The EDL on the Stephen Lawrence trial

Click on images for full-size

Here's a screenshot taken during the trial. And these EDL morons supposedly represent the English?

Cheers to Everything EDL for the screenshot and Tweeta for the heads-up

Remove the England captaincy from John Terry

Racism in football is back in the news this week with the eight match ban handed down to Liverpool’s Luis Suarez for racially abusing Manchester United’s Patrick Evra and, today, the news that John Terry is facing criminal prosecution for allegedly racially abusing QPR's Anton Ferdinand.

The Football Association is just as much in the dock as its reputation and credibility is scrutinised at home and abroad. The stakes were raised last month when the FA spoke out at the apparent indifference towards racism in football by FIFA boss Sepp Blatter, after he claimed that racial abuse on the field could be dealt with by a handshake after the game.

The FA appear to have handled the Suarez case in accordance with the rules and appear only to have come to their judgement after much deliberation. It is sad that Suarez’s Liverpool team-mates and manager rallied round him without even slightest concern of his guilt. Wearing T-shirts in support of him undermines efforts to stamp out racism within the game. Let us just hope that at some stage in the future these same Liverpool players, who appear so quick to jump to Suarez’s defence, are not left annoyed with players of a rival team who rally round someone who has abused one of their own.

The John Terry incident raises even more serious questions. Obviously he is innocent until proven guilty, but it seems totally inappropriate for him to remain England captain whilst criminal charges hang over him. He was stripped of the captaincy after a Sunday newspaper exposed an extra-marital affair so it would only seem correct that he is once again forced to stand down as captain while charges of using racist language exist.

English football has done much to rid itself of racism over the last fifteen years and we can rightly boast to have the most pro-active national football association on this issue anywhere in Europe. The FA should act decisively over John Terry’s captaincy rather than be forced to act later under pressure. How can we seem to lecture other countries and FIFA if they fail to deal with this issue swiftly? If John Terry is found not guilty then he can regain the captaincy at some future date. If he has the interests of the game, and indeed the national team, at heart then he will also want to step aside as soon as possible.

Hope not hate

Racist Woman Thrown Off London Bus

A woman has been thrown off a London bus after being caught on camera hurling racist abuse at a fellow passenger.

The incident happened on the 29 bus, which runs from Trafalgar Square to Wood Green in North London. The woman can be seen swearing at a black man with dreadlocks, shouting "I can't tell whether you're Afro-bbean, Caribbean".

He insists he is English, but when she takes a swing at him - with very embarrassing results - he takes matters into his own hands and throws her off the bus.

Scotland Yard have told LBC 97.3 that they've had no reports the incident

LBC 97.3

Racist abuse on Micah Richards' Twitter page probed

Micah Richards plays right back for table-topping Manchester City

Police are investigating racist abuse directed at Manchester City player Micah Richards on Twitter.

Offensive comments were posted on the defender's official Twitter page. The abuse is thought to have been posted on Twitter by someone living in Lincolnshire. A police spokesman said it would "not tolerate racist comments".

The 23-year-old replied: "Love the racist abuse. Keep it coming." His account was unavailable on Tuesday.

On its Twitter page, Lincolnshire Police posted a warning to anyone who might be tempted to post abusive comments. It said "deleting comments does not work".

A spokesman for Manchester City said the club was aware that police were investigating the matter and did not want to comment further.

BBC

Thanks to B31 Antifascist for the heads-up

Arrest over video of 'racist rant' on Croydon to Wimbledon tram

A woman has been arrested after an online video apparently showed a woman abusing ethnic minority passengers on a packed south London tram.

The clip, viewed more than 10,600 times since being uploaded to YouTube on Sunday, shows a woman sitting with a child, shouting at fellow passengers. British Transport Police said a woman, 34, had been arrested on suspicion of a racially-aggravated offence.

The incident happened on the Croydon to Wimbledon Tramlink route. Police are yet to clarify exactly where or when the incident happened.

In the online clip, the woman confronts several passengers, saying: "You are not British". She then starts swearing. When one passenger asks her to mind her language, saying "there are little kids on the tram", the woman points to the child on her lap and says "I've got a little kid here".

The woman then says: "Go back to where you come from".

In the video she then starts shouting at the woman who asked her not to swear, before another passenger intervenes, saying: "I am English, what have you got to say to me?"

