Two women joined a racist mob which attacked and abused a terrified Kurdish family in a city centre takeaway, a court heard.

Hayley Wells, aged 28, and 30-year-old Kelly Watterson were part of a group which spilled out of a pub and hurled vile abuse on a Sunday afternoon. Someone threw a glass which smashed next to a baby in a car seat inside the Istanbul kebab shop in Exeter Street, Plymouth Crown Court heard.

Wells scratched the boy's mother on the arm and Watterson admitted she was drunk and aggressive as part of the mob, which had been attending a meeting of the English Defence League. The mother and her partner were so shaken that they have since sold the takeaway.

Recorder Paul Derbyshire said: "This was a shocking and violent incident which left these victims in a distressed state. This has led to the closure of the business and they have moved away." He handed Wells a suspended prison sentence and Watterson a community order. Both must do hefty periods of unpaid work.

Watterson, of St Peter's Road, Manadon, admitted one count of affray and Wells, of Shell Close, Leigham, admitted one count of religiously aggravated common assault on August 31, 2011.

Kelly Scrivener, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said the male victim arrived at the shop at about 2pm to see a large group of men and women gathered outside the nearby Wild Coyote pub. He added they racially abused him and told him to "go back to his own country".

Miss Scrivener said someone in the group threw a glass object, which smashed on his car. She added the two defendants kicked the door of the shop and Wells scratched the woman's arm. The court heard the mob continued to shout "EDL" and further racist abuse. Miss Scrivener said an unknown member of the group threw a glass which smashed close to her infant son in a car seat. She added Wells and Watterson were pulled away by men in the group.

Wells told police in interview that she believed all Muslims were extremists and if she saw a woman in a burka it would make her angry. She admitted to officers that she organised EDL meetings and had been drinking and taking amphetamine. Miss Scrivener said Watterson, the best friend of Wells, admitted being drunk and aggressive and said she was swept along with the group.

The court heard a statement from the victim which said she still feels "very frightened" walking around the city centre. She said her partner sold the takeaway, because he was too afraid to work so close to the pub.

The judge handed Wells a three-month prison sentence suspended for two years under probation supervision. She must do 200 hours unpaid work and pay the victim £100 in compensation. Watterson was given a 12-month community order under probation supervision with 150 hours unpaid work. She must also pay £100 in compensation to the victim.

Plymouth Herald, 23 February 2013

The Herald also provides an account of the events by the mother who was attacked (referred to as "HK"):

The mob were shouting "Allah is a paedo". The husband said to them he was just trying to do his job, but he couldn't reason with them. I could see they were working themselves up, chanting "EDL". I told him to get into his car as they threw glasses and as I raced back to the shop, telling everyone to get inside, they were all behind me. There was me between the family and the mob. The daughter was shouting "leave my dad alone" and they told her to "**** off you Muslim s**g".

I'd called the police, saying "we're being attacked by a racist mob" – they could hear everything. The men were throwing glasses into the shop. I was screaming at the family to get out the back – I didn't know how long I could hold the door. The family were at the back, crying. They said they didn't want to leave me behind. I phoned the police again and told them to record what they heard, record what happened to us when the mob got in.

HK said when the police arrived Wells and Watterson went in a different direction to the mob. She kept the door shut until police wielding tasers had deployed dogs and moved the mob back to the Wild Coyote pub. As she opened the door, she spotted the pair walking past so she raced to an officer and pointed them out. She said:

"They were swearing and shouting, even when they were taken to the floor. When we went to the police station we all had glass in our clothes. Glass was all over the baby boy. It was terrifying. I've done Human Rights work in conflict zones but this mob were out of control."

EDL News points out that Wells is now involved with the English Volunteer Force, another rabidly Islamophobic far-right group led by former BNP and EDL activist Chris Renton (aka John Sheridan).

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A Conservative councillor has been suspended and is under investigation after allegedly making anti-Muslim comments and sectarian remarks on a social media website, The Guardian has learned.

