BNP not welcome here!

A campsite owner has told the British National Party they are no longer welcome on his property following a violent disturbance that took place there on St George’s Day.

The owner of the Hooton Lodge Country Pub & Campsite located near Rotherham, South Yorkshire told Searchlight Magazine that he was totally unaware the event was organised by the British National Party having been led to believe that it was to be a non-political celebration.

The owner said that although was aware that the group had a large collection of replica firearms on the site and were initially firing them at paper targets, this wasn’t agreed with the owners beforehand. He said “The first I was aware of them was when a large 4x4 vehicle pulled up and opened its boot to reveal a mini armoury.”

Searchlight was passed a large collection of photographs in which leading BNP officials and candidates can be clearly seen posing with the realistic looking firearms even when small children were in close proximity.

The owner who wishes to remain anonymous, told us that had he known that the group were mishandling firearms he would have called the local police firearms unit and have had them removed from his campsite.

He also revealed that following a day and evening of excessive drinking, a violent scuffle broke out around 1:30 am in the BNP group, forcing one member of the party to be thrown off the campsite.

BNP candidates and officials from Wakefield, Leeds, Barnsley, Sheffield, Kirklees and Salford were all photographed misusing the firearms or suffering the effects of excessive drinking on the day.

The owner said he was horrified by the group’s politics and their drunken behaviour and under no circumstances would they be allowed back onto his campsite.

Thanks to Searchlight/HOPE not Hate

‘Citizen’s arrest’ ends in court

BNP father and son deny assaulting man over vandalised poster

Two members of the British National Party tried to carry out a citizen’s arrest on a man who was defacing a party poster in Aberdeen, a court has heard. Steven Thomson, 42, and his son Gregor Thomson, 21, deny assaulting Stefan Knust, but admit trying to detain him while they waited for police in Great Northern Road on March 25 last year.

The men were guarding the poster, after one had been vandalised the night before, when they saw two men run up and throw paint over it, Aberdeen Sheriff Court heard yesterday. The pair are alleged to have repeatedly punched Mr Knust on the head and body and repeatedly kicked him.

Steven Thomson, of 5 Gibblestone House, Scalloway, Shetland, told the court he had spent 12 years in the Army, worked in the prison service and been trying to enter the police force when he discovered he suffered from a genetic heart problem. He said a security firm had been hired to protect the poster during the day, but he had been tasked with guarding it at night. Two men ran away after throwing paint on the poster, but Mr Knust fell as he crossed the road, Thomson said.

“I grabbed him with my right hand by his collar,” he said. “He was using his arms to try to break my grip of his clothing.”

Thomson was trying to video the vandalism using a camera, but had accidentally turned the recording function off, the court heard. Thomson told the court he had helped to chase and detain the person who had vandalised the poster the previous night, which had cost £600 to replace. When asked by fiscal depute Victoria White if he was “annoyed and angry” about the vandalism, he replied: “Yes”.

His son, of 10A Summerfield Place, Aberdeen, said they had intended to carry out a “citizen’s arrest”, and “take hold of them with reasonable force” until the police arrived.

Both men have left the BNP, the court heard yesterday.

The case will return to court next month, when Sheriff Malcolm Garden asked to be addressed on when a person is entitled to perform a citizen’s arrest.

The Press and Journal

BNP members accused of Aberdeen attack

Trial hears alleged victim defaced billboard

Two BNP members attacked a protester who pelted one of their Aberdeen billboards in the run-up to the General Election, a court has heard.

It was alleged Stefan Knust, 21, was racially assaulted after he paint-bombed a British National Party poster on Aberdeen’s Great Northern Road.

Gregor Thomson, 44, whose address was given in court papers as 10A Summerfield Place, Aberdeen, and Steven Thomson, 20, whose address was given as 5 Gibblestone House, Shetland, both deny assault.

The trial continues at Aberdeen Sheriff Court next month.

Evening Express

Jobless teen stuck BNP stickers on takeaway window and assaulted worker

A jobless teenager stuck British National Party (BNP) stickers on a pizza shop window before verbally and physically abusing its staff, a court heard. Stephen Gary Paul Elstob admitted racially aggravated assault and criminal damage following the incident in Darlington on May 5.

Jonathan Bambro, prosecuting, told magistrates that Hakim Kadir was at work at Godfather's, in Cockerton, when he noticed a drunken Elstob at the window. Mr Bambro said Elstob then shouted a string of racial abuse and as he did so he began to stick BNP stickers on the window.

Mr Kadir, who works as a delivery driver was later confronted by Elstob after he got in his car. The 18-year-old opened the door of the Nissan Micra and punched Mr Kadir and then kicked and punched the car, causing £500 worth of damage.

He was later arrested and in interview gave no reply until he admitted to officers he had a problem with black and Asian people working in the UK. Elstob, of Eggleston View, Darlington, also admitted being in breach of a 12 month conditional discharge for possession of cannabis.

Mike Clarke, mitigating, said Elstob claimed there had been an injustice when his stepbrother was hit with a rolling pin by one of the take-away workers. He said Elstob was also having difficulty after his mother had been given a "substantial" prison sentence for drugs offences.

Elstob was given 26 weeks in custody, suspended for two years, with a 12 month supervision order and 150 hours unpaid work. He was also handed a restraining order stopping him from approaching or entering the shop, or molesting its staff.

He was also ordered to pay Mr Kadir £250 compensation.

Northern Echo

BNP member Peter Tierney denies assaulting anti-fascist demonstrator

Protestors outside Liverpool Magistrate's Court today

A well-known member of the British National Party has denied assaulting an anti-facist demonstrator on St George's Day.

Peter Tierney, 52, is charged with assaulting a protestor in St John's Lane near St George's Hall on April 23 this year. He pleaded not guilty to the attack which allegedly left a man with a cut on the back of his head. The protestors were said to have been handing out leaflets protesting against the BNP earlier that day.

Tierney, wearing a black suit, wore his long brown hair in a ponytail and his six-inch beard in a plait as he stood in the dock at Liverpool magistrates' court yesterday. He pleaded not guilty to one charge of committing assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Demonstrators protesting against his party gathered outside the court building in Dale Street before the hearing. Several police officers stood outside the court.

Tierney, of High Street, Hale Village, opted to have the matter dealt with at the crown court.The case will be committed to the crown court on October 29.

Liverpool Daily Post