First person to appear in court over disorder in Yorkshire sobs in the dock
The first person to appear in court following the outbreak of disorder in Yorkshire sobbed in the dock as they denied affray.
Curtis Coulson, 30, wiped away tears with a tissue throughout his 20 minute-long appearance at Sheffield Magistrates Court on Monday.
He denied one charge of affray and was told he will go on trial at the same court on September 20. The charge relates to an incident which was caught on CCTV and shown to District Judge James Gould.
Coulson, of Water Slacks Close, Sheffield, is alleged to have approached a woman with a stick, which had come from a broken placard, outside Sheffield City Hall, and waved it in front of her in a threatening manner while masked.
Flanked by one security guard, the defendant became even more upset in the glass-fronted dock when Judge Gould refused him bail and remanded him in custody.
Dressed in a zipped-up black water-proof jacket, he called out to his mother, who was in court, as he was led from court. He will next appear for a hearing on August 12.
An anti-immigration protest was planned for Sheffield City Hall on Sunday as part of a series around England, many of which turned violent. But social media appeared to show that only a handful of protesters turned up in the city centre where they were met by a much larger anti-fascist demonstration.
Large scale violence broke out in nearby Rotherham, where at least 12 police officers and police dogs were injured after a night of “thuggery” in which 750 people protested outside a hotel.
Anti-immigration demonstrators threw planks of wood at officers and sprayed them with fire extinguishers, before smashing hotel windows to gain access to the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham, South Yorkshire Police said.
South Yorkshire Police Assistant Chief Constable Lindsey Butterfield branded the disorder caused by some the “far-right and anti-immigration” protesters outside a hotel housing asylum seekers “a disgusting display of thuggery”.
Ms Butterfield said an initial group of 250 people had arrived on Sunday morning, with an additional 500 joining them shortly afterwards.
She said the police believe they “held far-right and anti-immigration views”. “At the same time, a large crowd began to gather in Sheffield city centre, diverting a large number of force resources,” Ms Butterfield added.
Facing the biggest challenge to his premiership so far, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer addressed the nation on Sunday, telling perpetrators they would “regret” engaging in “far-right thuggery” and promising those involved in unrest that they would “face the full force of the law”.
While Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the courts are on “stand-by” to ensure “swift justice”.