A British Transport Police spokesman said: "The video posted on YouTube and Twitter has been brought to our attention and our officers have launched an investigation. At present it is not entirely clear which tram stops the offence took place between and when it occurred. As a result, we need anyone who witnessed this incident, or with any information that could assist our investigation - including the identity of the woman - to contact us.

"We will not tolerate racism in any form on the rail network and will do everything in our power to locate the person responsible."

BBC

Thanks to the many, MANY people who send this in

How stupid is the EDL? (Part 563)

Click on image for full-size

EDL splinter group, Derbyshire Infidels present a strong and intelligent argument about why people should join them...

Thanks to Everything EDL for yet another gem

EDL car-jacker jailed after trying to slash victim's neck

A violent car-jacker who tried to slash a man across the neck with car keys has been jailed

Aaron Muxlow was sentenced to 33 months in prison after carrying out a series of verbal and physical attacks. Muxlow, 21, appeared at Cambridge Crown Court for sentencing after previously pleading guilty to theft, criminal damage, using threatening or abusive words or behaviour and robbery.

Quentin Newcomb, prosecuting, said Nicholas Birch and Luke Banaszkiewicz were driving on Spril 12 to see friends at Arbury Court in Cambridge. Mr Banaszkiewicz got out to meet friends and Muxlow, of Cambridge Road, Stretham, Ely, approached the car, grabbed the keys from the ignition and demanded Mr Birch give him all his possessions.

When Mr Birch said he did not have anything to give him, Muxlow hit him several times before Mr Birch fled and his friend returned asking for the keys, the court was told. Muxlow then slashed at Mr Banaszkiewicz’s neck with the keys, leaving a mark, before driving off in the car.

On May 25, Muxlow verbally abused Neera Saini, co-owner of Derby Stores, Derby Street, when she challenged him over a missing bottle of wine worth £6. He returned on June 3 and intimidated her husband, Karter Singh, because Mr Singh was following him to check nothing was stolen.

Then on June 10, he attacked a cyclist’s bike, falsely claiming the owner, Jon Clarke, was a “pervert” who had taken wine from his trousers. When Mr Clarke went into the Mace store, in Green End Street, he heard “banging and scratching noises” and went outside to see his bike wheel buckled and Muxlow walking off.

Mr Clarke later returned to the scene with a police officer and they found Muxlow still there. He was arrested and placed in a police van by Pc Linas Pekarskas but started hurling racist abuse at the officer, shouting ‘EDL’ .

Mark Shelley, mitigating, said: “When he is sober he is actually quite pleasant. When he drinks and takes drugs he is aggressive and unpleasant.”

Judge Jonathan Haworth said the robbery was the “aggravating feature” and sentenced him to a total of two years and nine months in prison, reduced by the 121 days he has spent in custody.

Cambridge News

Judge jails ‘racist bigot’ from Llandudno

A MAN has been branded a narrow-minded, racist bigot after harassing a mixed-race neighbour and sending him British National Party literature.

Paul Frossell, 40, of Mostyn Avenue in Llandudno, was jailed for eight months yesterday at Mold Crown Court.

Judge Rhys Rowlands told Frossell the courts had a duty to protect all citizens from racist abuse of whatever form.

He had denied racially aggravated harassment but was convicted at an earlier trial which heard how he had targeted a man of mixed race and his Polish partner.

He had been a neighbour when he popped a letter and BNP literature under their door.

Frossell, who at the time supplied mobility scooters, told the jury it was a parking dispute and nothing to do with race.

“I’m not a member of the BNP and I don’t vote BNP,” he said.

He insisted there was no malicious intent. His barrister Matthew Curtis suggested he was guilty of stupidity and ignorance but not of racism.

The victim Robert Islam, a courier, told the jury he had an Indian father and his mother was a mixture of English and Welsh.

He had a letter from Frossell which stated: “To the owner of the Ford Transit – we believe you are of Asian descent and can’t understand English.”

Mr Islam described himself as “mixed race and very British” and declared: “This was plain racist.”

Judge Rowlands said the victims were a hard-working, thoroughly decent couple but it was their misfortune to live in the same property as the defendant, an arrogant bigot who held wholly unacceptable views towards them.

“You took against them because he had the audacity to park his vehicle where you felt you were entitled to leave your own. You had no such right.”

He wrote to them in demeaning terms, referring to their ethnic origin and saying they may not understand English.

It was accompanied by a BNP flyer, followed by a second letter containing BNP literature.

The judge said it had been the cowardly targeting of the couple in their own home by a small minded bigot.

