A 67-year-old man has been jailed after making derogatory remarks about Islam and chanting “you’re not English any more” at police during a London demonstration last month.
David Notley, of Buckhurst Hill in Essex, was jailed by the Inner London Crown Court this week for 20 months after pleading guilty to causing religiously aggravated distress and taking part in violent disorder, the BBC reports.
The court heard that Notley had joined in with the crowd to chant “you’re not English anymore” at police officers outside Whitehall and sang “Who the f*** is Allah?”
During the alleged “far-right” demonstration, which was organised hastily in the wake of the mass stabbing that left three young girls dead in Southport, 121 people were arrested amid an outbreak of violence.
The broadcaster reported that bottles and cans were thrown at police during the demonstration.
While it was not alleged that Notley directly engaged in attacks on police, prosecutor Alex Agbamu told the court that he had confronted police with a “fighting pose” and had helped push another protestor towards police, which “precipitated a physical confrontation involving the police [and] demonstrators.”
According to Essex Live, the 67-year-old claimed that he did not engage in violence towards police and denied intentionally pushing anyone. He said that he was already in London at the time of the demonstration and was “swept up” in the protest.
Judge Freya Newbery said that the protest “caused serious disruption” and had a “serious detrimental impact on the community at the heart of our parliamentary democracy.” She also informed the court that Notley was previously jailed in 2009 for drug smuggling and that his involvement in the protest had violated his license release conditions.
Notley is among over 1,000 people so far arrested in connection with the widespread unrest and riots that broke out across the UK since the Southport stabbings.