Wolverhampton pro-Tommy Robinson protester locked up for 18 months

Andrew McLean, aged 20, was sent to a young offenders institution after admitting violent disorder during the protest where missiles were thrown and police were attacked in central London.

McLean, of Field Street, was the youngest of a group of five people who were sentenced for the offence today and was locked up for 18 months.

He told police he was protesting for the first time because he thought Robinson had been wrongly incarcerated for exposing paedophile grooming gangs after seeing posts on Facebook.

Danny Grealey, Keith O'Sullivan and Robert Sandford were all jailed after pleading guilty, while Kate Beveridge was spared immediate prison after being told by a judge to think about the example she is setting her children.

'Disgraceful violence'

Beveridge, a 35-year-old mother of a two-year-old son and a 14-year-old daughter, threw a one litre plastic drinks bottle at police when she was on the protest in central London in June 2018, while others hurled cans, traffic cones and various makeshift missiles during an afternoon of "disgraceful violence" in the capital.

Prosecutor Aska Fujita told Southwark Crown Court police had become "overrun" by disorder in the capital, with thousands of people packing Whitehall to demand former EDL leader Robinson's release from prison for contempt of court.

Footage from a police camera showed flanks of officers with batons raised coming face to face with Free Tommy Robinson protesters, some of whom lobbed bottles, cones and other missiles.

Chants rang out during the protest, while snarling demonstrators could be seen on camera shouting "shame on you" at the police, adding "you're not English any more" to the tune of the hymn Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer.

At one point, the officers were so outnumbered they were forced to retreat to sanctuary at Great Scotland Yard, just off Whitehall, and away from the worst of the violence, the court was told.

'It turned ugly'

Ms Fujita said: "It turned ugly. The police have been constantly abused, missiles were thrown at them, they have been punched, kicked and had barriers thrown at them.

"The number of defendants does not reflect the actual occurrence of violence - police have tried incredibly hard to identify the people involved. However, out of a crowd of hundreds and thousands, it is impossible to identify everyone."

The prosecutor described how fists were raised by protesters, an act which showed many were "ready to engage in violence".

She added: "The only thing police were trying to do is try to control the crowd. It was just that they were overrun by the number of protesters.

"Each of the defendants were involved in serious acts of violence, including using weapons that could have caused serious injury."

Ms Fujita said "more than 20" police officers were injured, although nothing more serious than cuts and bruises.

She added: "That was due to sheer coincidence."

Tourist bus 'taken over'

Sandford, 47, of Bolton Road in Hungerhill, Greater Manchester, was jailed for 14 months after he was among those to "take over" a bus full of tourists before hurling a traffic cone.

He handed himself in to police after he spotted himself on a Sky News broadcast of the violence, the court was told.

O'Sullivan, 40, of Holmstead Way in Luton, Bedfordshire, was jailed for 23 months after he threw traffic cones and a metal barrier.

His counsel, Timothy Banks, told court his client "should have known better".

Grealey, 43, of Ebberns Road in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, was handed an 18-month sentence after he admitted throwing a traffic cone at police.

The court heard he did not originally intend to join the protest, but had wanted to go to the zoo instead.

Beveridge, from Singleton in Lancashire, wiped away tears as the judge said she was spared immediate custody because she was the sole carer for her children.

She was handed a 15-month jail term, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to carry out 200 hours' community service.

Judge Deborah Taylor said: "You should think what sort of example you are setting your own children and the children at the primary school by the actions you carried out that day."

Her counsel, Sheryl Nwosu, said: "She expresses not only sorrow but embarrassment and shame. She does not align herself with what went on that day.

"She acted on intoxicated impulse ... this is a one-off."

The five defendants were the first of 14 defendants due to be sentenced for violent disorder during three hearings at the court.

Robinson was released from Belmarsh prison in south-east London a fortnight ago, two months into his nine-month sentence for contempt of court.