The couple were caused a great deal of unease and the female victim felt scared and threatened.

“She felt that somebody she didn’t know was trying to exercise control over her and her partner and threatening them.”

Matthew Curtis, defending, said while his client still denied the offence, he was prepared to co-operate in a programme run by the probation service to explore his attitudes and create further awareness.

Daily Post

Racist taunts spark knife chase in Gillingham

Two English Defence League protesters "bit off more than they could chew" when they caused a racist scene in a kebab shop.

Turkish staff armed themselves with long knives used to carve meat and chased brothers Wayne and Darren Edwards out into the street. Wayne Edwards came off the worst and needed five stitches in a wound to his head. The 36-year-old former soldier and his brother, 34, were each jailed for 14 months after a judge told them such racist aggression would not be tolerated.

An Orange Order march in Gillingham on the day of a match at Gillingham FC had passed peacefully when the brothers and other EDL supporters went into Town Kebab House in the High Street.

Judge Philip Statman was shown CCTV film showing the drunk brothers banging on the counter and chanting "EDL". Trouble then erupted with some of the staff vaulting over the counter and others emerging with knives and steels used for preparing food.

Prosecutor Anne Phillips told Maidstone Crown Court the troublemakers were chased out but they returned with others. Darren Edwards got hold of a steel and smashed a display fridge. He also smashed a window as he fled.

Staff in the shop at the time included owner Ianer Timustekin, his brothers Orhan and Murat, father Abdulbaki and cousin Habib Taycur.

Darren Edwards, of Alpha Road, Woking, Surrey, and Wayne Edwards, of Holly Gardens, West Drayton, west London, admitted affray. Darren Edwards also admitted destroying property.

Kent Online

Thanks to Zaahid for the heads-up

Asbo for racist protest at world music festival

A protester with a far-right group hurled racist abuse at hundreds of people who had gathered for a world music festival.

Tony Thomsen wrapped an English flag around his head and shouted during the festival in Queens Gardens, city centre. He was part of an English Defence League (EDL) rally, a far-right group which opposes what it terms as "Muslim extremism".

Thomsen, 40, of Rosedale Avenue, east Hull, has now been given an antisocial behaviour order (Asbo) after being convicted of being drunk and disorderly at the event on June 25.

The world music festival had been organised as part of Hull Refugee Week, which aims to challenge negative stereotypes, and attracted crowds of up to 2,000. Ben Butler, project co-ordinator at the Asylum Seekers and Refugees Kingston Upon Hull (ARKH) group, said: "It was quite intimidating. The event was all about community cohesion and families and it was intimidating for the people who were present.

"What confuses me is the EDL claims to be a single-issue group, against Islamic fundamentalism. I can't understand why members would turn up at a family event celebrating world music that had no religious connections and start shouting racist abuse. I get the feeling the EDL focus on Islamic fundamentalism as a bit of a smokescreen for general hatred. Most of the bands were members of the international community living in Hull and there were some English bands who do world music. It was a really cross-cultural event."

PC Russell Moore, antisocial behaviour officer for Hull, said everyone had the right to peaceful demonstrations.

"But equally, everybody has the right to go about their business without being harangued, abused or insulted," he said. "He seems to think he can do that and it is totally unacceptable. We can't stop people demonstrating, but if they behave like this, getting drunk and racially abusing people, they will be dealt with."

Thomsen, who recently changed his name from Tony Handley, was convicted in 2003 of daubing racist abuse on a private property in Spring Bank, city centre.

Under the Asbo, which lasts for two years, Thomsen is banned from drinking alcohol in a public place and causing harassment, alarm or distress to others. If he breaches the order, he could be jailed for up to five years. Thomsen was also fined £100 and made to pay £250 court costs after being sentenced at Hull Magistrates' Court.

This is Hull and East Riding

BNP Official Convicted for Racist Tirade.

A BNP organiser and local candidate was yesterday found guilty of using racially aggravated threatening or insulting words and behaviour after he called a petrol station worker “A black bastard”.

Darren Lumb, the BNP organiser for Wakefield, was found guilty at Pontefract Magistrates Court following an altercation with garage staff regarding the price of its diesel.

Lumb had already been banned from the petrol station in March 2011 following a similar argument with staff; however he returned on St George’s day in May and following his racist outburst staff demanded he left and called the police who later arrested him for the offence.

