A LEADING member of the English Defence League is still on the run after he was jailed for 18 months in his absence.

Dean Kenney, 41, from Bannister Green Villas, Felsted, had already admitted to violent disorder at the 2,000-strong EDL rally in Birmingham city centre in July 2013, along with 15 co-defendants.

But he failed to appear at Birmingham Crown Court for sentencing on January 5 and is believed to have fled the UK.

A spokesman for West Midlands Police said he is on their wanted list, but is no longer being actively pursued.

At the moment, Kenney only faces the violent disorder sentence, but failing to appear before the court can be a separate offence.

In July 2013 members of the far-right organisation clashed with 300 anti-fascist counter-demonstrators and police in Birmingham city centre.

Missiles were thrown, including bottles and rocks, with an estimated £6,000 of damage caused to a hotel.

Essex Chronicle

Magistrates expressed surprise that no-one else was charged alongside Keith Edward Hall, 38, of Bath Street, Rhyl

A man has been given a suspended prison sentence for a firework attack on a mosque.

Magistrates saw video footage which showed Keith Edward Hall twice approaching the Islamic Centre in Rhyl, lighting the fireworks and pushing them through the letterbox on November 11.

In the background, a man and woman could be heard laughing and shouting: “Hurry up.”

Having seen the film, Prestatyn magistrates expressed surprise that no-one else has been charged in connection with the attack.

Hall, 38, of Bath Street, Rhyl, had pleaded guilty to religiously aggravated criminal damage at the centre in Water Street.

In the footage, filmed from the doorway of the Bow Bar opposite, Hall was seen approaching the mosque twice in 20 minutes.

In a victim impact statement, Rafiq Ullah, the centre’s treasurer, said the damage could have been much greater had they not taken measures to improve fire safety after a previous incident.

He said people could easily have been injured as the prayer room was behind the door.

The incident occurred only two days before the Paris shootings, and Mr Ullah said tension at the mosque was high in that period. It eased when Hall was arrested.

When interviewed, Hall said he could remember very little about the incident because he had drunk eight litres of cider and eight shorts.

He woke up the following morning with a sore arm where part of the letterbox surround had hit him when it was blown off.

He denied being a racist and claimed to have several friends from ethnic minorities.

Alex Fitzgerald, representing Hall, said he found it “astonishing” that no-one else had been charged even though they were interviewed.

Mr Fitzgerald told the court that Hall did not even realise that the building was a mosque.

“It was not born out of a deep-seated hate of the Muslim community, but was an act of utter stupidity,” he said.

“He is embarrassed at his stupidity and wishes to apologise. Alcohol affects his thinking and his behaviour.”

Hall was given a 16-week prison sentence suspended for 12 months, and must also observe a 7pm-7am curfew and attend a six-month alcohol treatment course and 25 days of rehabilitation.

He was also ordered to pay compensation of £558, costs of £300 and a surcharge of £80.

The Bench made a restraining order prohibiting him from entering Water Street for 12 months.

Daily Post

David Sadgrove, 61, shouted “you are a terrorist” at Mrs Saltana, who was with her two-year-old child, in November last year

A Woking man has been fined more than £350 for shouting ‘you are a terrorist’ at a Muslim woman in the wake of the Paris attacks.

David Sadgrove, of Courtenay Road, pleaded guilty to two counts of racially aggravated harassment at a hearing at Guildford Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday (January 19).

The 61-year-old man was arrested on November 15 after he asked Zamurd Saltana to move her car, which was parked on the pavement near his home, and became abusive.

Mrs Saltana was visiting someone in the street and had a two-year-old child with her.

Prosecuting, Johnson Shittu said: “She had just parked her car on Courtney Road when Mr Sadgrove had approached her and he asked her if she was a Muslim and if she was religious.

“He started to become abusive and aggressive.”

Mr Shittu said Sadgrove had sworn at Mrs Sultana and said: “‘You have killed so many people in Paris’”.

“It was clearly petrifying,” he said.

The court heard that two other men heard the noise as Sadgrove continued to shout: “You are a terrorist, you are going to blow someone up.”

Defending Sadgrove, Trudi Levico said the attacks in Paris provided context to the offence and that the defendant had a ‘myriad of problems’, caused by chronic arthritis in his hip and knee and was aided by a walking stick.

“He was on the pavement and he couldn’t get past those vehicles,” Mrs Levico said.

“He says he starts a relatively civil conversation about moving it.

“He has had problems on that stretch of the road before, it must be one whereby vehicles in order to free the road up park on the pavement.”

Once Sadgrove became abusive, two men living in the street came outside, including Parvaiz Mohammad, who Sadgrove also verbally abused.

Mrs Levico argued that Mrs Sultana did not state she was ‘petrified’.

“She says in her statement that when the two males come out he makes various comments to them,” she said.

“One of the males said to him to ‘try it’ and see what they would do to him.

“She told them to not talk to the English man like that.

“[The statement] said, ‘he was an old man and he looks ill to me’”.

The bench heard that Sadgrove had previous convictions in 2011 and 2003 but did not have a ‘pattern’ of offending.

