Judge slams 'mob violence' as seven jailed over Walsall EDL demonstration

A judge has slammed “mob violence” as he jailed seven men who took part in an English Defence League demonstration in Walsall.

They were the first of 32 people appearing for sentence after violent disorder hit the town centre last September, leaving police officers and demonstrators injured.

Wolverhampton Crown Court heard trouble flared between the 600 EDL supporters and 200 members of the United Against Racism movement, who were holding a counter demonstration.

Mr David Bennett, prosecuting, said police saw pages from the Koran being burnt along with a Pakistan flag while there were also abusive and racists chants from EDL supporters.

Placards were also being carried, with one reading “Our Walsall will not be part of Pakistan,” he said.

During the trouble a young Asian UAR member also made an ‘inflammatory gesture’ and EDL members surged towards police bidding to keep the protesters apart, the court was told.

The far-right group’s supporters pushed, punched and kicked out at officers who faced missiles including bricks, bottles, coins and wood broken from street furniture and tables in a nearby pub.

Judge Nicholas Webb said the violence lasted about an hour and it was fortunate no serious injuries were inflicted, with police largely protected by their riot shields.

All 32 men were charged after police scoured over 400 hours of CCTV footage of the trouble, which saw a small number of protesters and police officers sustaining minor cuts and bruises.

The seven men jailed all pleaded guilty to violent disorder.

Craig Forward, 38, of Neptune Street, Tipton, received 25 months; Myles Smith, 39, of Parkway Towers, Seacroft, Leeds, received 24 months; Mark Baker, 44 of Horseshoe Close, Pleck, Walsall was sent to prison for 21 months; Stephen Bennett, 23, of Milton Street, Palfrey, Walsall got 20 months; Kirk Reeves, 40, of Colliery Road, Swadlincote, received 18 months; Leslie Silk, 37, of Gatcombe Road, Bristol, was jailed for 15 months; and 30-year-old Peter Kirkham, of New Rowley Road, Dudley was jailed for 14 months.

The judge was told none of the seven men were involved in fighting with police officers, but they were threatening and aggressive.

http://www.hopenothate.org.uk/news/article/3069/judge-slams-mob-violence-as-seven-jailed-over-walsall-edl-demonstration

These EDL demonstrations should be banned, the EDL is made up of drunken racist football thugs on the lookout for trouble, they have a demo almost every other week and they cost a fortune to police.

Very strong sentences.

I suspect they may be reduced, if appealed.

BigAndy9 wrote:Very strong sentences.

I suspect they may be reduced, if appealed.

Very fair sentences IMO...The judge has made an example of these racist thugs, that sort of behaviour should never be tolerated.

While I disagree with their message, I do think the sentences are a little too long.

But I'm conflicted.... I really dislike police  ::resmahauth::  ::resmahauth::  ::resmahauth::  and beleive in the right to protest.

veya_victaous wrote:While I disagree with their message, I do think the sentences are a little too long.

But I'm conflicted.... I really dislike police  ::resmahauth::  ::resmahauth::  ::resmahauth::  and beleive in the right to protest.

I do agree with their right to protest but they have demos every other week or so and they cost a fortune to police, apart from all of the violence etc.

Perhaps their demos should be reduced to once a year or something, they are a tiny minority and have more than made their point.

Samuel Phipps was among nine people sentenced for their roles in the violence at the protest last September

A boy who was just 17 when he took part in a violent English Defence League protest has become the youngest person sentenced for his role in the trouble.

A judge said student Samuel Phipps was “quite active in the violence” in Walsall town centre even though he was “not old enough to vote”.

Passing sentence, Judge Nicholas Webb said Phipps, from Lingfield Drive, Great Wyrley, squared up to police and clearly got “carried away by the excitement of the moment”.

The teenager, now 18, admitted violent disorder and was given a 16-month suspended sentence. He was also ordered to perform 200 hours unpaid work and placed on supervision for a year.

Phipps was among nine people sentenced on Tuesday (Dec 17) for their roles in the violence at the protest last September.

A total of 32 were being dealt with at Wolverhampton Crown Court throughout this week.

The court previously heard trouble flared between 600 EDL supporters and 200 members of the Unite Against Fascism movement.

The judge said Benjamin Banfield was “at the forefront and never far from trouble”.

The 35-year-old, from Bristol, was involved in hand-to-hand fighting with police. He also admitted violent disorder and was jailed for 20 months.

Dean Lidster, 44, of London; Christopher Jelley, 28, from Shrewsbury, and 35-year-old Mark Conroy, of no fixed address, also admitted violent disorder.

The court heard Lidster was consistently at the front of the demonstration attacking police officers. He was jailed for 28 months.

Jelley, who kicked out at a police officer and tried to grab a riot shield while carrying a racially offensive placard, was sent to prison for 22 months.

Conroy adopted an aggressive fighting stance, said the Judge, and he punched out at police officers.

He was jailed for 30 months.

Kirk Jones, 28, from Hinkley, was jailed for 33 months and 48-year-old John Cureton, from Coventry, received three years.

Dean Smith, 33, of Brunswick Park Road, Wednesbury, was sent to prison for 27 months and 38-year-old Dean Shultz, of Burns Close, Farnborough, was put behind bars for 45 months.

They were also convicted of violent disorder and the Judge was told Shultz had 92 previous convictions.

http://www.hopenothate.org.uk/news/article/3070/teen-avoids-jail-over-walsall-edl-violence-as-nine-more-sentenced

veya_victaous wrote:While I disagree with their message, I do think the sentences are a little too long.

But I'm conflicted.... I really dislike police  ::resmahauth::  ::resmahauth::  ::resmahauth::  and beleive in the right to protest.