Lumb who was flanked by a dozen BNP members & supporters at court pleaded not guilty, claiming that he never visited the garage and that he was at a BNP St Georges Day event in Rotherham.

This was the same event that a number of BNP officials including Firth and Cooke were photographed drunkenly handling firearms http://www.hopenothate.org.uk/news/article/1876/gunning-for-st-george

BNP officials Danny Cooke and Rachel Firth all gave evidence on his part, failing to mention the fact that both hold senior positions with the party.

Unemployed Lumb who has previous convictions for assault and disorder was found guilty by magistrates and was given a conditional discharge and ordered to pay £250 in costs.

Griffinite Lumb, who once declared on Facebook that he was a “Hard line, anti establishment Aryan", has a 'Tree of life' tattoo on his forearm. This symbol, also known as the life rune, is a favourite among nazi groups worldwide, several of which have adopted it as their logo. Under Hitler it was the symbol of the SS Lebensborn project, which encouraged SS troopers to have children out of wedlock with “Aryan” mothers and kidnapped children of Aryan appearance from the countries of occupied Europe to raise as Germans.

Outside the court some of Lumbs BNP supporters attempted to intimidate local journalists by taking their photographs and threatening to post their details on the neo Nazi website Redwatch.

Thanks to HOPE not Hate

Five months for protester who hit policeman at far-Right demo

An English Defence League protester who punched a policeman during last weekend's banned demo in east London has been jailed for five months.

Darrell Copeland, 44, charged a line of police and smashed Sergeant James Lloyd in the face as the officers struggled to control demonstrators from the far-Right group.

Copeland, who had been drinking, struggled violently as he was arrested, headbutting a window, threatening to do the same to police and shouting anti-Muslim abuse, City of Westminster magistrates' court was told.

He was held in custody after Saturday's protest until his court appearance, when he admitted assault. District Judge Daphne Wickham heard that Copeland, from Milton Keynes, had previously been jailed for racist abuse.

Victoria Forbes, prosecuting, said he had joined EDL demonstrators at Aldgate station, where they chanted: "Let's go f**king mental," as officers tried to control the crowd.

He claimed he had come to London to visit his mother, not specifically to take part in the demonstration.

Evening Standard

Redbridge mosque attack accused ‘hurled bricks’, court told

A gang hurled bricks at a mosque while a 16-year-old boy repeatedly screamed “EDL” in a reference to the far right organisation, a court has heard.

The group of six tried to storm Redbridge Islamic Centre, Eastern Avenue, Redbridge after taunting worshippers arriving for evening prayers with racist chants, jurors heard today.

The building’s front window was smashed and the imam was hit by a brick as he tried to pursue them, Snaresbrook Crown Court was told.

Ryan Jones, 23, Eliot Jones, 19, both of no fixed address and Rocky Beale, 21, of Purleigh Avenue, Woodford Green are alleged to have taken part in the attack on March 24.

Daniel Leal, 19, of Queenborough Gardens, Gants Hill, Matthew Stephenson 18, of Burrow Road, Hainault and a 16-year-old boy who cannot be named for legal reasons, are also said to have been involved in the attack.

Prosecutor Pam Oon said the 16-year-old boy “threw a brick, which smashed the front window of the mosque”.

Two people then ran inside, one of who was identified as the 16-year-old using DNA from blood found at the scene, the court was told.

It was then that imam Shafeel Begg and caretaker Mohammed Wahud gave chase, said Ms Oon.

“In the process the caretaker was injured by some broken glass,” she told jurors.

“When the imam and the caretaker came out of the mosque, the youths were still throwing bricks and shouting abuse, before they ran down Eastern Avenue towards Redbridge Tube station.

“It was then that a man with a dark top waited until the imam and the caretaker were following before throwing a brick at the imam.”

They denied having committed any offences in their interviews, the court was told.

All six deny violent disorder.

The trial continues.

London 24

Nottingham pig's head mosque race abuse man sentenced

A man who was involved in placing a pig's head on a pole outside the possible site of a mosque in Nottingham has been given a suspended sentence.

Christopher Payne, 25, from Beardsmore Grove, Hucknall, admitted racially aggravated public order offences after the incident on 23 June.

Nottingham Magistrates heard Payne failed to stop others placing the pig's head and had also left racist graffiti.

He was sentenced to 6 weeks imprisonment, suspended for a year.
'Wholly irresponsible'

The court was told Payne had taken delivery of a pig's head, that was later pinned on the pole outside waste ground on Collington Way, in the West Bridgford area.

