticky. Your brains will be splattered all over the walls. A good Muslim is a dead Muslim. Killin Muslims is awesome”.

Parnham’s letter writing campaign was eventually linked to the Punish a Muslim Day threats, which were circulated on social media and urged people to attack Muslims on April 3 this year

Police later discovered that Parnham was an avowed fan of white supremacist Dylann Roof, who shot dead nine black parishioners at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, and the Punish a Muslim Day initiative was timed to happened on Roof’s birthday.

Parnham even wrote a fan letter to the convicted mass murderer in an American prison in December 2016, saying: “I just wanted to thank you for opening my eyes. Ever since you carried out what I’d call the ‘cleansing’ I’ve felt differently about what you’d call ‘racial awareness’.”

He added: “ My main reason for disgust is Muslims. I hate these animals with a passion. I sent letters with white powder to some mosques in London they had to close down parliament because of it.”

In one of his last series of letters, under the menacing title “Bang! You’re dead”, Parnham targeted mosques and Asian families living nearby and included a picture of a man holding a gun.

He used the words: “I have acquired a weapon and I am more than prepared to use it on you and members of your Masjid”.

Parnham, from Lincoln, today pleaded guilty to soliciting to murder, five charges of hoaxes involving sending noxious substances, seven charges of sending letters with intent to cause distress or anxiety, one count of making a bomb hoax, and one count of encouraging offences believing one of more would be committed.

He was remanded in custody until a hearing on November 23 to decide when he will be sentenced.

Evening Standard

Sheffield man could face jail for vile torrent of racist abuse at neighbour

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September 25, 2018
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A racist neighbour who placed a racist doll, vile messages and a camera in the window of his Sheffield home has been warned he could face jail.

Glynn Fairclough, of Retford Road, Handsworth, admitted charges of harrassment and racially aggravated harrassment at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.

The court heard he placed racist messages and a golly doll in his landing window facing the home of his neighbour.

He also threw litter and empty cans into her home over a period of 10 weeks between June and August this year.

Fairclough, 52, pleaded guilty to both charges and District Judge Paul Healey warned him he could face prison.

Judge Healey said: “You subjected the victim to a torrent of racist abuse over a period of time. Because you are charged with racially aggravated element to the offending I am allowed to commit the case to the Crown Court.

“You have a real risk of facing an immediate prison sentence.”

Judge Healey adjourned sentencing for three weeks so that a pre-sentence report can be prepared.

Fairclough was released on conditional bail until his next appearance on October 17.
Sheffield Star

‘Danger’ thug guilty of second attack

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August 30, 2018
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A VICIOUS thug locked up indefinitely for leaving a man brain damaged in a drunken assault at a Sheffield tram stop has been convicted of another violent attack.

David Sumner, aged 26, was jailed for 12 months after he admitted attacking another man – three months before the assault on family man Alan Smith.

Sumner, of Thornborough Road, Heeley, was jailed indefinitely in March after he was found guilty of attacking 57-year-old Mr Smith at a city tram stop in November 2006.

Mr Smith was left needing 24-hour care after Sumner punched him in a drunken rage when he tried to intervene in a scuffle near the Donetsk Way tramstop.

Sumner was locked up indefinitely for the protection of the public and ordered to serve a minimum term of five years and three months. His minimum term was reduced by appeal judges to four years but he can only be released when he is no longer considered a danger to the public.

Hauled before Sheffield Crown Court again, Sumner admitted affray after he and another man, who has never been caught, confronted a young man on the street and demanded a cigarette. When his girlfriend jumped in front of Sumner, he invited her to fight saying: “Do you want a go?”

The man was pushed to the ground and his rucksack stolen in the attack on Charlotte Road, near St Mary’s Gate in the city centre in August 2006.

Sumner was caught six days later after the couple spotted him in a bar and rang the police.

The court heard he initially denied the attack, claiming he was at home the whole time and putting forward his mother as an alibi.

Jailing Sumner for a year with an extended licence period of two years, Judge Patrick Robertshaw said: “The facts of the present case simply outline that you are indeed a danger. In theory you are eligible for release at the halfway stage but that isn’t going to happen.”

Sheffield Star

From 2007.

Samaritan left brain damaged after attack

By
August 30, 2018
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A VIOLENT thug is behind bars today after attacking a family man in a drunken rage at a Sheffield tram stop, leaving him brain damaged.

