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42-year-old man arrested for carrying PEN in Dover

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June 16, 2016
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A 42-year-old man appeared in court for carrying a pen that could double-up as an offensive weapon in Dover.

Darren Vincent from Gillingham was arrested after he was spotted carrying a “Military/Tactical Pen” in Folkestone Road on January 30, when far-right and anti-fascist protesters clashed in Dover.

Then pen is typically made out of solid metal. It can be used as a “last-ditch self-defence tool”.

Vincent appeared at Thanet Magistrates Court on June 6 and was sentenced to 77 days in prison suspended for 12 months.

He was ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work in the next 12 months and was given a three month curfew to stay at home between 9pm and 5am.

He must also pay £85 in costs and an £80 victim surcharge.

Dover Express

DV

Serial racist has blown £50,000 inheritance on booze and living in hotels

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June 3, 2016
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A SERIAL racist who has blown a £50,000 inheritance through drinking and misbehaving will be given a chance to mend her ways with the help of a tough East Lancashire rehab regime.

Jasmine Astin, who has no fewer than six convictions for racially-aggravated disorder, has been told she must live in a women’s only drying-out unit run by Blackburn-based Thomas.

Appearing before Burnley Crown Court, the 22-year-old admitted attacking Asian-owned takeaways in Rawtenstall and Blackburn.

Emma Kehoe, prosecuting, said Astin had initially been ordered to leave Mi-Mi’s, in Bacup Road, Rawtenstall, on February 7, after being racially abusive to staff and customers. But she returned armed with a knife, which she began waving around and continued to be offensive.

Astin, of no fixed address, was charged with a racially-aggravated public order offence and possession of a bladed article before being bailed by police.

But on February 14 she was found abusing Asian staff at the Tasty Spot takeaway in Darwen Street, Blackburn, the court heard.

Miss Kehoe said: “She climbed over the counter … and when she was challenged she then started with the racial abuse.”

Astin also tried to spit at staff before they managed to remove her from the premises. She then went next door to the Pyramid takeaway, where she started throwing chairs around and racially abused staff.

Mark Stuart, defending, said his client, who admitted involvement in each of the incidents, had received a substantial inheritance, aged 18, after the death of her father. He told the court she had spent the money, on drinking, and staying in hotels and bed and breakfasts.

Others had taken advantage of her, including people she met through Facebook, but she now realised her life had to change,which could be assisted through the alcohol-free Thomas Project said Mr Stuart.

Imposing a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, Judge Jonathan Gibson told Astin she had a ‘shocking record’ for racially-aggravated offences.

The judge said Astin, who must undertake a 12-month rehabilitation requirement,should initially live as directed by Thomas.

Lancashire Telegraph

Police find ‘Nazi man cave’ filled with weapons after arresting Bear Grylls fan carrying axe and arrows

By
June 3, 2016
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Daniel Joyner said there was a possibility society would “fail” and he wanted to be prepared

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Police found a “man cave” filled with weapons and a Nazi flag after a man carrying an axe and arrows was found walking down a road wearing a gas mask.

Police arrested Daniel Joyner, 30, after tracking him down when they heard the sound of wood being chopped.

They discovered Bear Grylls fan Joyner sitting next to a small tent, with a bow, arrows, axes, cut throat razors and a machete, Isle of Wight Magistrates were told this week.

When they went to Joyner’s house, just 400 yards away, they uncovered more weapons, according to Anne Smout, prosecuting.

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In a shed, which Joyner called his “man cave”, officers found a Nazi flag pinned to the ceiling and an English Defence League poster in the window, along with a British Army uniform and a Samurai sword.

Pictures of Joyner posing with his weapons were found on his mobile phone.

He told officers he collected military items as his hobby was “survival” and had been going to the woods near the cycle track to camp for a few days.

He said there was a possibility that society would “fail” and he wanted to be prepared, like American doomsday “preppers”, said Mrs Smout.

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He said he had the axes and machetes for cutting wood and the cut throat razors for cutting rope and said a gas mask he was found with was due to a report of a gas leak.

Joyner’s lawyer Liz Miller said her client was a fan of war films and collected the items as his great-grandfather served in the armed forces.

He had since referred himself to a drug and alcohol misuse team.

She said: “He spent a lot of money on weapons as he was a collector. His shed was his ‘man cave’.

Everything was kept under lock and key.

Miller continued: “He does like Bear Grylls and he does like to be extra safe.

“This was a mistake from his point of view rather than him trying to cause trouble.”

Joyner was today sentenced to 12 weeks in jail, suspended for 12 months, fined £25 and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £115 surcharge.

Magistrates ordered the destruction of the weapons found at the tent, but he will be allowed to keep the items found in his shed.

Joyner told the court he planned to sell the collection.