He is a recipient of the disability living allowance and other benefits while waiting for an operation and was deemed ‘unfit’ for unpaid work for the offence.

Sentencing Sadgrove to a fine of £382, chair of the bench Mrs Lesley Shanks said the racial element to his offence had increased his debt.

“You were swearing and those offences did happen in front of a two-year-old child,” she said.

Sadgrove was fined £200 for the first offence and £75 for the second.

He was also ordered to pay £87 in costs and a £20 victim surcharge.

Get Surrey

Darren Mark Lumb, who has previous links to the BNP and EDL, verbally attacked the MP in January this year in West Yorkshire

A constituent has pleaded guilty to mounting an antisemitic verbal attack against Labour MP and shadow communities secretary Jon Trickett.

On 23 January 2015, Darren Mark Lumb, 47, stopped the the MP for Hemsworth in West Yorkshire in the street and launched into an antisemitic tirade against him.

During the trial on Thursday at Leeds crown court, Lumb changed his plea to guilty to one count of religiously aggravated harassment and stalking with fear of violence, and one count of breaching an asbo.

umb – who has been known to Trickett’s office for a decade – was released on bail on the condition that he did not approach the MP or any member of his staff and he will return to court on 3 March for sentencing.

Lumb has previously had links to the British National Party (BNP), the English Defence League (EDL) and the National Front, and served as BNP organiser for Wakefield and later West Yorkshire.

He has previous convictions for assault and disorder and was convicted in 2011 of using racially aggravated threatening or insulting words and behaviour after he reportedly called a petrol station worker “a black bastard”.

Lumb, who lives in South Elmsall, stood as a BNP candidate for South Elmsall and South Kirkby in the Wakefield Metropolitan district council election in 2011, where he won 441 votes, 2.6% below the Conservative candidate.

A friend of Trickett’s said the MP had been left shocked and shaken by the incident and that “he hasn’t experienced rage like it in his life”.

Jon Trickett has been MP for Hemsworth since 1996. He served as the parliamentary private secretary to prime minister Gordon Brown from 2008 to 2010 and was then promoted to the shadow cabinet by Ed Miliband in 2011.

Trickett was one of 36 MPs to nominate Jeremy Corbyn in the Labour leadership election and was made shadow secretary of state for communities and local government in the shadow cabinet reshuffle following Corbyn’s landslide victory in September 2015.

The Guardian

Kyle Pakes tried to erase footage of the attack by Jonathan Wrigley on Jamie Mulcahy, who suffered serious brain damage and died a year later

Kyle Pakes (left) and Jonathan Wrigley

A pub worker who tried to erase incriminating CCTV following the stabbing of a pub worker has been jailed.

Jamie Mulcahy, 26, was left ‘seriously brain damaged’ after he was attacked in Bacup, Lancashire, by pub manager Jonathan Wrigley in November 2014.

He had been receiving round-the-clock care until he passed away on December 5 last year .

Kyle Pakes, of Lennox Walk, Heywood , was instructed by Wrigley the morning after the attack to delete CCTV from the pub which showed the incident outside and Wrigley changing his clothes and washing his blood-covered hands in the sink, Burnley Crown Court heard.

But the court heard that he failed to carry out the task despite receiving telephone instructions from a CCTV engineer and it was later deleted by Wrigley’s cousin Curtis Munro.

Pakes, 22, pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice and was jailed for 10 months.

Stephen Parker, prosecuting, told the court how Wrigley stabbed Mr Mulcahy with a ‘butterfly knife’ during a 20-man town centre fight and then ‘made various attempts to foil the police investigation, one of which involved the actions of this defendant’.

The court heard Wrigley contacted the engineer who had installed the CCTV.

Mr Parker said: “He told the engineer something about his girlfriend and not wanting her to see it and that there may well have been some infidelity.”

Pakes later called the engineer from the pub.

Mr Parker added: “He said Pakes seemed unable to read properly and came across as a bit thick.

“He was really struggling with the man he was speaking to who was struggling to understand the system.”

The court heard Pakes became ‘frustrated’ after two or three minutes and told the engineer to ‘just leave it’.

Munro then went round to the pub and spoke to the engineer for around 10 minutes about deleting the CCTV.

Mr Parker said: “It was believed at the time that Munro had been successful but a technical expert for the police managed to retrieve it.”

Wrigley, 34, of Todmorden Road, Bacup, pleaded guilty to wounding and was jailed for 13 years and six months in July .

Munro, 21, of Queen’s Park Road, Heywood, pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice and was jailed for 16 months at the same hearing.

Judge Ian Leeming QC said it was an ‘extremely serious offence’ and there ‘must be immediate custody’.

Sentencing, he said: “This is a very serious offence but less grave than Munro as there was not the same determined effort and it didn’t work.

“You set about the task maybe out of misplaced loyalty. You were not very skilled at this, even under instruction. The engineer doubted your intellectual capacity and ability generally.

“I accept you’re genuinely remorseful.

“It’s very rare for a sentence for this offence to be suspended and it’s clear that neither a community order nor a fine could be justified. There must be immediate custody.”

