A leader of the English Defence League who was described as a “political prisoner” after being jailed for violence at a march had already been placed on the sex offenders register for downloading indecent images of children, The Timescan reveal.

The far-right group launched a campaign to free Richard Price, co-ordinator of the West Midlands division of the EDL, after he was jailed last month for violent behaviour. But Price, 41, had been convicted in June 2010 of making four indecent images of children, and possessing cocaine and crack cocaine. That conviction followed an earlier arrest in 2009 for public order offences believed to have been connected with EDL marches. Police were understood to have seized and analysed his computer, leading to the discovery of sexual images of children that he had downloaded. His home was also searched and the drugs were found.

Price admitted four counts of making indecent images of children and two charges of possessing cocaine when he appeared at Birmingham Crown Court. He was banned from owning a computer for a year, given a three-year community supervision order and ordered to sign on to the sex offenders register for five years.

Price, from Quinton, Birmingham, and Collum Keyes, 23, also from Birmingham, were among 12 people arrested when they surged through police lines during a protest in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in May 2010. When that case came to court in December, Price admitted using threatening behaviour. He was jailed for three months and given a ten-year Criminal Anti-Social Behaviour Order banning him from attending marches outside Birmingham. Keyes, who admitted disorderly conduct, was fined £150.

When Price was jailed, EDL members launched a campaign urging supporters to write to the Prime Minister and MPs to try to “win justice for Richard Price, EDL”.

The Aston Villa supporter, who has also been linked to football hooliganism, was even likened by his supporters to a modern-day John Bunyan, the Puritan Christian preacher and author of Pilgrim’s Progress who was jailed for continuing his sermons without the permission of the established Church in the 1600s.

But today’s revelation that one of the EDL’s leading members has been convicted of sex offences will come as a huge embarrassment to a group that has struggled to shrug off its reputation as a new version of the National Front.

In recent months, particularly following the political demise of the British National Party, the EDL has begun to attract more support. Its leader, who had previously used the alias Tommy Robinson, was traced by The Times and gave his first interview using his real name. Stephen Lennon has vehemently denied that the group he started in Luton, Bedfordshire, is racist, saying that it has even set up a gay and lesbian division and given a prominent role to a Sikh supporter opposed to Islamic extremists.

Supporters of the EDL had claimed that Price became a political prisoner after he, along with Keyes, was banned from organising, controlling or travelling to any open-air protest outside Birmingham for ten years. It was the first time a Criminal Anti-Social Behaviour Order, sought by Thames Valley Police in conjunction with the National Domestic Extremism Unit, had been issued to a demonstrator connected to the EDL.

Last month, a database of EDL supporters was published on the internet. Hackers had attacked the group’s database of those who had made donations to the EDL and people who had bought clothing from its merchandise wing.

Times, 4 December 2011

Read the defence of Price by Stephen Lennon (“Tommy Robinson”)here. According to Lennon, “Mr Price has no idea what these photos are and how they where [sic] on his computer.” Yeah, right.

You’ll note, by the way, that “Tommy Robinson” claims that “although Pricey is a trusted member, at no time has pricey ever been a leader of the EDL”. This is the same “Tommy Robinson” who just seven months ago wrote: “The EDL has only this Leadership, just for the record….Myself, Trevor Kelway, Marshy, Jack Smith, Joel Titus and Richard Price. We are the earliest founding members.”

Almost 80 far-Right extremists are trying to claim for whiplash injuries after a coach crash – when there were only 25 people on board the vehicle and just 57 seats.

Supporters of the English Defence League have been accused of attempted insurance fraud after dozens sought compensation for neck injuries.

The claims were lodged after the coach carrying members to a rally was in a collision in which it sustained minor damage. Driver Christopher Cartwright said he would be amazed if any of those on board were hurt, adding: “There was not much more than a scratch on the back corner.” But days after the accident during a journey from Gateshead to Preston last month, the claims for injuries allegedly caused by the crash began to flood in from EDL supporters.

