A woman who fought for CCTV coverage at a Llanelli mosque where Muslims claim to have suffered years of abuse said the situation has now improved.
Anne Stevens-Bevan, of Llanelli’s Ethnic Minority Help Association, fought tirelessly for improved security at the mosque on Station Road after people going there to pray said they had been abused.
For a Europe without fascism, racism and xenophobia
Unite Against Fascism national conference
Saturday 2 March, 10am to 5pm
TUC Congress House, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3LS
Unite Against Fascism’s conference this Saturday (2nd March) will bring together a broad coalition of anti-racist and anti-fascist activists, faith communities, trade unions and political parties set out a strategy to defeat the rise of fascists and neo-Nazis in Britain and across Europe.
Fascists throwing firecrackers at counter-demonstrators during last October’s protest
Police have charged 13 people after a demonstration at the site of a new mosque in Sunderland turned violent, as far-right groups including the EDL clashed with local Muslims and anti-fascists.
Around 200 people attended the pre-planned demonstration on St Mark’s Road in Millfield on Saturday, October 6, 2012, where a former council transport depot is being converted into a mosque for up to 150 Pakistani Muslims.
The English Defence League, Scottish Defence League and Sunderland Anti-Fascist Coalition were among the protesters. Continue reading
EDL News profiles Andrew Eccles, who stood for the UK Independence Party in the Bury council elections last year. Eccles had previously been an activist in the British National Party, and at one point was selected as their candidate for the Hyndburn constituency in the 2010 general election. In the event he stood down and did not contest the seat, but he did stand as a BNP candidate for Hyndburn council.
A woman who confronted an Asian man during an English Defence League demo and assaulted two police officers when she was arrested has escaped a jail term.
Karen Elizabeth Marsden, 40, joined in offensive chanting as part of the EDL protest in Dewsbury town centre last June, Kirklees magistrates heard.
The demo was a protest against alleged Muslim paedophiles and Marsden approached the Asian man with a leaflet and suddenly hit out at him. Marsden was arrested and police had to use CS spray to subdue her.
Marsden had denied threatening behaviour and assaulting two police officers but was convicted after a trial.
Marsden, of Whitwood Mere, Castleford, was warned to expect jail but magistrates imposed an 18-month community order with a supervision requirement. She was ordered to pay £260 towards costs of £620. Magistrates rejected an application for an anti-social behaviour order.
The English Defence League has vowed to return to Cambridge in bigger numbers – despite a low turnout and several arrests.
Its rally on Christ’s Pieces on Saturday ended early after only about 40 members turned up. More than 400 officers were drafted in to police them and a counter-demonstration by Cambridge Unite Against Fascism which had more than 500 people in its ranks, according to police.
Far right outside High Court
A high court judge has banned protests by groups such as the English Defence League being held within 500 metres of the home of the radical Islamist cleric Abu Qatada.
Mr Justice Silber said the injunction issued on Monday was necessary because the protests, which have been held on a weekly basis, had terrified the cleric’s family, particularly his children, the youngest of whom is aged 11.
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.
Hundreds of protesters marched through Cambridge to oppose a rally by the far-right English Defence League (EDL) which saw a major police operation launched in the city.
The EDL rally on Christ’s Pieces ended early after only about 40 activists turned up, and they were heavily outnumbered by the Unite Against Fascism (UAF) counter-demonstration, which was attended by at least 500 people.
EDL News reports that an English Defence League member named Diane Scrimshaw – one of the few in Essex who has remained loyal to the EDL leadership – one of the few in Essex who has remained loyal to the EDL leadership – has been boasting on Facebook about the damage she caused to a property in Westcliff-on-Sea owned by the Jaafriya Islamic Welfare Centre.
(The building was allegedly used as a mosque without planning permission, and has been the target of protests by the National Front, the British National Party and Britain First.)
First Scrimshaw appealed to her “edl friends” to inbox her as she had “something planned” for later in the week. She followed this up by posting a photograph of a flattened wall outside the Jaafriya Centre’s building and added: “We went down Southend illegal mosque (just a shame the wall fell down PMSL).”
One of her Facebook friends commented “Vandal!”, to which Scrimshaw replied: “I admit it Richard lol.”