Chris Joannides's Facebook page contained material comparing Muslim women who wear the burqa to rubbish bags. Another post included sexual remarks in a discussion about a flasher, and a comment that his work as a councillor was getting in the way of his social life.

Joannides is a councillor in Enfield, north London.

News of the incident comes as the Conservative party leader, David Cameron, considers measures to try and increase the low levels of support the party receives from ethnic minority voters. The Conservatives are trying to shed their "nasty" party image and appear more inclusive.

His fellow Conservative councillors decided to suspend Joannides over the comments, which are being investigated.

Over a picture of a woman and child dressed in burqas, with a black bin bag either side of them, Joannides appeared to have written: "I saw her standing there and I told her she had three beautiful children. She didn't have to get all pissed off and threaten me … an honest mistake." In another posting he appears to have "liked" a picture of an Arab woman holding her injured child.

Azad Ali, chair of the Muslim Safety Forum, said: "This is a shocking example of institutionalised and normalised Islamophobia. We expect the Conservative party to take a robust stand against this behaviour and prove that their drive to engage with black minority ethnic communities isn't tokenistic. Further we will follow up with the Metropolitan Police Service and see that full weight of the law is applied."

Guardian, 1 February 2013

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A financial adviser who aimed grossly offensive tweets at Muslims and Pakistanis was told he had "thinking deficiencies and old racist views".

Ricky Lee Davies of St Thomas, Swansea, committed the Twitter offence after watching a television documentary about Muslim extremism.

Prosecutor Jonathan Coombs said Davies, who pleaded guilty to a charge under the 2003 Communications Act, told police he had wanted to get a reaction. Mr Coombs said: "He accepted his friends from ethnic minorities would not be too pleased, but that it was a bit of banter." He said the messages concerned "would seem to be directed primarily at the Muslim community and Pakistani nationality".

Defending, Dan Heard said his client had used extreme language but argued that its effect on recipients was minimal. People who responded to the tweets, he said, "referred to him as 'silly boy' and things of that nature". He said the 20-year-old had no particular issue with any religion or race, and that his tweets had been in regard to extremism, terrorism and poppy-burning.

He said: "What he has tried – but monumentally failed – to do is to enter into a debate. He used ill-advised language and failed to articulate what might otherwise have been a proper debate. And that has effectively reduced itself to name-calling."

Wales Probation officer Sharon Griffiths said Davies had let his anger get the better of him following the documentary. "He has made a concerted effort to increase his knowledge about other cultures," she said.

Swansea Magistrates' Court heard that Davies had a previous conviction when, as a juvenile, he referred to a man with a turban and beard outside Sainsbury's as "bin Laden" during an altercation.

The defendant, of St Leger Crescent, was yesterday handed an eight-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, with a supervision requirement for 12 months. He was also told to do 150 hours of unpaid work and pay £85 costs.

Chairwoman of the bench Chantal Patel said: "You clearly have thinking deficiencies and old racist views."

South Wales Evening Post, 29 January 2013

As we have previously pointed out, Davies tweeted his enthusiastic support for the English Defence League and its leader Stephen Lennon, who he described as a "hero".

The selection of vicious hate-filled comments that we identified from a quick trawl through Davies' Twitter account demonstrates that the defence's claim that he "had no particular issue with any religion or race" and his tweets "had been in regard to extremism, terrorism and poppy-burning" was an outright lie.

Davies expressed his relief at escaping a prison sentence in the following tweet:

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A former hospital worker involved with a far-right political group used Facebook to encourage people to petrol bomb an Indian takeaway at the centre of a major child abuse probe.

Carlisle Crown Court heard how Alan Clarke's reckless comments on the social networking site led to him being sacked by bosses at the city's Cumberland Infirmary.

He admitted using Facebook to collude with others in a way that could have encouraged people to commit criminal damage – namely by attacking the Spice of India takeaway in Botchergate, Carlisle.

Prosecutor Mark Lamberty described how the 27-year-old defendant had read about a police investigation into the systematic sexual abuse of young girls in the city. The man arrested for those offences – and later convicted and jailed for 15 years – was Spice of India's Bangladeshi boss Azad Miah.