Mild-mannered Alan Smith, aged 57, was knocked down with a single punch “like a tree being felled” after he tried to calm an altercation between David Sumner and two other men.

His head hit the ground, he was left in a coma, and he needed brain surgery at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital. He has been left severely brain damaged, may never walk unaided again, will need round-the-clock care for the rest of his life, and may not recognise his family.

Sumner, 25, of Walden Road, Heeley, was given an indeterminate sentence for public protection and must serve at least five years and three months before he is considered for parole.

Sheffield Crown Court heard brothers Alan and Brian Carnall had been on a night out in Sheffield city centre when they caught the last Halfway tram from the City Hall stop on West Street.

Also on the tram was Mr Smith, from Hackenthorpe, who enjoyed a fortnightly Friday night out in the city and had a ‘nodding acquaintance’ with the brothers.

Sumner got on at Castle Square and lit a cigarette. Alan Carnall, 40, pointed out smoking was not allowed on the tram and became annoyed when Sumner replied that he would do as he pleased.

David Webster, prosecuting, said that when Mr Carnall reported Sumner to the conductor, Sumner became ‘hostile and aggressive’ threatening: “I’m well up for a fight. I’m crazy, I’m insane, once I get going, no-one can stop me. They’ve picked the wrong person tonight.”

Sumner had been due to leave the tram at Spring Street, near the Manor, but instead paid an extra fare to confront and fight the Carnalls, said Mr Webster.

They tried to sneak off the tram at Donetsk Way, Hackenthorpe, but Sumner followed and punched Brian Carnall, 43.

Alan Carnall and Sumner then began to grapple. Sumner knocked over Mr Carnall and kicked him in the head.

Mr Webster told the court: “Sumner was then challenged by Mr Smith in terms such as, ‘Why are you doing this? Why cause all this bother?’ Sumner struck him a single yet forceful blow to the jaw which sent him to the ground like a tree being felled.”

As other people rushed to help, Sumner continued to behave aggressively before running away.

Sumner – who at the time of the attack was subject to a community order for battery after trying to strangle his former girlfriend while drunk – handed himself in to police after seeing details of the attack on television news. He claimed he had been physically sick when he realised what he had done.

Paul O’Shea, defending, said Sumner was from a “perfectly decent, law-abiding family”. “He’s had to admit to himself that he’s destroyed another man’s life and he’s desperately ashamed,” he said.

Sentencing Sumner, Judge Alan Goldsack QC told him: “You have ruined Mr Smith’s life and that of his family and no words of mine and no sentence I pass can ever restore normality to them.”

He added: “This was a particularly serious example of late night, alcohol-fuelled, gratuitous violence on an innocent member of the public. If the courts do not seek to deter such behaviour by lengthy custodial sentences, decent people are put off from going into their city at night.”

Det Sgt Joanne Baines, officer in charge of the case, added: “The family are devastated – this has completely shattered their lives. Mr Smith’s injuries and the impact this has had on the family are some of the worst I’ve seen.”DAD-of-two Alan Smith’s wife Elaine said the family are “relieved” that his attacker has been punished – but told The Star of her torment over her husband’s future.

Mrs Smith said: “I think the judge did the best he could. We are just relieved that the case is over and we have got this result.

“But it doesn’t change what we are facing. We still have such an uncertain, devastating future.”

Mrs Smith, from Hackenthorpe, described her husband as a “very quiet, mild-mannered man” in an emotional appeal days after the attack.

She had previously said it was a “tragedy that he has suffered such horrific injuries in coming to someone’s aid”.

Mr Smith was returning home from meeting a friend in Sheffield city centre when the incident happened last November.

A second man was also arrested in connection with the attack but later released without charge.
Sheffield Star.

From 2007.

Fake NHS worker found guilty of drugging and sexually assaulting vulnerable Sheffield women

By
March 28, 2017
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A fake NHS worker who gained the trust of vulnerable Sheffield woman and plied them with alcohol and drugs before sexually assaulting them, has been jailed.

Dean Chambers, aged 49, of Green Oak Road, Totley, was found guilty of two counts of sexual assault, one count of perverting the course of justice in relation to two victims which took place in his home.

Jailing Chambers for five years and three months, Judge Sarah Wright said: “You have been convicted by the jury of sexual assaults after you exploited these vulnerable women with alcohol and drugs, although I accept they took these willingly.

“You also tried to pervert the course of justice sending letters from your prison cell which is a very serious offence.”