Daily Mirror

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

EDL member racially abused Grimsby shop workers and smashed window

By
March 27, 2016
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WALKED FREE: Mathew Burton, who racially abused two men in a shop

Mathew Burton, pictured outside Grimsby magistrates court.

A SELF-PROCLAIMED EDL member who racially abused two Grimsby shop workers and smashed in a window walked free from court – because his co-accused “had not faced the right charge”.

Mathew Burton, of Durban Road, Grimsby, pleaded guilty to racially abusing Kanaganayagan Thirumurugan and Kanaganayagam Thirukumaran at Today’s Local Store, in Victoria Street, on Wednesday, September 30, 2015.

He was also charged with causing £500 of criminal damage to the shop window.

Grimsby Magistrates’ Court heard that Burton racially abused and taunted the two victims.

The court heard the 27-year-old shouted racist abuse before saying “get out of the country. I am a member of the EDL.

“I will close your shop.”

CCTV footage from the shop was seized by police.

The complainant served Burton despite being abused and did not retaliate, Karen Tunicliffe, prosecuting, said.

Having left the shop after buying a packet of cigarettes, Burton then returned with Nathan Meadows, who was wearing a jumper with EDL on the back.

The pair started to become aggressive as they waited at the back of a queue, with Meadows shouting “I will brick your face and smash your face up”.

Meadows spat on the floor and then appeared to spit towards the man behind the counter, before pushing items off the counter, the court heard.

Meadows then threw and landed seven or eight punches.

They left the store and Meadows was seen to lash out at the window of a passing bus.

The two of them then caused the glass to shatter on the shop’s window.

Meadows, 27, of Convamore Road, was given a 12-month conditional discharge at an earlier hearing, having been charged with using threatening or abusive words or behaviour.

Two other charges were dismissed after no evidence was offered.

Burton originally pleaded not guilty, but changed his plea before the case went to trial.

He carried out the offence while on bail for motoring offences, the prosecution said.

Mark McNeil, mitigating, said his client accepted what he did was unacceptable, adding that drink had impinged his decision making.

“He accepts he is easily led and often falls to peer pressure in a need to impress others,” he said.

He added: “I am not belittling the nature of the offence, but I am somewhat confused the co-accused was sentenced in the manner he was.

“One would say the co-accused was more culpable. He seems to be the main protagonist and yet he walked away with a conditional discharge.”

Deputy district judge Derek French described Burton’s behaviour as “absolutely despicable”.

“There is no way the charge against the co-accused was the right charge,” he added.

“If the co-accused did not go into custody then you shouldn’t either.

“You have been very fortunate today, you should have gone to prison.”

He was handed a six-month sentence, suspended for 12 months and was given 20 days of rehabilitation activity requirement.

He was also ordered to pay £250 compensation to the complainant, £500 to repair the window, an £80 victims’ surcharge and £85 prosecution costs.

Grimsby Telegraph

Racist mob lures pizza driver to Pontefract club and beats him up

By
March 4, 2016
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A PIZZA delivery driver was horrificially attacked and racially abused during a “mob attack” after being lured to a West Yorkshire pub.

Leeds Crown Court heard up to 30 people looked on as the 31-year-old victim suffered a broken jaw and cheekbone as he was repeatedly punched and kicked.

The court heard a number of people were involved in the violence and others ignored the injured man’s pleas for help when he begged them to call police.

One man, Simon Lawrie, 31, came out of the pub and shouted abuse before hitting the man as he lay injured over a wall.

He lost consciousness from the blow.

Richard Walters, prosecuting, said the victim had been called to deliver food to the Chequerfield Pub, Pontefract, at around 7.30pm on May 15 last year.

When he arrived outside two men began to punch him repeatedly. He was then dragged from his car and held as more punches were thrown at his face.

Mr Walters said a woman came out of the pub and asked the two attackers why it was taking so long to kill the victim and shouted more racist abuse at him.

He was then kicked repeatedly before Lawrie came out of the pub and joined the attack.

The victim briefly lost consciousness but was then able to crawl. He screamed at onlookers to ring the police but those witnessing the attack ignored his pleas.

The driver eventually ran through the gardens of nearby homes and was eventually helped by someone who took him inside his home and blocked the entrance to prevent further attacks.

Lawrie, of Monkhill Avenue, Pontefract, was arrested and said he had attacked the man after his 10-year-old daughter had gone into the pub and told him that a man had asked her to get into his car.

He pleaded guilty to racially aggravated assault occasioning actual bodily harm. A month before the attack Lawrie had been made the subject of a community order for punching a man in the Malt Shovel pub, Pontefract.

Sean Smith, mitigating, said Lawrie had overreacted to the information given to him by his daughter.