Mr Lamberty outlined a Facebook conversation Clarke had with another man on October 4 last year.

One comment posted by Clarke stated: "People think I'm a racist because I'm always having a go at these lot. I think this is a good enough reason, don't you. Just remember this, curry lovers of Carlisle – if you get your takeaway from Spice of India, you are funding this sick [person's] habit of grooming young girls and worse. And if anyone feels the need to smash the place up, I won't stop you. Ha ha!"

Clarke added: "The place needs petrol bombed."

Police acted swiftly, advising staff at the takeaway to close, which they did. Officers then seized Clarke's computer from his Ridley Road home in Currock and arrested him. In his interview, he described himself as a "keyboard warrior."

"He said he knew what he put was wrong, but he was having a rant," continued Mr Lamberty. Clarke admitted being a member of the far right English Defence League (EDL), but insisted he did not intend the restaurant should actually be damaged. He accepted being reckless.

The court heard that Clarke's previous offences included one committed during a football match and causing criminal damage to the Lazeez Indian takeaway on Blackwell Road in Currock.

Claire Thomas, for Clarke, said: "He was at home recovering from a hernia operation and it's clear that he had too much time on his hands." She said he had not realised the seriousness of the position he put himself in.

Miss Thomas said Clarke had been introduced to the EDL through friends he met at football matches but he has no involvement whatsoever in that any more," said the barrister.

She added that as a result of his crime he had now lost his job at The Cumberland Infirmary, where he worked for eight years, and was at risk of losing his home if he could not find a job to pay for the mortgage he had.

Judge Batty told the defendant that, given his political leanings, his Facebook comments had an air of "triumphalism." He added: "Fortunately, people in Carlisle have a lot more sense than you appear to have and people in Carlisle let justice take its course rather than following idiots like you and other such idiots who are involved in the so-called English Defence League."

Judge Batty imposed a 12-month jail term, suspending it for two years; 200 hours unpaid work; and an electronically monitored night-time curfew for the next six months.

The former Spice of India is now called the Raj Mahal and is run by new management which has no connection with Azad Miah.

News & Star, 27 October 2012

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An EDL thug who stormed a peaceful protest before hurling a lit firework has walked free from court.

Anthony Crawford sparked pandemonium when he lobbed the explosive at anti-jubilee protesters as they gathered for a rally in Newcastle city centre.

It landed in the hood worn by Barnaby Drew, from Byker, Newcastle, who was left with burns after it exploded on his shoulder and set fire to his hair. The 19-year-old's pals patted down his body to stop it spreading, and the force of the blast burned a hole in his jumper. He was left partially deafened when the firework perforated his eardrum.

But now, after admitting one charge of assault by beating, Crawford, 22, of Elmway, Chester-le-Street, County Durham, has escaped a prison term after magistrates handed him a 15-week suspended sentence.

And they ordered Crawford to pay his victim £150 in compensation for the terrifying incident. Crawford joined a group of EDL protesters at the Rose & Crown pub, on Newcastle's Newgate Street, for a pre-arranged meeting on June 4.

Later he sparked mayhem when he threw two bottles and the firecracker as trouble flared during scuffles in front of shoppers at Newcastle's Grey's Monument where the EDL and anti-jubilee protesters clashed.

Sue Baker, prosecuting, told Newcastle Magistrates' Court: "He's thrown two bottles of water at the protestors and then a firework which caused minor injuries to Barnaby Drew."

Crawford's legal team told the court he was handed the lit firework before throwing it into the crowd and he had not intended to cause injury.

Crawford, who works two days a week as a volunteer, admitted one charge of assault by beating and one count of using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent to cause fear or provoke unlawful violence.

He was handed two 15-week sentences to run concurrently, suspended for 12 months. He was also ordered to carry out 100 hours' unpaid work and was made the subject of a 12-month supervision order.

Evening Chronicle, 6 July 2012

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