Chambers, who lingered before being led away to the cells, showed no emotion as the sentence was passed.

The Sheffield Crown Court previously heard Chambers would visit places like soup kitchens and homeless shelters before gaining the women’s trust and inviting back to his Totley home.

Mr Ian Goldsack, prosecuting, previously told the court the complainants were ‘extremely vulnerable adults’ and ‘females who had all sorts of different difficulties or vulnerabilities’.

“He would present himself as a Good Samaritan; he would gain their trust at least in part through wearing an NHS badge and presenting himself as somebody who would help people with problems or vulnerabilities,” Mr Goldsack said.

“He would invite them back to his home, once there they would be provided with the sort of things they thought they wanted – drugs, alcohol, tablets he seemed to have a ready stock of.”

Chambers also wrote letters from his prison cell to a vulnerable woman, who was not a complainant, asking her to record the women ‘admitting they had lied about the allegations’.

The jury, who took over 13 hours to come to their verdicts, cleared Chambers of six further counts of sexual assault against two further complainants.

He already pleaded guilty to one count of supplying class C drugs during the trial.

Sheffield Star

Ex-soldier jailed for battering Good Samaritan who tried to stop him throttling wife

By
December 22, 2016
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A former soldier has been jailed for five years for battering a Good Samaritan who was trying to stop him attacking his wife.

David Creswick was throttling his wife after a row in Sheffield city centre last Christmas, then knocked a passer-by unconscious after he tried to prevent the attack.

Father-of-four Creswick ran and hid behind a car from passing armed police officers – but returned to hit his victim in the face as the man lay motionless on the floor.

The victim suffered bleeding on the brain, a fractured skull and had to spend two weeks in hospital over Christmas last year due to the surgery he needed.

Sheffield Crown Court heard the victim lost his sense of smell because of his injuries and has been unable to work for a year, leaving him struggling to pay his bills.

In a statement read out to court, the man said: “I have no memory of the attack but was sickened to learn the attacker continued to hit me as I lay on the ground. Knowing I may never be able to smell again is depressing and has affected my quality of life.”

Creswick, aged 30, of Mason Lathe Road, Shiregreen, had been on a Christmas night out with family and friends.

He had already been involved in two altercations before the incident.

David Wain, prosecuting, said the victim and his partner had driven past Creswick and his wife on Broad Lane in Sheffield just before midnight on December 19 last year.

After seeing Creswick with his hands around the throat of his wife, they stopped in an attempt to intervene.

Mr Wain said: “The victim’s recollection is the defendant coming towards him and then waking up in an ambulance.”

After being arrested, Creswick demanded to know why his victim had not been arrested as well and when told the man was on the way to hospital said: “Good, I’m glad he is unconscious.”

Creswick initially claimed he had been attacked from behind and was acting in self-defence but CCTV showed he was the aggressor.

The court heard Creswick had a previous conviction from September 2015 for spitting at a police officer.

Francis Edusei, defending, said his client has written a letter of apology which ‘expresses his disgust at himself and his remorse at his behaviour’.

Mr Edusei said earlier in the evening Creswick had been in the Players Bar on West Street when somebody had pushed him, causing a drink to spill on him.

“There was a remonstration with this person who proceeded to hit the defendant,” he said.

Mr Edusei said Creswick was hit again by somebody else outside the club.

He said his client wanted to go home but his wife wanted to stay out, leading to the argument.

Mr Edusei said Creswick wrongly thought the man he attacked on Broad Lane was one of the two men from the bar.

He said Creswick was ‘a hard-working man’ who had previously been a soldier before being given a medical discharge from the forces.

Judge Michael Slater jailed Creswick for five years for the Section 18 assault.

He told him: “The victim has received life-changing injuries and is understandably depressed and feels vulnerable.

“That is something you and you alone have caused.”

Following the case, investigating officer Detective Constable Newman Holt said: “This was an unprovoked attack on a member of the public, who stepped in to help a woman who appeared to be in distress.

“As a result of Creswick’s angry and sustained assault, the victim suffered significant injuries that have had long-lasting effects.

“His senseless actions that evening have changed this victim’s life forever and no jail term is going to make up for that.”

Sheffield Star

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Sheffield man jailed after shooting teenager on petrol station forecourt

By
December 6, 2016
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A Sheffield man who shot a teenager, leaving 50 lead pellets embedded in his body, has been jailed for six years.