He added: “There had been concerns in the local area that individuals connected to a certain pizza parlour had been carrying out this type of behaviour in the locale.”

Mr Walters said there was no evidence that the victim had behaved inappropriately and he had only been working for the fast food firm for five days before the incident.

Lawrie was given an 18 month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid work.

Lawrie was also told to pay £500 compensation to the victim.

Recorder Nigel Sangster, QC, said: “It is a matter of shame that so many people watched this. The people who did not help should be ashamed of their behaviour.

“The man who took him in should be praised.”

Yorkshire Post

SL

Shoppers started brawl at Sunderland Tesco after threatening to slash staff

By
November 15, 2015
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Three men have been sentenced after starting a brawl in a branch of Tesco’s.

Connor McIntosh, 21, Daniel Gray, 25, and Lee Forster, 25, were all charged with affray after an altercation with two employees at Tesco’s on Newcastle Road in Sunderland.

Newcastle Crown Court heard that the three men had been shopping at the supermarket on October 25 last year with McIntosh being asked to leave the store after being aggressive towards staff and causing trouble.

CCTV footage showed the men leaving the store and heading into the car park.

Mr Alec Burns prosecuting said that McIntosh – who has previous convictions for battery and criminal damage – then approached two employees of Tesco’s who were on their break and became aggressive towards them.

He threatened to slash them and continued to point and wave his arms around aggressively.

The CCTV footage shows McIntosh edging closer to one of the men before a fight breaks out.

Mcintosh is then seen throwing punches before Gray and Forster join in.

Mr Burns said: “Thankfully there were no lasting injuries and everyone got into Murray’s car and fled.

“The car was driven dangerously and was pursued by police before crashing into a school fence.”

McIntosh, of Barwick Street, Durham and Gray, of Northlands, Durham made no reply when interviewed by police and Forster, of Station View, Chester-Le-Street said he had joined in on the fight to protect his friends.

All three pleaded guilty to affray at a previous hearing.

The court heard that five months later on March 6 this year, Gray was intoxicated outside the Bridge Pub in Chester-Le-Street while still on bail for the affray.

Mr Burns said: “He was drinking a bottle of cider and was clearly drunk when an altercation between his brother began.

“The two began fighting in the street and at some point Gray pulled out an unloaded BB gun.

“His brother knew it was an imitation firearm but the defendant began pointing the gun at passing traffic.”

Concerned members of the public phoned the police and Gray was arrested.

He was initially compliant but once in the police car started telling the arresting officers that he would kill them and that they had “entered a very dark world” and threatened to “blow their heads off.”

Anthony Davis, defending Gray said that he bought the gun for £35 and was initially going to be used for shooting birds in the woods.

He said that he also accepts that the members of the public would have been very concerned seeing the weapon.

Gray pleaded guilty to possession of an imitation firearm at a previous hearing and was sentenced to 22 months in prison for both offences.

McIntosh, who was said to have given up taking drugs and was in employment was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for 18 months as well as being ordered to carry out 120 hours unpaid work.

Lee Forster, who was said to have the better record of the men was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for 12 months as well as supervision for 12 months and ordered to carry out 100 hours unpaid work.

Sunderland Echo

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Football yob avoids jail over Sunderland-West Ham brawl

By
August 27, 2015
Uncategorized
Simon Badham received a three-year football banning order.

Simon Badham received a three-year football banning order.

A SOUTH Tyneside football yob described as a “genuinely decent member of society” has been slapped with a banning order after a violent clash between rival fans.

Simon Badham avoided jail after admitting violent disorder following a mass street brawl between Sunderland and West Ham supporters.

The 21-year-old, from Frobisher Street, Hebburn, was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, with 250 hours’ unpaid work. He was also given a three-year banning order.

Badham was one of four men to appear at Newcastle Crown Court yesterday to be sentenced over the violence, which erupted outside Revolution bar in Sunderland on January 12.

Judge Jeremy Freedman said Badham is usually a “genuinely decent member of society”.

Also sentenced was Kevin Bilton, 51, of Lambton Drive, Hetton, who admitted violent disorder and was sentenced to four months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, with 100 hours of unpaid work.

Sean Herron, 19, of Hogarth Drive, Columbia, Washington, who handed in a stash of testimonials to his usually positive character, was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, with 250 hours of unpaid work.

Shaun Baker, 29, of Gainsborough Square, Sunderland, was sentenced to four months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years with £500 costs.

All pleaded guilty to violent disorder and were given three-year football banning orders.

Judge Freedman said he accepted the men were ashamed of what they had done, and accepted none of them had been involved in the organising of the brawl by the Sunderland Youth Firm and rival supporters.