Payne also admitted writing "no Mosque here, EDL Notts" on the pavement near the site of the proposed mosque.

He admitted causing racially or religiously aggravated harassment, alarm or distress and racially or religiously aggravated criminal damage.

He was also ordered to pay a £250 fine with £85 costs, complete 100 hours of community service and stay out of West Bridgford for 12 months.

A letter from Payne was read out in court in which he said he regretted his actions, and now understood and accepted it was wholly irresponsible.

He also told the court he had left the English Defence League.

In sentencing, District Judge Morris Cooper told the court he had reduced Payne's sentence by a third because he pleaded guilty.

BBC News

York man guilty of racist abuse

A father who taunted his Turkish neighbour with a shout of “BNP” over the garden fence has been punished by a crown court judge.

Lee Andrew Knaggs, 40, admitted his comment was racist and pleaded guilty to a charge of racist abuse towards Memet Koyapinar. Knaggs’s barrister Katherine Robinson, quoting police logs, said it was the latest in a long series of problems between the two families that had seen both call out officers to complain about the other.

The Recorder of York, Judge Stephen Ashurst, said whatever the rights or wrongs, it appeared that Mr Koyapinar had since changed addresses, and Knaggs was needed to help care for his autistic daughter. He gave Knaggs, currently living in Beckfield Lane, Acomb, a community order of 100 hours’ unpaid work.

Prosecuting at Teesside Crown Court, Andrew Haslam said the Koyapinar family were having a barbecue in their garden on April 17 when Knaggs shouted “BNP” at them from his property. There had been a series of incidents between him and Mr Koyapinar earlier in the day and when he was arrested, Knaggs claimed he had been goaded.

On March 25, Knaggs had received a written police warning about harassment towards Mr Koyapinar. Miss Robinson said the period on bail during the court case had been difficult for the Knaggs family because Knaggs had had to live at a different address from his autistic daughter, who insisted on him bathing her. It meant she had to be taken to his flat every time she wanted a bath.

The Press

BNP Organiser guilty of racial abuse on Asian woman

A British National Party organiser has narrowly escaped jail for racially abusing an Asian woman in a supermarket.

Peter King told stunned Sajida Islam "go back to your own country" when he saw her in the aisles of Hartlepool's Tesco Extra store, in Burn Road. He followed with a tirade of racist abuse. In another unrelated incident he threatened a student with a medieval weapon in another outburst.

John Gillette, prosecuting at Teesside Crown Court, said: "He just passed an Asian lady in an aisle in the store and said 'get home to your own country'. It was just abuse out of nowhere, and left the victim upset. She contacted store security who in turn brought in police. Although the incident was not caught on CCTV he was seen leaving the store and was identified from that."

The incident happened on October 14 last year.

King, who the BNP's own website describes as regional organiser, was arrested again on Christmas Eve. Police were called following a row with his neighbour, 20-year-old student Nicholas Thompson, who he confronted with an ornamental mace for revving his mini-moto bike.

Mr Gillette said: "There had been an argument over some noise from a vehicle exhaust being revved and he went and got what is described as an ornamental medieval mace. The weapon had a wooden handle with a chain and a couple of metal balls."

King, 38, was at risk of going to jail after he admitted racially aggravated harassment and possessing an offensive weapon. However, he walked out of court after he was given a suspended prison term.

Nigel Herrmann, mitigating, said King, of Bluebell Way, Hartlepool, had experienced personal problems in the last year. He added there had been no further incidents since.

Judge Peter Bowers sentenced King to 10 months prison suspended for 18 months with supervision. He warned King to curb his temper in future. King was accompanied at court by Cheryl Dunn, who unsuccessfully ran for the BNP in the Hartlepool mayoral election and also in the Easington parliamentary election

Hartlepool Mail

Hastings taxis could get CCTV as racist abuse soars

Taxis are set to be fitted with cameras as standard with the boss of one leading firm describing racist abuse to drivers as "out of control".

Chris Vale, who manages 24/7 Taxis, spoke out after a customer who admitted racially abusing one of his drivers avoided prison. The victim, 23-year-old Aras Cassidy, who is Kurdish, said foreign drivers are subjected to racist comments twice a day.

Brian Styles, 49, of Maple Heights, pleaded guilty to racially aggravated harassment and failing to provide a specimen, and he was found guilty of taking a vehicle without consent. He was fined £900, banned from driving for a year and ordered to pay £300 costs. Styles was arrested after driver Mr Cassidy went to collect him from The Rising Sun pub in Battle Road in October.

