Seven men have been jailed for years over protests against two-tier policing in Britain after the murder of Henry Nowak by a judge who has let multiple paedophiles walk free.
Judge William Mousley KC, who also sentenced Nowak’s Sikh killer, called the violence at the June 2 protest a “hate crime, borne out of hatred of the police and in some cases racist views” while sentencing five of the men in Southampton Crown Court on Wednesday.
He gave Daniel Frost, 44, two years and four months for throwing two chairs and a bin into the road and carrying a dog lead as an offensive weapon, and Reece Robinson, 21, two years for throwing two stones or bricks at police.
Taylor Grundy, 22, was given 2.5 years for throwing wood at police and pushing a communal wheelie bin towards them, Andrew Summerhayes, 38, was given three years and two months for ramming a large bin into police, and Dillon Crawford, 29, got three years for throwing a bin and a metal chair at officers.
Another two men, Connor Bishop, 24, who charged at police with a traffic cone and threw it at officers, and Leon O’Leary, 41, who threw a smoke grenade at police and resisted arrest, were jailed by Judge Mousley on Tuesday for two years and eight months and three years and one month respectively.
A total of 21 people have been arrested over the protest, which erupted amid public anger over the police handling of the Nowak’s murder. Nowak died in handcuffs after officers believed killer Vickrum Digwa’s racism allegations, and ignored him as he said “I’ve been stabbed” and “I can’t breathe”.
In sentencing Bishop and O’Leary Judge Mousley said the protests caused “fear, distress and disruption to members of the public and substantial cost to the public purse”, and the court heard on Wednesday it had cost police £443,000, BBC News reported. No officers were injured.
The harsh sentences come after Judge Mousley allowed at least three child sex offenders to walk free in recent years, including a Royal Navy sailor caught with videos of infants being raped, a man convicted of possessing child abuse material of the worst kind, and a man who groomed a 14-year-old girl for sex.
All three were given community orders of up to three years, and Judge Mousley told one of the paedophiles: “It does appear you are sorry for what you did and you have demonstrated good behaviour and a change in attitude.”
Similar two-tier sentences were handed down over anti-immigration protests that broke out across the UK following the murder of three young girls in Southport by Rwandan knifeman Axel Rudakubana, with some jailed for years for Facebook posts while Muslim brick throwers avoided jail.
Header image: Left, Reece Robinson. Right, Andrew Summerhayes (Hampshire Police).
