Three men fined after pig's head stunt

Three men in a group which placed a pig's head at the site of a proposed mosque were told they should be ashamed of themselves by a magistrate.

Nicholas Long, 22, of Needham Road, Arnold, Robert Parnham, 19, of Farnborough Road, Clifton, and Wayne Havercroft, 41, of Millbank Place, Bestwood Village, all pleaded guilty to racially or religiously aggravated harassment after the pig's head was put on a 4ft pole in Collington Way, West Bridgford, on June 23.

The head was found along with an offensive message and 'No mosque here EDL Notts' written on the pavement.

The court heard Parnham bought it from a butchers and tried to sell it by sending a text message to all his contacts. He received a response from Christopher Payne, who was given a suspended sentence, fined £250 and banned from going to West Bridgford in July.

Payne and the trio were present when the head was put on the stick, and Havercroft admitted he took a photo and sent it to his daughter and asked her to put in on Facebook.

Havercroft, an ex-member of the EDL, also pleaded guilty to racially or religiously aggravated harassment on June 25 after he shouted at people manning a stall about Islam in the city centre. He pulled out a St George's flag and shouted "You are all with Osama Bin Laden".

In mitigation for Parnham and Long, Robert Keeble said the pair were both appalled and ashamed. He said: "They both entered guilty pleas at the first time of asking."

Julia Haywood, in mitigation for Havercroft, said he had borderline personality disorder. She said: "On June 25, Mr Havercroft failed to take his medication and his behaviour can become erratic if he doesn't have it. He was a member of the EDL and joined last year after being incensed by the poppy burning incident."

Long and Parnham were fined £200 and ordered to pay £85 costs. Havercroft was fined £400, with £170 costs and £15 victim surcharge.

Nottingham magistrate Colin Wharmby said: "All three of you should be ashamed of what you did, thoroughly ashamed."

This is Nottingham

Ex-soldier jailed for burning Koran in Carlisle

A former soldier has been sentenced to 70 days in prison for setting fire to a copy of Muslim holy book the Koran in the centre of Carlisle.

Andrew Ryan had previously admitted religiously aggravated harassment and theft of a Koran from a library. The 32-year-old, of Summerhill, said he had been "shocked" watching a Muslim burning a poppy on Remembrance Day.

Shoppers and schoolchildren witnessed the burning, outside the old Town Hall, on 19 January.

Sitting at Carlisle Magistrates' Court, District Judge Gerald Chalk described it as a case of "theatrical bigotry". He said: "It was pre-planned by you as you stole the book deliberately. You went out to cause maximum publicity and to cause distress."

Ryan struggled with security guards in court after the sentence was passed. While being handcuffed he shouted: "What about my country? What about burning poppies?"

About 10 people were in court to support Ryan, and as they left the court they shouted "do you call this justice?".

After sentencing, Insp Paul Marshall, of Cumbria Police, said: "This incident was highly unusual for Cumbria as we have such low levels of hate crime in the county."

BBC

Police arrest EDL protest’s leader

ONE of the leaders of the English Defence League (EDL) has been arrested after police received complaints about his speech during their protest in Peterborough on 11th December.

Guramit Singh (28), from Nottingham, was arrested yesterday (22nd December) on suspicion of intentionally causing religiously aggravated harassment, alarm or distress.

Cambridgeshire Police received two complaints after Mr Singh, an unofficial leader and spokesman for the EDL, gave a speech during the EDL’s two-hour protest in the city on Saturday, December 11.

Mr Singh was addressing around 1,000 EDL supporters and hundreds of onlooking members of the public during his speech, which was delivered outside Peterborough Magistrates’ Court and has since been uploaded onto YouTube.

A spokeswoman for Cambridgeshire Police said: “A 28-year-old man from Nottingham was arrested on suspicion of intentionally causing religiously aggravated harassment alarm or distress, under section four of the public order act 1986.

“He was questioned in Nottingham and has now been bailed.

“Police are investigating whether any further criminal offences were committed during protests in Peterborough.

“The arrested man will return to a police station in Cambridgeshire in February.”

The EDL held its protest claiming to be against Islamic extremism and its perceived rise in England.

The protesters went from outside the Peterborough United Football Ground, in London Road, to Peterborough Magistrates’ Court in Lower Bridge Street, where they gathered for a static protest and were addressed by Mr Singh.

Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, the other unofficial leader of the EDL, confirmed that Mr Singh had been arrested.

Mr Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson, said: “Guramit was arrested in the morning.

“The EDL are fully behind him and we don’t think there was anything wrong with his speech.

“It doesn’t surprise me that he has been arrested but it does disappoint me.”

The EDL’s decision to come to Peterborough to march and protest sparked the biggest policing operation in the history of the city.

Around 1,000 officers from 18 forces across the country were drafted in to police the EDL march as well as the counter demonstration which was organised by Peterborough Trades Union Council.

The operation cost Cambridgeshire Police an estimated £750,000 to pay overtime and draft extra officers in for the day. It resulted in 10 arrests on the day.

Police investigations are ongoing following the marches and officers have asked anyone with information to contact them on 0345 456 4564 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

Peterborough Today