The EDL rarely get to protest in peace veya.

Whenever they let it known that they are to hold a protest, Unite Against Fascism turn up to cause trouble, or they cause so much trouble beforehand that the police are forced to step in and cancel the protest.

I wonder who these people are who have been sent to prison and I await to find out about the next lot - there were more than 7 arrests.

In the interests of balance, I would question your figures Catman. You say there were 600 EDL protesters and only 200 counter-protesters. Yet in the local paper it states "Around 2,000 people descended on the city centre where two simultaneous demonstrations were held by English Defence League and anti-fascism groups."

http://www.expressandstar.com/news/2013/12/17/seven-jailed-after-edl-violence-in-walsall/

Veritas wrote:In the interests of balance, I would question your figures Catman.  You say there were 600 EDL protesters and only 200 counter-protesters.   Yet in the local paper it states "Around 2,000 people descended on the city centre where two simultaneous demonstrations were held by English Defence League and anti-fascism groups."

http://www.expressandstar.com/news/2013/12/17/seven-jailed-after-edl-violence-in-walsall/

That's what it said in the news article that i posted.

The UAF usually turn up and outnumber the EDL and BNP, effectively making those 2 groups repressed and persecuted for their political beliefs.

I shall now look for a few other news articles to show what usually happens. Do you all know about Colchester where the UAF blocked a road stopping a few EDL members laying a wreath at a war memorial?

It is the UAF who turn out in great force and cause trouble, not the other way around.

Nick Griffin - a minority all by himself - how many hate crimes has that man suffered?


At least 58 people were arrested in London after anti-fascist demonstrators clashed with British National Party members in Westminster.




At least one BNP member was injured in fighting between the two groups, who were involved in a lengthy stand-off after Whitehall was choked by protesters determined to prevent BNP leader Nick Griffin and his supporters from carrying out their planned march to the Cenotaph.

Police officers ordered the group of around 300 protesters, linked to Unite Against Fascism (UAF), to move away and continue their protest further up the street but, after their demands were refused, officers moved in to make arrests.

Despite most of the arrests being from among their ranks, UAF said it was pleased to have prevented the BNP's march and called it a "great victory". A large group of UAF supporters turned up ahead of the planned start of the BNP's demonstration yesterday afternoon to confront the far-right party.

The BNP had planned to march from Woolwich Barracks, south-east London, but were banned from doing so by Scotland Yard.



http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/58-arrested-as-antifascist-demonstrators-clash-with-bnp-in-westminster-8640650.html

On 20 March 2010, demonstrations from UAF and the English Defence League (EDL) in Bolton led to violent confrontations and the arrest of at least 55 UAF supporters, including the UAF protest organiser Weyman Bennett, on suspicion of conspiracy to commit violent disorder.  At least three EDL supporters were also arrested, and two UAF members were taken to hospital with a minor head and a minor ear injury.  After Bennett was charged and released, he accused the police of being hostile to anti-racists and called for an inquiry into the police's actions that day.  The police, while criticising the EDL for "vitriolic name-calling" blamed people predominantly associated with UAF for provoking violence and said that they "acted with, at times, extreme violence".

I hope this gives our foreign posters an understanding of the plight of white British people in the UK.

Compare the sentences above, which were custodial, for "acting aggressively" to this:

On 22 October 2009, the UAF demonstration against Nick Griffin's appearance on the BBC's Question Time programme resulted in injuries to three police officers. UAF national officer and (then) SWP National Secretary Martin Smith was found guilty of assaulting one of the police officers at South Western Magistrates' Court, London, on 7 September 2010. He was sentenced to a 12-month community order, with 80 hours' unpaid work, and was fined £450 pending an appeal.

A police officer protecting an elected Member of the European Parliament.

BigAndy9 wrote:I hope this gives our foreign posters an understanding of the plight of white British people in the UK.

Mask slips again.   

Catman wrote:

BigAndy9 wrote:I hope this gives our foreign posters an understanding of the plight of white British people in the UK.

Mask slips again.   

There is no mask Mr Catman.

The minorities in the UK receive preferential treatment over white British people.

I said it the other day and I think it was veya who said he thinks i'm wrong.

Political correctness is also ruining the country to the point of killing people.

And here we see on this thread certain groups being treated completely differently to others.

BigAndy9 wrote:

Catman wrote:

Mask slips again.   

There is no mask Mr Catman.

The minorities in the UK receive preferential treatment over white British people.

I said it the other day and I think it was veya who said he thinks i'm wrong.

Political correctness is also ruining the country to the point of killing people.

And here we see on this thread certain groups being treated completely differently to others.

Veya was right, you are wrong but you're a racist so no real surprise really.

How true.

The minorities in the UK receive preferential treatment over white British people.

I said it the other day and I think it was veya who said he thinks i'm wrong.

I cant remember that,  I don't know what it is like in the UK.

I think I said you should make a native title claim, because if you have empathy (not saying u don't) then you would see the irony in that the Indigenous English are complaining when they did the same to other Indigenous people in their own country. I'm Just pointing out what is not saying it's right or not.

I actually agree the UK (and US) does seem too PC, more it seems like you don't understand the different between racism, xenophobia, Prejudice, stereotypes and preferences. And treat it all the same. stereotypes and preferences are unavoidable parts of being human, we stereotype food, books, TV, companies, everything it is not the end of the world if you are still willing to try new things(or in the case of people accept everyone is an individual)

But I do generally disagree with the position held by EDL. I don't know enough about UKIP, if they just mean independence from the EU I think they are foolish. it might look good short term but would leave UK 'behind the 8 ball' long term, once more the Multi 100 million people economies of Asia finish industrialising.