Philip Holden, defending, said Pakes was Wrigley’s ‘first port of call’ because he knew he would be an ‘easy touch because of his intellect’.

He said: “Wrigley was a man in his 30s who deliberately sought out this defendant for those reasons.

“Wrigley didn’t want to be anywhere near that pub and wanted to continue to distance himself from it. He was working at the pub and knew his way around it.

“It was a pretty amateurish and poor attempt.”

Manchester Evening News

Attacks woman in front of her children just hours after walking free from court
Mother-of-four had chunks of hair pulled out and vile racist abuse was thrown at her
He had just been given a community order for previous assault on a man with learning difficulties

A thug out celebrating his ‘lenient’ court sentence left a shop worker cowering and crying in front of her children in a sickening attack.

Kieron Wright was given a community order in March for his part in a cowardly assault that left a man with learning difficulties battered and bleeding in a pub toilet in Sunderland.

Within 24 hours of walking out of court the 19-year-old, who was given an ASBO in 2010, had turned his violence on Syeda Chowdhury, known as Sally, at a store in the city.

Newcastle Crown Court heard yesterday during the terrifying attack the
victim had chunks of her hair pulled out and vile racist abuse was thrown at her.

Wright was handed a suspended sentence for his latest attack by Judge Roger Thorn QC.

The mum-of-four has been told it could take two years for her missing hair to grow back.

Prosecutor Richard Herrmann told the court the violence flared when Mrs
Chowdhury confronted Wright over a pack of pork scratchings he had walked out of the store with but not paid for.

As the trouble spilled outside Mrs Chowdhury ended up standing at the door of her nearby home and her children came out.

Mr Herrmann said: ‘The defendant became racially abusive to her, throwing punches in her direction.

‘Two other people became involved, one who was convicted of threatening
behaviour.

‘The complainant describes she was very upset during the incident.

‘She was shaking, crying and chunks of her hair were on the ground.

‘Her children were screaming at the distress of the situation.’

Wright, of no fixed address, admitted breaching the original community order, breach of an antisocial behaviour order and affray.

Judge Thorn said: ‘He got what he thought was a lenient sentence and
went out to celebrate to such an extent he committed the affray.’

Tony Hawks, defending, said Wright has been in Durham jail since March, which he has found an ‘intimidating experience.’

Judge Thorn said because Wright has spent the equivalent of a 12-month sentence on remand his 12-month prison sentence for the offence will be suspended for 18-months, with supervision.

The judge told him: ‘Newcastle Crown Court, in your view clearly, gave you a lenient sentence that you were not expecting.

‘I’m not going to express my own view of that because I don’t know the
circumstances in which you were sentenced.

‘You went out and celebrated in a completely foolish way and committed further offences.’

As Wright left the court Judge Thorn warned him: ‘The last thing you ought to do is go and celebrate.’
Daily Mail

Billy Rambadt

A TROUBLEMAKER who caused mayhem in and around Burnley matches for nearly three years has been banned from attending any football game in the UK for the foreseeable future.

Billy Rambadt, 19, will not be able to follow Burnley home or away, or attend any football ground until the end of January 2019 under a football banning order imposed by Pennine magistrates.

He will also be prevented from going within a mile of Turf Moor on matchdays or be caught on a train en-route to an England international over the next three years.

Not only was he spotted as part of the major public disorder, following the Clarets’ clash with Sheffield Wednesday in 2013. but he was involved in a number of other confrontations with either police or stewards, according to football intelligence officers.

The teenager was ejected from the ground in 2015, after being abusive to stewards, was seen behaving in an anti-social manner when Burnley played Chelsea in the Premier League, and was also involved in public disorder at the Southampton game in 2014, the court heard.

Rambadt, of Elim View, off Marsden Road, Burnley, who was represented in court by Mark Williams, was also ordered to pay £200 costs to Lancashire Constabulary.

Several other football banning order cases are understood to be in the pipeline.

Speaking after the case, Chief Insp Phil Hutchinson said: “The majority of people who attend football matches are law abiding fans who simply want to watch a good match and enjoy the experience.

“However there are still a very small minority of people intent on causing trouble and it is our intention to do everything within our power to stop them.

“We are pleased to have secured this banning order and hope that this firm action sends a clear message to others who attend football matches that violence, disorder and anti-social behaviour will not be tolerated.”

The banning order prevents Rambadt from being within the vicinity of Turf Moor for four hours before and after any match kicks off. He must also notify the police if any of his personal details change.

Lancashire Telegraph

A convicted football hooligan has admitted his involvement in an attack where a bacon sandwich was thrown at a Bristol mosque.

Kevin Crehan, 34, of Stockwood Crescent, Knowle, was charged with a racially aggravated public order offence following the incident at Jamia Mosque in Green Street, Totterdown, last month.

In a five minute hearing at Bristol Crown Court he pleaded guilty to the charge, accepting a religiously aggravated offence to cause Nasir Ahmed harassment, alarm or distress.

Judge Martin Picton adjourned his case, pending a probation report, until March 24.

He bailed Crehan on condition he co-operates with the probation service.

Crehan’s bail also prevents him from going on the pavement outside, or within the boundaries of, any mosque in England and Wales.