"I tried to be friendly and have a chat with him but he just started saying things like, 'Why don't you go back to your own country?' I ignored him but he kept swearing so I got out of the car. He jumped in the front seat and removed the handbrake. I was shocked but we get comments like that twice a day and you just learn to live with it. Most people we pick up are really nice but you get some who are aggressive. I sometimes ask myself: 'What am I doing in this country?' but all my best friends are English and I have been here for 12 years."

Mr Vale, 43, was stunned by the sentence.

"They should have put him inside. The racism from some people is getting out of control. I have lived all over the UK and grew up when the National Front were at large but I have never known anything like this."

Chief Inspector Mark Ling said: "We take a positive stance against hate crime of all types. Nobody should live or work with the fear and anxiety that this type of crime can cause. I would urge people who are victimised or abused in this way to report it. If nobody knows about the it then little can be done to stop it happening again."

Mr Vale's company has 70 cars, making it the biggest fleet in the town. About one third of his drivers are foreign nationals and they all report the same kinds of problems.

"Since 2005 issues with racism and drugs and people doing runners have become much worse," said Mr Vale."I have people get in the car talking openly about buying drugs," added Mr Cassidy.

Now Mr Vale is supporting a council scheme, funded by the Safer Hastings Partnership and overseen by the licensing team, to put CCTV cameras into taxis across the town.

A council spokesman said: "It's likely to take place over several phases but we are confident that this is a positive move, increasing safety for both driver and passenger. Any abuse towards drivers, whether verbal or physical, is completely unacceptable and these cameras will go a long way in providing an extra element of protection."

But Reg Torab, 49, who runs New Carmiles sounded a note of caution.

"I do not think cameras should be compulsory," he said. "They do help when there are incidents but we keep very records of every job and there are issues about customers' privacy as well."

Hastings Observer

BNP candidate denies racism

A BNP candidate has appeared in court charged with racially aggravated harrassment.

Tameside Magistrates heard that Roy West, 44, of Glenmore Grove, Dukinfield is accused of using racially aggravated words against his German neighbour on August 22 this year.

He denies the charges.

Defending, Kevin Nicholas said that West is alleged to have said "Remember Dunkirk" during an argument with his neighbour.

Mr Nicholas, who disputed whether the words were racist, asked for the trial to be heard out of the Tameside area because of West’s connections with the BNP in Tameside.

"I’m not suggesting any integrity issues, but Mr West is a BNP candidate for this region," he said. "He tells me that on the bench in Tameside there are some Labour councillors or candidates. He has had difficulties with one of them in the past. We would ask the court not to hear this at Tameside, but at a different court."

The court took note of West’s concerns and asked for the case to be heard before the Manchester district judge who comes to the court on a weekly basis.

West will remain on police bail, on the condition that he does not contact his neighbour or the neighbour’s partner either directly or indirectly. A hearing on 12 November will set a date for his trial at Tameside Magistrates’ Court.

West stood as the BNP candidate for Dukinfield during May’s local elections.

He came second behind Councillor Brian Wild with 734 votes.

Tameside Advertiser

Can music lovers mix? Rappers, rock fans, racism

Vile racist abuse of Lethal Bizzle at the Download Festival has led the rapper to ask why hip-hop has not been accepted by mainstream festival audiences in the UK

One of Britain's most successful hip-hop stars has revealed he was subjected to racist abuse by fans who pelted him with missiles during his appearance at a rock festival last weekend.

Lethal Bizzle, a Mobo-winning black rapper who once called David Cameron a "donut" for blaming youth violence on rap music, had to perform his set at the annual Download Festival on Sunday under a constant shower of objects, including bottles thrown by the crowd who appeared to dislike his inclusion in an otherwise predominantly heavy metal line-up.

But some of the items thrown at him had clearly racist overtones, including a cuddly toy monkey and a banana skin which he said had the words "Bizzle you black cunt" written on it.

Yesterday, Bizzle hit out at the racists and claimed that some "hard questions" had to be asked about why urban music has struggled to be accepted by mainstream festival goers.

