A man has been sentenced to 12 weeks imprisonment for his part in the disturbance which occurred during the English Defence League and Unite Against Fascism protests in the city centre.

Ryan Herbert (06/04/87) of Bland Road, New Parks, pleaded guilty at Leicester Magistrates Court last month to criminal damage to property and to a Section 4 public order offence. He was sentenced last week.

The incident happened on October 9, 2010, in Humberstone Gate East when damage was caused to windows at Fabrika Bar at the Arts Centre.

Leicestershire Constabulary news report, 17 March 2011

A factory worker punched a police officer after he was arrested for a drunken racist rant when he said all immigrants should be shot, a court heard.

Ian Logan remembers very little about the incident when he assaulted the officer, who tried to arrest him following his racist diatribe, which also championed the English Defence League, Darlington Magistrates’ Court heard yesterday.

Alison Nunn, prosecuting, told the court the police officer had arrived in North Road at 11.20pm on a Sunday night, after being called to the area to deal with another matter.

The officer had seen the 48-year-old staggering across the street, Mrs Nunn said: “He hears the defendant shout out, “EDL, EDL, get the f***ing immigrants out. You lot are f***ing useless, what the f*** are you doing about all these b******s? Control immigration, you should shoot them all.” Logan then shouted more racist obscenities, the court heard.

When the officer, who thought Logan was drunk, tried to arrest him, he pulled the officer’s arm and then punched him in the face, the court heard. The officer reached for his pepper spray, which failed to activate, and Logan pulled him by his body armour and made aggressive comments, forcing the officer to “knee” Logan. Logan continued to be physically and verbally aggressive until he was put into a police cell.

Logan, of Thompson Street West, Darlington, pleaded guilty to assaulting a police office and racially aggravated intentional harassment, alarm or distress. He was fined £190 for each offence and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

Northern Echo, 16 March 2011

Logan must regret punching the police officer. Otherwise he’d have the full support of Spiked, who would indignantly defend his right to free speech.

Last week, a man was hauled up before Doncaster Crown Court for using “offensive” language. As punishment, he was banned from attending or helping to organise any demonstration, meeting or gathering held by his political organisation or even visiting its website for 10 years. In addition, he was banned from travelling by train anywhere in the UK and from entering a mosque, meeting room, school or cultural centre….

So for unemployed 38-year-old Shane Overton, the UK has effectively become an open prison for the next 10 years, one in which he can no longer play any role in the (perfectly legal) activities he was previously engaged in with his political organisation, the English Defence League (EDL)….

On his way home following an EDL demo in Newcastle, he came across an Asian family at Doncaster rail station. Taking “exception to them speaking in Urdu”, he “used racist abuse and told them to ‘get out of our country'”. Overton certainly deserves to be challenged and chastised for his disgusting language and contemptible treatment of the family.

But while he reportedly scared the family’s children, there is no suggestion he used violence in the attack. He didn’t throw punches at these individuals; only words. If we hope to live in an open and free society, feeling free to say what we think – even if it causes offence to some – is of primary importance….

Of course, the fact we’re talking about “fascist” EDL members – as many leftie organisations will tell you – seems to mean that they shouldn’t be granted the democratic freedoms of right-thinking, middle-class liberals steeped in New Labour’s multiculturalist agenda. The members of this largely white working-class group are regarded as relics from a bygone era, Neanderthals needing to be re-educated or kept isolated from the rest of society, by force of law if necessary.

Despite the severe, illiberal punishment inflicted upon him by the courts, Shane Overton’s case has hardly registered as a blip on the radar of the national press. Perhaps if Overton had been a member of Unite Against Fascism, Hope Not Hate, or another such group there would have been outcry from people defending his civil liberties and trying to get his case noticed.

But there has been no outcry. Because left-leaning groups disagree with what Overton said, then not a word is spoken in his defence. Working-class “thugs”, it seems, don’t deserve a right to free speech. Indeed the “anti-Fascist” publication Searchlight has (ironically) shown just what an authoritarian bent it has, by claiming that it will snitch to the state if it sees him breach his ASBO: “Searchlight will be watching closely to make sure Overton stays away from future EDL events.”

Patrick Hayes at Spiked, 14 March 2011

Over at the EDL’s Facebook page its members have warmly welcomed Spiked’s support.