The judge told him: “You have to understand this case carries custody.”.

On Sunday, January 17, a flag was said to be hung on a fence outside the mosque stating: “No mosque wanted here” and “Bristol United Patriots”.

Elderly worshippers attending the mosque were abused and bacon was thrown.

Self-styled anti-Muslim group, Bristol United Patriots, operate across the city but have publicly denied having anything to do with the attack.

It is not Crehan’s first brush with the law, which has included assaulting a police officer.

In 2010 he was sentenced to seven months in prison for breaching a three year football banning order.

At the time Bristol Crown Court heard the then 28-year-old was caught with a sawn-off pool cue down his trousers.

Crehan admitted four breaches which included failing to report to a police station during the World Cup and being inside an exclusion zone before a Bristol City versus Milwall match.

The court heard he had been banned from being within a mile of Bristol City’s Ashton Gate ground.

Crehan pleaded guilty to having an offensive weapon and stealing a DVD.

Regarding the mosque attack Alison Bennett, 46, Mark Bennett, 48, both of Spruce Way, Patchway and Angelina Swailes, 31, of West Town Avenue, Brislington have all been charged with a racially aggravated public order offence.

The Bennetts and Swailes have been released on bail with a condition not to enter or go within 100 metres of any mosque.

They are due to appear at Bristol Magistrates’ Court on February 25.

Bristol Post

A gang attacked a man with metal bars and pieces of wood outside his house – following a row about barbecue parties.

Two of the six men involved in the frightening assault in Wath-upon-Dearne last July have now been jailed for their part in the attack during which their victim was knocked unconscious and badly injured.

Jack Houlton

The victim said he had been living ‘like a prisoner in his own home’ following the attack that involved one of his neighbours.

Danny Hare and Jack Houlton were both jailed at Sheffield Crown Court after admitting assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Ian Goldsack, prosecuting, said the victim’s rear garden backed onto the neighbouring property lived in by Hare, who had moved in a few months before the attack.

He said after a number of ‘minor or petty’ disagreements between them, on June 30 Hare had hosted a ‘noisy barbecue’ in which water balloons were thrown towards the victim’s open kitchen window.

Mr Goldsack said when the man asked them to stop,‘threats and abuse’ were shouted towards him.

The man hosted his own family barbecue on July 4 which ended around 10.30pm.

Mr Goldsack said shortly after midnight a man had gone to the victim’s house and repeatedly banged on the front door.

The man left after the victim said he would call the police.

Shortly after, the man left the house to walk his aunt home but six men came out of a passageway and chased him as he tried to run home.

Mr Goldsack said: “As he got to the front door, he tried to grab the door frame but felt his legs being pulled away.

“There was then a heavy blow to the back of his head and he could hear shouts of ‘Get him out of the house’.

“He thinks he lost consciousness.

“He came to in the front garden and his stepson and aunt were pulling him towards the house.”

Mr Goldsack said the man recalled being hit numerous times.

He said the victim was a self-employed builder who had at least six weeks off work because of the injuries, which included a fractured cheekbone, double vision and nerve damage.

The 36-year-old said he had been ‘living like a prisoner in my own house’ following the attack and knowing some of the people that attacked him were still at large.

Dermot Hughes, representing Houlton, said his client was now ‘remorseful’.

He said: “He has expressed sorrow for what happened to the victim. It must have been an awful attack.”

The court was told Hunt hoped to have his sentence suspended so he could return to Sheffield to live with his mother and restart working.

Judge Julian Goose QC said: “This was a frightening attack in front of his family and friends. This has caused him considerable harm.”

Hare, 28, of Bushfield Road, Wath-upon-Dearne, was jailed for two years.

Houlton, 26, of Trough Drive, Thrybergh, was given a lesser sentence of 20 months’ imprisonment because of his earlier guilty plea.

Sheffield Star

Daniel Kenneth Lewis (28): Batterby Street, Ince

Used threatening or abusive words or behaviour: Restraining order not to contact the victims and not to enter Orchard Street, Ashton, £185 fine, £80 compensation, £20 victim surcharge, £85 costs to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Wigan Today

Further info about Lewis can be found here

Paul O’Brien from Darlington has been sentenced to nine years imprisonment for a rape and attack described by a judge as “beyond appalling.”

O’Brien is well known to us at HOPE not hate as he is a longstanding activist in the nazi music scene, and a regular attendee at gigs organised by the Blood & Honour music network.

O’Brien said he would return to kill the tearful victim – even if he were to go to prison.

The 47-year-old, of Oakland Oval, Darlington, admitted offences of rape, sexual assault and assault by penetration in relation to the incident in October last year.

Recorder David Dixon, sitting at Teeside Crown Court, said O’Brien will also become a registered sex offender for life.

Bearded O’Brien, who sat stoney faced in the dock throughout the sentencing hearing, smashed the woman’s phone and demanded sex, before carrying out what was described as a sustained attack.

The full details of O’Brien’s case can be read here.

Rather similar to the case of Ryan Fleming, another nazi sex attacker, O’Brien’s nazi friends are not making any comment condemning their comrade’s behaviour. O’Brien was the Blood & Honour link person in Darlington and his court case was known to all of his colleagues.