The 24-year-old grime star, who was born to Ghanaian parents and grew up in Walthamstow, east London, initially declined to talk about the racist abuse but has decided to urge festival-goers to be more accepting of urban acts appearing at events which have traditionally featured more guitar-driven music. "The bottles I could deal with but the racist abuse was totally unacceptable," he said. "I know it was just a small minority of fans and I'm trying not to paint all rock fans with the same brush, but some hard questions need to be asked. If you don't like my music, don't come watch me. But my background or race has absolutely nothing to do with who I am as an artist."

Bizzle also plays a major part in the so-called "grindie" scene, a mix of grime and indie, which combines rapping with punk and rock samples.

His comments come amid a year of controversy over the reaction of some festival fans to an increase of hip-hop acts appearing at mainstream festivals such as Glastonbury and Reading. In February, the Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher created a storm of debate when he suggested that the inclusion of the US rapper Jay-Z in this year's Glastonbury line-up was wrong because it went against the festival's tradition of guitar music.

The behaviour of the small group of fans at Download will raise fears among Glastonbury's organisers that Jay-Z may be sub

jected to similar abuse when he headlines the last day of next week's annual festival. In 2004, fans at Reading Festival made their feelings known about the rapper 50 Cent by resorting to a similar salvo of bottles. Several comments on internet forums popular with rock fans are already promising to give Jay-Z a similar welcome to the one Lethal Bizzle received last weekend. One fan writing under the name "Doherty49" on the NME website said: "Jay Z beware because the same thing is gonna happen to you an [sic] Glastonbury".

Bizzle was the only hip-hop act on the bill at this year's Download Festival, which predominantly caters for the heavier end of the rock scene. As soon as his troupe walked on stage at Donington Park in Derbyshire on Sunday afternoon, they were pelted with bottles. He continued his 30-minute set but was visibly taken aback by the reception, shouting at the crowd: "We got set up didn't we? But we're still gonna play."

Online videos showing the latter stages of his set show that the number of bottles landing on stage died down as people began to be won over by the music. But he said he paid more attention to some of the cruder objects that were thrown.

"There were bottles flying everywhere but I just decided to carry on with the show," he said. "Just before my last song I noticed a banana skin on the ground. I picked it up and read what was inside and just thought 'Oh my God'. I didn't want to make a big deal about it and just threw it down, but the rest of my band were fuming. It was a really sad end to the show because I really felt like we'd worked the crowd."

Hattie Collins, editor of the hip-hop magazine RWD, believes the reception at Download was an extreme illustration of how rock and metal enthusiasts are often dismissive of urban music. "I'm not sure why it is but for some reason it seems to be OK for rock fans to be dismissive about hip-hop music – it's like hip-hop has become this acceptable punchbag," she said. "I'm sure that those throwing the bottles were just a small number in the crowd, but you have to ask yourself whether there is an underlying ethic that rock is somehow a white-only genre."

James McMahon, festivals editor at NME, said he believed most fans were simply expressing their dislike of Bizzle's music. "You have to separate racism – which is always totally unacceptable – from just disliking hip-hop, which is allowed," he said.

A number of rock and metal fans have since rallied to Bizzle's cause. One fan called Jonni wrote on the rapper's MySpace page: "I'm not joking when I say that you were one of the highlights of the festival. Just was a shame that some narrow-minded people have to put a downer on it."

Bizzle, meanwhile, said fans of guitar-based festivals would have to get used to seeing more urban acts appearing on the bill. "In a few years, urban acts will be all over mainstream festivals – it's just a matter of time," he said. "It is early days, so some people are a little resistant to change – but they will just have to put up and shut up."

Independent

Fire fighter jailed for racist abuse

A retained Lincolnshire firefighter has been jailed over a foul-mouthed racist attack on a young woman.

Nicholas Rice was caught on CCTV making Nazi salutes and hurling racist abuse at a mixed race woman on a night out in Sleaford.

Lincoln Crown Court heard how Rice (23) began abusing the woman when she intervened in a row between him and his girlfriend, unleashing a tirade of racist abuse, including telling her to "get back to Zulu land". The incident was caught on CCTV near Rice's home in Southgate, Sleaford, and he then followed the young woman down an alleyway and kicked her in the stomach.

When interviewed by police he said he had been drinking and could remember nothing of the incident but admitted common assault and racially aggravated threatening behaviour.

Judge Michael Heath jailed him for nine months, telling him: "You behaved in an outrageous way towards this young woman. Racism must not be allowed to flourish and that message must be received in every corner of society. The court must do all it can to convey that message, which is why I am sending you immediately to custody."

This is Lincolnshire