Shields Gazette

Four dealers in court after selling drugs to undercover police officers

By
March 6, 2015
EDL, English Defence League, Suspended sentence
DRUGS CHARGES ... clockwise, from top left, Thomas Allen, Deborah Ritchie, Daniel Sayers and Adam Sayers.

DRUGS CHARGES … clockwise, from top left, Thomas Allen, Deborah Ritchie, Daniel Sayers and Adam Sayers.

FOUR drug dealers were arrested when police launched an undercover operation to tackle city centre crime.

Officers who posed as users ‘Gary and Emma’ were easily able to buy drugs from strangers they met while hanging around the busy streets of Sunderland.

Over a period of weeks the covert cops were regularly offered and sold cannabis.

On one occasion they were able to buy diamorphine during a deal that took place near Hudson Street Primary School.

As a result of the operation, Adam Sayers, 27 and Deborah Ritchie, 28, both of Somerset Street, Daniel Sayers, 31, of Hill View Square and Thomas Allen, 29, of Guildford Street, all in Sunderland, all admitted drugs charges.

All four have dozens of previous convictions for a variety of offences.

Prosecutor Micahael Hodson told Newcastle Crown Court; “This was an investigation into crime generally, in the centre of Sunderland.

“The prosecution say Adams Sayers is the busiest of all and he involved his girlfriend Miss Ritchie.

“Daniel Sayers made the first approach to the two officers, who were sitting on a wall in Sunderland town centre.

“The crown submit they are street dealers.”

The court heard the first meeting with the undercover officers was in early April last year.

The operation came to an end in August when the home of Sayers and Ritchie was raided and 14 wraps of cannabis were found.

Between those dates the officers had been able to purchase small amount of drugs, in exchange for cash, cigarettes and even razors.

The deals were often arranged via mobile phone after the initial street meeting in April.

Adam Sayers, who admitted supplying and offering to supply cannabis, was jailed for nine months.

Ritchie, who admitted supplying and offering to supply cannabis, was sentenced to four months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, with a two month curfew.

Allen, who admitted supplying cannabis, was sentenced to four month imprisonment, suspended for 18 months with supervision and a two month curfew.

Daniel Sayers, who admitted one charge of supplying diamorphine, was jailed for nine months , consecutive to a sentence he is serving for unrelated offences.

Judge Paul Sloan QC told them: “Your offending was detected as a result of a police operation where two undercover officers were deployed to operate covertly in Sunderland.”

The judge said he accepted Ritchie, who has turned her back on trouble and is co-operating fully with officials who are trying to help her, and Allen, who has no previous convictions for drugs offences and has settled down with a family, were lesser involved.

The court heard the diamophine handed over by Daniel Sayers during his brief involvement was worth less than £10 and he exchanged it for 100 cigarettes.

Alec Burns, defending, said the class A drug was in prescription tablet form, which got ground down during the exchange near the school.

Mr Burns said; “It was not someone who had heroin ready to supply, it was someone who improvised at the time.”

The court heard Adam Sayers has been diagnosed with health problems and has vowed to turn his back on trouble.

Sunderland Echo

The EDL supporter in this article is Tommy Allan

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TA

Rugeley EDL supporter gets blanket booze ban

By
February 5, 2015
EDL, English Defence League, Suspended sentence

An English Defence League supporter from Rugeley has been banned from all licensed premises after a judge saw a recording of violence after the group he was in was turned away from a pub.

Ross Gilbert was the seventh man to be dealt with at Warwick Crown Court following a clash between EDL supporters and customers at the George Eliot pub in Bridge Street, Nuneaton.

He and the other six had all pleaded guilty to a charge of violent disorder following the incident which took place almost four years ago in February 2011.

Gilbert, aged 28, of William Morris Court, Rugeley, was sentenced to eight months in prison suspended for 12 months and ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work.

Judge Andrew Lockhart QC also imposed an exclusion order banning him from all public houses and restaurants where alcohol is served for three months.

He told Gilbert, who was given a football banning order last month because of drunken behaviour at the Hawthorns in December, he had escaped custody ‘by a hair’s breadth.’

Prosecutor Lisa Hancox said a group of EDL supporters, including Gilbert, had been to Luton for a demonstration and had to change trains in Nuneaton on their way back to Staffordshire. Several of them took the opportunity to head into the town centre for a drink, and after going to a kebab shop they headed to the George Eliot.

On the way one of the group was captured by a CCTV camera stopping to put on a cross of St George face mask before they congregated outside the pub where they were refused entry. There was a stand-off during which a drinker came out of the pub and confronted the masked EDL supporter, at which point Gilbert threw a punch at him.

And Judge Lockhart, watching a CCTV recording observed: “He was the first to use physical violence.”

Gilbert, representing himself, said: “I feel ashamed. It was four years ago. I was younger, stupid. I’ve moved on in my life.”

Express & Star