On his Facebook accounts it is apparent that most have unfriended O’Brien, leaving only a small group of Darlington casuals on his friends’ list.
Hope not Hate

A politician’s eight-year-old daughter was “petrified” when anti-Islamic protesters marched into the garden of their home with banners and banged on the window.

Lancashire MEP Sajjad Karim’s home was targeted by the English Defence League (EDL) as part of a day of protests against “radical Islam” in the county on July 2 last year.

Twelve admitted public order offences at Preston Crown Court for offences committed during the protests at another location in Brierfield and will be sentenced on May 25.

Speaking from Brussels, Mr Karim, who was due to give evidence, said: “It is not the sort of thing any child should ever have to be prepared for.”

Bernard Holmes, 26, of Bolton Road; Leonard Hawley, 47, of Worcester Road; David Wilson, 47, of Devon Road, all Blackburn, and Jason Smith, 43, of Torquay Avenue, Burnley pleaded guilty to racially aggravated provocation of violence while David Garrett, 45, of Beckett Street, Darwen, admitted having an offensive weapon.

Leanne Thornton, 26, of Oak Avenue, Todmorden; Graham Smith, 48, of Draperfield, Chorley; Paul Blundell, 45, of Lee Street, Longridge, John English, 24, of Shorrock Lane, Blackburn; Martin Corner, 31, of Corporation Street, Chorley; Jordan Lonsdale, 20, of Ribble Lane, Clitheroe, and Paul Jackson, 41, of Spring Bank Terrace, Blackburn, pleaded not guilty to violent disorder but admitted using threatening behaviour.

Sajjad Karim added: “To be afraid to leave ones house as a mob fuelled by hate protests outside is as frightening as it gets. They showed no regard to the fact my wife and daughter were at home.

“It left me hoping and praying that our four walls would keep us safe and you can’t begin to imagine how my young daughter felt.

“There were many more innocent people caught up in their violence that day and I am thankful this eleventh hour change of plea means they won’t have to relive their ordeal in a courtroom.

“We have not and will not allow such mobs to use their threatening ways to hound people in our society.”

Lancashire Evening Post

Daniel Sledden posted an obscene message on social media just 40 minutes after leaving court, which was then followed by a comment from his brother Samuel boasting about their sentence

Two brothers who mocked a judge on Facebook after she showed them mercy have been jailed for two years.

Daniel Sledden, 27, had posted an obscene message on the social media site – just 40 minutes after Judge Beverley Lunt gave him a suspended sentence for selling cannabis to friends earlier this month.

In the message he wrote: “Beverly Lunt go suck my ****.”

His brother and co-defendant Samuel Sledden, 22, who also had admitted drug dealing, also commented on the post.

He said: “Bet we wouldn’t get a chance like this agen [sic], thumbs up’.”

Both brothers were hauled back before the courts for a review of their sentence after the Facebook posts were shown to the judge.

At the hearing, Judge Lunt said she was ‘misled’ by their words of remorse and contrition to the probation service and ‘must now put this right’.

Sentencing, she said: “These were not private entries in a diary which have been inadvertently published.

“They were placed on Facebook with the clear intention that others should and would read them and if they wished to share them so there is a limitless audience.

“Daniel Sledden’s post was only 40 minutes after I sentenced him. Samuel Sledden’s was one hour and 25 minutes and their content is clearly indicative of how they really felt about appearing in court for this particular offence. Their tone is boastful and jeering and the only reasonable inference in my judgement is they believed and were boasting that they had somehow fooled and misled the court.

“These are two grown men and not children showing off using rude words. They both knew exactly what they were doing when they wrote these posts and why they did it and they didn’t care who saw what they had written.”

Judge Lunt said the posts were only deleted from Facebook and apologies posted after being contacted by solicitors.

She added: “Each of the posts indicated they hadn’t changed at all. They haven’t taken on board anything or learned responsibility and there is no remorse at all.

“It is not possible to put any reasonable positive spin on the posts that either defendant as being some clumsy way of how lucky they had been to be given a second chance.

“The tone in each case is one of contempt and gloating, Emoji’s included.

“I’m entirely satisfied that in this case there is evidence brought before me which leads me to the short conclusion I was misled by each defendant on grounds of remorse and contrition and how much they had changed in the intervening months.

“I must now put this right and it is necessary and in the interests of justice I do so and it is necessary in order to maintain public confidence in the courts.”

Daniel, Samuel and their dad William, 45, all of Hopwood Street, Accrington, were all given suspended sentences after pleading guilty to being concerned in the supply of cannabis at the earlier hearing.

Defence barrister Daniel Prowse said both brothers have now become international figures of ridicule.

He told the court how they had acted in a ‘wholly improper way’ and will ‘never live this down’.

Preston Crown Court heard how Daniel Sledden was contacted by his solicitor after the story about their comments was published by the M.E.N. and was ‘advised and instructed’ to delete the comment and put up an apology.

The post from Daniel Sledden read: “I want to say how sorry I am for what I wrote about Judge Lunt and my sentence.