Nathan Marples, aged 25, of Wordsworth Avenue, Parson Cross, appeared at Sheffield Crown Court today, for sentencing in relation to an incident at a garage in Sheffield on Friday, July 22.

At about 11.30pm that evening, the victim, a 19-year-old man, was at the Esso garage in Wordsworth Avenue when Marples approached him, firing a gun in his direction.

The victim received minor pellet wounds to his arm and stomach as a result of the incident.

Marples was arrested shortly after and subsequently charged. He pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.

Marples was sentenced to six years for grievous bodily harm and three years for the firearms offence, to run alongside each other. He was also made subject to a Criminal Behaviour Order.

Acting Detective Inspector John Yoxall, the investigating officer, said: “Marples knew the victim, who was fortunate enough not to suffer any serious injuries, and carried out a despicable, deliberate attack on him.

“South Yorkshire Police will actively pursue and seek out anyone illegally carrying or using a firearm. You will be arrested, and you will be brought to justice.

“Gun crime will not be tolerated across South Yorkshire and through intelligence led operations we have already apprehended a number of people found to have been in possession of a firearm.

“If you have concerns, or information about anyone thought to be in possession of a firearm, call us or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.”

Sheffield Star

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A thug who took part in January’s violent clashes in Dover has been banged up

By
October 3, 2016
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A violent protestor who threw objects during a disturbance in Dover has been jailed for two years and 10 months.

Lee Robinson, 24, of Tipton Street, Sheffield, travelled to Kent to take part in a march on Saturday 30 January.

There were violent clashes as a counter-protest was held at the same time and fighting broke out between the two groups.

Robinson was filmed acting in an aggressive manner at various points throughout the day, including pushing against the police cordon and throwing objects at opposition protestors.

His photograph was circulated to other police forces for identification but he was arrested after returning to Dover for another planned protest on Saturday 2 April.

Robinson later pleaded guilty to violent disorder and was sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court today (September 30).

Investigating officer PC Peter Frampton said: “By returning to the scene of his crimes, Lee Robinson clearly thought he had got away with the disgraceful behaviour he displayed last January.

“Like more than 70 others arrested since that day, he appeared far more interested in causing trouble and getting into fights than carrying out any type of peaceful protest.

“The courts are coming down hard on offenders like Robinson, and I hope this sends a clear message to anyone planning on attending demonstrations in Kent that you risk receiving a lengthy prison sentence if you are unable to behave in a responsible manner.”

Kent News

Violent brawlers who brought city to a standstill let off with suspended sentences

By
April 23, 2016
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ON the second anniversary of violent St George’s Day clashes which saw thugs bring Brighton to a standstill, The Argus can reveal some of the main perpetrators have been spared jail.

The March for England clashes cost an estimated £1 million in policing, and it has taken nearly two years for the participants to have their day in court.

But the Argus can reveal that that of the five men and two women who were convicted of violent disorder after trials at Hove Crown Court last month, all were handed suspended sentences.

More than 1,300 officers policed the far-right march, which culminated in shop fronts bring smashed and glasses and chairs hurled between demonstrators and counter-demonstrators in the city centre.

Policing the protest cost more than £500,000 while retired detective Graham Cox estimated at least as much again would have been spent since in court and police time, and questioned the sentences handed down.

He added: “Ultimately we do live in a free country and people should be allowed to demonstrate providing they don’t break the law.

“I don’t think you can put a price on free speech providing they are acting lawfully.

“So I don’t think banning marches is the correct approach and this is the price we have to pay for it.”

He added: “The [suspended] sentences seems on the lenient side to me.

“I know you cannot always send everyone to prison, but I suspect some of the people who have investigated might be a little bit disappointed with how much the courts have backed them up.”

The violence broke out outside the Dorset pub at the corner of Gardner Street and North Lane after the parade had ended on April 28, 2014.

A team of six officers spent three months studying CCTV to identify those involved in the violence, and detectives have travelled the country to make arrests.

Detective Superintendent Carwyn Hughes said: “This was terrifying for those people in the area and we ensured the resources necessary to find those responsible and bring them to justice.

“We will always prosecute where protests become an excuse for a fight.”

Organisers of the far-right March for England said they would not return to Brighton in 2015 and nothing has been announced for this year.

However, one group is organising an event at the Level to celebrate the lack of a March for England, while far-right group Pie and Mash Squad told The Argus it planned to come to the city but refused to say more to “lefty journalists”.