Coach firm bosses said only 25 people were on the vehicle, but more than three times that many claims had been made. Maria Caris, of Caris Coaches in Gateshead, said she is considering legal action amid fears that EDL members are trying to cheat her company. She said: “They must think we’re idiots. There are 78 claims in so far and the phone is still going with people asking for our insurance details. They are all saying they were on the coach.”

The rally in Preston ended in violent clashes with the police, who arrested 14 people for public order offences and drunk or disorderly behaviour. Mrs Caris said: “These ‘whiplash injuries’ could have been caused when they were fighting with the police in Preston.”

Daily Mail, 27 December 2010

But what else can you expect from the EDL? After all, their leader Stephen Lennon told an EDL protest in Peterborough earlier this month that Muslims make up 10% of the population, when the real figure is around 3%. Maths clearly isn’t the EDL’s strong point.

As for Caris Coaches, some of us might think they brought this on themselves. The moral of the story is – don’t hire out transport to ignorant racist hooligans with criminal records.

Two murderers of a vulnerable Lincoln man had links to the far-right English Defence League, according to police.

Daryll Jones, 17, and Mark Jackson, 21, were two of the top targets in Lincolnshire Police’s attempts to ban people from the Sincil Bank area on Lincoln City match days. They were identified by football intelligence officers along with ten others in Operation Argyll. As reported in the Echo, this operation aims to use civil football banning orders to stop people hanging around with suspected troublemakers.

But the cases against Jones and Jackson, of Yarborough Road, Lincoln, were put on hold after they were arrested on suspicion of killing football enthusiast Shaun Rossington. Asperger’s sufferer Shaun, 21, of Dunkirk Road, was found to have suffered more than 40 injuries. He was punched, kicked and stamped on during the attack on grassland, off Searby Road, on June 3.

Jones and Jackson were found guilty of his murder, along with two others, at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday.

This is Lincolnshire, 22 December 2010

The English Defence League staged a protest in Reading today (Thursday) in support of a man arrested after hanging a St George’s flag outside a mosque.

Around 20 members of the controversial campaign group came from across the South East to demonstrate outside Reading Magistrates’ Court monitored by a heavy police presence. Among them was co-founder Tommy Robinson, who toldThe Chronicle: “Our argument is with militant Islam. What’s far right about protecting women’s rights and gay people’s rights? The problem is the teachers of Islam, it’s got nothing to do with your colour. It all comes back to the Koran.”

Inside the court 37-year-old Tilehurst man Ronald Peterson was on trial for religiously aggravated harassment. The court heard he went to the partially built mosque in Oxford Road, west Reading, on May 30 to protest over the way its planning application was handled by the borough council. Peterson, with two other men, draped the St George’s flag on a fence, posed for pictures and chanted “E, E, E.D.L” and “England”.

Witness Urfan Azad, 32, told the court he was in the nearby Reading Tea House and went outside after hearing the chanting. He said he dialled 999 because he was concerned the situation could escalate, and added: “My concern was the flag needed to be taken off the fence because it might be seen by Muslims as a religious symbol. I felt upset about the whole incident. I’m British myself, I was born in Reading. It’s made me feel a bit socially excluded.”

Police arrived on the scene within minutes and, without warning him or giving him a chance to move on, arrested Peterson on the spot. Sgt Lee Barnham said he spoke to Mr Azad, and added: “He was offended by the use of what he considered to be a religious cross against the site of worship. It was clear he was upset and felt intimidated. I was satisfied an offence under the public order act had been committed.”

Peterson, who described the mosque as an “eyesore” and “monstrosity”, told the court he was unhappy because it had not been built in the required time but instead had planning permission re-granted and was given council funding. Peterson denied being a racist but said he had a problem with the ideology of Islam. He added: “Go and see countries that are run by that ideology, it’s oppressive.”

District Judge Andrew Vickers reserved his verdict and the case was adjourned until January 13.

Reading Chronicle, 23 December 2010