“I was very lucky not to be sent to prison and I was very stupid to have written what I did. I want to say sorry to Judge Lunt and to anyone else who was upset or offended by my thoughtless post which I did not mean.”

Mr Prowse, representing Samuel but speaking for both defendants, said the timing of brothers’ Facebook comments indicate they were ‘severely emotionally affected’ and did it ‘without any thought as to the consequences or propriety of what they were doing.’

He said: “The comments demonstrate what little thought they were given because, ungrateful as they are, they are also nonsensical in so far as the offending comments are directed against the court which has in essence just given them a favour by not sending them to prison. They don’t even make sense.

“Neither defendants assumed their comments would be seen beyond their group of friends on Facebook and they weren’t intended to be shared or communicated directly with your honour.

“They have had time on remand to reflect on their stupidity and ingratitude.

“Both have offered their apologies through their respective advocates and on a written basis.

“Daniel’s comment, which was the more serious of the two, had been deleted from Facebook and he had put his apology on Facebook in that same very public medium.

“They have become national if not international figures of ridicule because none of those stories have reported what they did in anything other than a wholly negative light and commenting on the rank stupidity and ingratitude.

“Certainly word has gone forward that the kind of idiotic comments posted will result in people going to custody.

“They have been properly punished by virtue of the remand and becoming such figures of humour and ridicule as they are. They will in my submission never live this down.”

Manchester Evening News

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

The man who set up the English Defence League’s (EDL) Newark division has been sentenced to community service for racially-aggravated offences.

Chris Conroy, 26, of Yorke Drive, Newark, pleaded guilty to causing racially-aggravated harassment, alarm or distress to Mr Eyup Sepet.

He also admitted the racially-aggravated criminal damage of a glass pane in the front door of Mr Sepet’s property in Newark.

The offences were part of the same incident.

Conroy had denied both charges, but changed his pleas to guilty.

He was sentenced at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court to a 12-month supervision order, which includes 200 hours of community service.

He was also ordered to pay Mr Sepet £100 compensation for the harassment offence and £395.42 for the damage to the door, plus court costs of £560.

Conroy set up the Newark Division of the EDL in 2011 and helped organise a number of demonstrations across the country, which he attended. He told the Advertiser at the time it was “patriotism, not racism.”

Conroy told the Advertiser after the hearing that he was no longer connected to the EDL and had left the organisation. He said he did not want to comment on the court case.

Speaking after the case, Inspector Louise Clarke, of Newark Police, said: “The police treat behaviour such as that displayed in this incident as wholly unacceptable. We use the additional powers available to police for hate crime, such as this charge for racially aggravated criminal damage, to allow the courts to recognise the severity of the offence and deal with it appropriately.

“Anyone who works or lives within the Newark area should be able to do so without prejudice or fear, or have to suffer this type of behaviour.

“We take all incidents of this nature seriously and encourage the reporting of such behaviour to us for investigation.”

Newark Advertiser

Thirteen people involved in cocaine and amphetamine plots jailed for more than 60 years

A £5m drugs gang used “apparently harmless” middle-aged people driving cars and caravans to try and avoid the attention of cops.

Thirteen people involved in cocaine and amphetamine plots were today jailed for more than 60 years at Liverpool Crown Court.

Judge Alan Conrad, QC, said the gang’s three conspiracies were “marked by their professionalism and careful organisation”.

He said: “Legitimate businesses were used as cover. Taxis were used. Vans were acquired and liveried to appear legitimate.

“Cars and caravans were used – driven by apparently harmless middle-aged people in order to avoid attention.

“As and when drugs were seized this was treated simply as a risk of the enterprise and the operation continued, with the methods used changing.”

The North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (TITAN) investigated the gang’s activities between February 2014 and June 2015 as part of Operation Pitscale.

Simon Berkson, prosecuting, said 47-year-old Paul Berry – who co-owned an internet tickets and events company in Manchester – was the ringleader.

Berry’s “right hand man” Stephen Reeves, 48, used his furniture business Skemersdale Furnishings as a cover to transport drugs.

Kenneth Pritchard, 67, used his BMW to “transport box loads of drugs” and allowed his caravan, kept in a timber yard in Burscough, to be used to store cocaine.

Dean Stephen, 36, was provided with a van “disguised with a false logo” to transport significant amounts of drugs, which he also stored at his home.

The court heard Lee Tarry, 33, was stopped by police travelling from Skelmersdale to Glasgow in a taxi on February 14, 2014.

Hidden inside a bed – identical to those sold by Reeves’ furniture firm – was 3kg of 60-70% pure cocaine, valued at £720,000.

On June 16, 2014, a dog walker found 45kg of amphetamine, valued up to £900,000, in rural Meadow Lane, Ormskirk.

Peter Linford, 58, had hired a van, collected the haul and “stashed it in a hedge overnight”, but was caught when he returned to collect the drugs.

Reeves and Linford also disguised a Ford Connect van with the logo ‘Auto Valet Direct’ before it was given to Stephen.

Officers seized 51kg of amphetamine from this van and Stephen’s home, valued at £514,000, on October 9.