Police are laying on extra resources in case of trouble.

Brighton and Hove chief superintendent Nev Kemp said: “Should we become aware that any group wants to exercise their right to lawful protest, we will of course be happy to liaise with them and the local community to try and facilitate a peaceful protest.”

IT WAS SHOCKING AND WE FELT UNSAFE

THE trouble started almost as soon as the far-right demonstrators got off the train into Brighton on the morning of April 27 two years ago.

Police had taken few chances, moving the parade from the city centre to the seafront and putting 1,325 officers on duty along with horse and dogs.

But shouts of “scum” and worse filled the air as the far-right group of around 200, many swathed in St George’s cross flags, made its way down Queens Road, taunted by counter-demonstrators, many covering their faces with black scarves.

Punching the air and shouting back, the March for England group was tightly controlled by police as it moved on to the seafront with many of the shops around shuttered for the morning and the usual weekend pleasure-seekers out of sight.

Tension ratcheted up as the group went on to the seafront, with flares thrown by some of the hundreds of counter-demonstrators, police horses helping to keep the two sides separate – and bystanders filming the action on their phones.

Yet the parade on the seafront passed off without serious violence and it was only when the marchers started heading back towards the railway station that police had bigger worries.

Groups started filtering off into the city centre, ending up drinking at The Dorset pub in Gardner Street, where the burst of violence that led to two-week trials two years later kicked off.

Witness Alice Johnson had been having a coffee with a friend and remembered: “Some groups from the march were having a drink outside The Dorset and then a group of guys who had their hoods up came from the other direction towards them.

“There was a bit of a stand off and then they were sort of shouting at each other but no one was really taking the first step. I don’t remember who threw something first but they started throwing glasses at each other and then the guys outside the pub started throwing the outdoor furniture.

“Everyone got out of the way and we were behind a dumpster – we could not really get past.

“It was a bit shocking and interesting at first – and then we felt unsafe. People threw chairs and things that caused lots of damage and a few of the shopfronts were smashed. “It was quite shocking for a while.”

As well as the damage to surrounding shops, many traders complained of thousands of pound in lost revenue due to the disruption to the city.

Two police officers were assaulted as people blocked the road to the station along Queens Road and Surrey Street.

They were knocked to the floor and had items thrown at them.

In the years since, there has been a huge police effort to track down those involved in the fighting, with weeks spent sifting through CCTV and officers travelling up and down the country making arrests.

In August of that year a case heard in magistrates court against Richard Kemp, then 39, from Halifax in Yorkshire, was thrown out of court after officers gave different accounts of what he had been doing with a chair. Magistrates said there was no case to answer due to inconsistencies in the evidence.

In between there have been calls from some quarters to have the march banned, although in the end it was the organisers themselves who have so far not held the parade here again.

Many believe they picked Brighton in the first place partly due to the town’s “lefty” reputation and some suggest the shift from the Green council last year may have dampened that attraction.

Witness Ms Johnson said of the latest convictions: “I hope that maybe they have reconsidered their behaviour.”

14 IN COURT IN CONNECTION WITH DISORDER

Fourteen people appeared at Hove Crown Court in two trials charged with violent disorder.

On Wednesday, February 17, six of them were found guilty and on Tuesday, March 21, one more person was found guilty. Seven were found not guilty.

Craig Wells, 34, of Connell Drive, Brighton; Alan Titterton, 50, of Wordsworth Avenue, Sheffield; Lorna Marcham, 31, of Norwich Drive, Brighton; Andrew Gill, 42, of Sixhills Street, Grimsby; Graham Clark, 52, of Belgrave Road, Margate, Kent; and Scott Banks, 21, of Acacia Road, Doncaster, were all given a two-year suspended sentence.

Tracey Parsons, 50, of David Stoddart Gardens, Swindon, was given a one-year suspended sentence.

Gavin Pidwell, 30, of Glynde, Lewes; Michael Woodhouse, 49, of Baden Road, Brighton; Jack Woodhouse, 19, of Baden Road, Brighton; Gareth Cooper, 34, of Burton Avenue, Doncaster; Richard Walker, 47, of Hillside Lane, Henfield; Ian Crossland, 42, of Hollinsend Road, Sheffield; and Stephen Caudwell, 54, of Angleton Close, Sheffield, were all found not guilty.

Brighton Argus