Police stopped drugs courier Warren Bennett, 36, who was driving a tipper truck in Litherland , on December 8.

They asked him to move a heavy bag, which he initially said contained tools, before shouting: “I’m f***ed, I’m f***ed!”

When asked what he meant, the defendant replied “It’s full of whizz”, revealing 46kg of amphetamine, valued at up to £456,000.

After months of observing Pritchard, police stopped his BMW X5 on February 12, 2015.

Officers recovered 68kg of amphetamine from the car and 2kg of “import quality” cocaine – secreted in a void in a cupboard – from his caravan.

On March 7 they caught Darren Highfield, 44, transporting 18kg of amphetamine to Sheffield to the homes of Dimitri Wright, 40, and Ryan Vintin, 38.A

nd on April 21, 227g of 83% pure cocaine was found in a car containing Stephen Higgs, 32, Micheal Kairns, 43, and Anoushka Lindsay, 40, on the M6.

The gang all pleaded guilty to their involvement in respective conspiracies, with Berry and Reeves admitting all three charges.

Berry, of Abbey Walk, Preston, who was on licence for a previous cocaine plot, was jailed for 11 years.

Reeves, of Charnock, Skelmersdale, who had no previous convictions, was jailed for nine years.

Linford, of Groveside, Edge Hill, was sentenced to four and a half years.

Pritchard, of Manor Crescent, Burscough, and Kearns, of Dovecot Avenue, Huyton, were both handed five years and four months.

Wright, of The Meads, and Vintin, of Luna Croft, both in Sheffield, were jailed for three years and eight months and three years and four months respectively.

Tarry, of Cherrycroft, Skelmersdale was jailed for five years, and Higgs, of Wadeson Road, Walton, for three years.

Stephen, of Egerton, Skelmersdale, was handed an extra 12 months on top of an existing three-year sentence.

Bennett, of no fixed abode but from Preston, had one month added to an existing three year and four months term.

Couriers Martin Cleary, 37, of Shaw Lane, Prescot, and Highfield, of Hollybank Way, Sheffield, received two years behind bars.

Lindsay, of Molyneux Road, Kensington, will be sentenced on March 24.

Liverpool Echo

The far-right supporter jailed in this story is Michael “Mayo” Kearns. He was also jailed for violent disorder after attacking a group of anti-fascists with the North West infidels. You can read that report here

Michale Kearns was jailed for Bold Street attack on anti-fascists

Michael Kearns, 43 of Dovecot Ave, Dovecot

A Liverpool man jailed this week over a £5m drugs plot has links to the same extremist group involved in violent scenes on the steps of St George’s Hall.

Michael Kearns was part of a right-wing gang that caused a mass brawl in Liverpool city centre when they attacked anti-fascists in 2013.

After serving time for his role in that skirmish he is now back behind bars after cops busted the drugs operation he was part of.

Kearns, 43, was one of 13 men sentenced to a total of more than 60 years on Thursday for their involvement in cocaine and amphetamine plots.

Liverpool Crown Court heard the drugs gang used ‘apparently harmless’ middle-aged people driving cars and caravans to try and avoid the attention of cops.

Kearns was caught with others members of the group with 227g of 83 per cent pure cocaine while travelling on the M6.

He was jailed for five years and four months.

Now, the ECHO can reveal the 43-year-old was among a group of far-right activists that targeted anti-fascist rivals in a violent attack on Bold Street back in 2013.

Shoppers watched in horror as the men punched and kicked people heading for a fundraising gig at the News From Nowhere Bookshop.

The trouble then spilled into Cafe Tabac, with CCTV of the brawl showing diners being forced to flee the trouble.

Kearns, of Dovecot Avenue, was described as being ‘in the thick’ of the violence by Judge Robert Trevor-Jones.

Then – handing him 14 months for violent disorder as he sentenced the group – the judge added: “All of you were either members of, or have associations with, groups which happen to hold right-wing views or positions whether it be the National Front, English Defence Force or North West Infidels.

“It is that common factor which brought you all together on Bold Street that evening because you had been made aware there was to be some form of anti-fascist meeting.”

The North West Infidels were the extremist group behind last month’s Liverpool city centre rally that saw trouble flare between the right-wing gang and anti-fascist rivals.

While Kearns is thought to have been in custody during February’s demonstration, it is believed Blackburn-based Shane Calvert was among those who took part.

The 34-year-old was jailed alongside Kearns for violent disorder in relation to the Bold Street incident.
Liverpool Echo

A former call centre worker who made almost 12,000 indecent pictures of children has made his first appearance at court.

Martyn Butcher, 29, of Abbotsford Road, Marton, pleaded guilty to three charges of making indecent photographs of children, some at the highest level of indecency.

He also admitted two charges of possessing indecent pictures of children.

Malcolm Isherwood, prosecuting, said that some images were of the highest level of indecency and asked that Butcher be sentenced at crown court.

Butcher was bailed to appear at Preston Crown Court on April 16 by District Judge Jeff Brailsford sitting at Blackpool Magistrates’ Court. He must not have an contact with under-16s.

Blackpool Gazette

A man has been found guilty of murdering a pensioner who was stabbed to death in a brutal attack.

David Lawler was convicted of killing Clement “Butch” Desmier, 68, who died after sustaining more than 60 injuries.

Mr Desmier was found dead at his home in Bradford in August 2012 after being stabbed with a screwdriver and a knife.

Lawler, 33, formerly of Central Avenue, Shipley, was found guilty at Bradford Crown Court of murder and two counts of intimidating a witness.

Nathan Jefferson, 20, of Springwell View, Holbeck, Leeds, admitted murdering Mr Desmier, of Rowlestone Rise, Greengates, before the trial began.

A family statement said: “The loss of our father has had a devastating impact on our lives.

“The fact that he was a vulnerable old age pensioner, viciously attacked in his own home with weapons, will haunt us all for the rest of our lives.

“Two ruthless individuals with no regard for life ripped our lives apart that day and we will never recover from that.”

The family also praised the courage of individuals that provided information to the police about Lawler and Jefferson’s involvement.

Det Ch Supt Mark Ridley said it had been a lengthy and complex investigation into a “brutal and sustained attack on a vulnerable, elderly man”.

The court was told it was likely Mr Desmier’s injuries were inflicted as he was sitting in his armchair.

Both defendants are due to be sentenced on 23 March.

BBC News

A VIOLENT EDL thug who slashed a man’s throat has been convicted of murdering a Bradford grandfather.

A jury of seven men and five women has returned its unanimous verdict following a two-week trial at Bradford Crown Court.

Clement ‘Butch’ Desmier, 68, was murdered at his home in Rowlestone Rise, Greengates, on August 23, 2012.

Today, his family said the death and what he must have suffered in his final moments would haunt them forever.

During the trial, forensic pathologist Dr Christopher Johnson said the cause of death was multiple injuries, including stab wounds.

Dr Johnson said it was highly likely Mr Desmier’s injuries – which included 60 penetrative puncture wounds to his body from a screwdriver and a single typical knife stab wound to his abdomen – were inflicted while he was sat in his armchair, in the front room of his home.

Killer David Lawler, formerly of Central Avenue, Shipley, was also today found guilty of two counts of intimidation, relating to a witness who gave evidence.

The 33-year-old, who was wearing a grey suit, pale blue shirt and blue spotted tie, showed no emotion as the verdicts were given, but there were cries of ‘yes’ from the public gallery.

Co-accused Nathan Jefferson, 20, of Springwell View, Holbeck, Leeds, admitted the murder charge before the start of the trial.

Mr Justice Blake said both men would be sentenced on Wednesday, March 23.

Earlier in the trial Lawler had admitted to the jury that he was an EDL thug who had also slit a man’s throat, but denied the murder.

A VIOLENT EDL thug who slashed a man’s throat has been convicted of murdering a Bradford grandfather.

A jury of seven men and five women has returned its unanimous verdict following a two-week trial at Bradford Crown Court.

Clement ‘Butch’ Desmier, 68, was murdered at his home in Rowlestone Rise, Greengates, on August 23, 2012.

Today, his family said the death and what he must have suffered in his final moments would haunt them forever.

During the trial, forensic pathologist Dr Christopher Johnson said the cause of death was multiple injuries, including stab wounds.

Dr Johnson said it was highly likely Mr Desmier’s injuries – which included 60 penetrative puncture wounds to his body from a screwdriver and a single typical knife stab wound to his abdomen – were inflicted while he was sat in his armchair, in the front room of his home.

Killer David Lawler, formerly of Central Avenue, Shipley, was also today found guilty of two counts of intimidation, relating to a witness who gave evidence.

The 33-year-old, who was wearing a grey suit, pale blue shirt and blue spotted tie, showed no emotion as the verdicts were given, but there were cries of ‘yes’ from the public gallery.

Co-accused Nathan Jefferson, 20, of Springwell View, Holbeck, Leeds, admitted the murder charge before the start of the trial.

Mr Justice Blake said both men would be sentenced on Wednesday, March 23.

Earlier in the trial Lawler had admitted to the jury that he was an EDL thug who had also slit a man’s throat, but denied the murder.

“Butch was well known in his local community and should have been celebrating his 72nd birthday this month with family and friends.

“I hope that the successful conclusion of this case today will finally provide Butch’s family and friends with some closure to what has been a very traumatic time for them.”

A statement from the Desmier family, said: “Today sees the end of a three and a half year agonising wait to identify those responsible for the brutal murder of our father.

“The loss of our father has had a devastating impact on our lives. The fact that he was a vulnerable old age pensioner, viciously attacked in his own home with weapons, will haunt us all for the rest of our lives.

“Two ruthless individuals with no regard for life ripped our lives apart that day and we will never recover from that.

“We would like to praise the brave individuals that came forward and provided information to the police investigation about Lawler and Jefferson’s involvement. Their courage assisted with the conviction of these two individuals which will hopefully allow our father to finally rest in peace.

“We would also like to thank West Yorkshire Police for their unrelenting determination to bring those responsible to justice. They have been an immense support to our family throughout this difficult time. They never gave up and for that we will be forever grateful.”

Telegraph and Argus