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Five charged with racial and religious abuse after protest

Five charged with racial and religious abuse after protest

Categories: Latest News

Monday April 14 2014

BBC News and Local Berkshire report on five arrests made by Thames Valley Police in connection with offences committed during an ‘apparent’ protest in West Berkshire on Friday 28 February.

Disorder broke out when a group of 15-20 people gathered in Thatcham, some of whom had previously indicated they were members of the English Defence League (EDL).

The local paper notes the charges brought against some of the individuals as concerning ‘racially/religiously aggravated intentional harassment/ alarm/distress’ while the BBC notes only the ‘racial aggravation’ element of the charges.

Julie Anne Worthington, 35, was charged with two counts of racially/religiously aggravated intentional harassment/alarm/distress and two counts of using threatening /abusive/ insulting words/behaviour to cause harassment/alarm /distress.

Four other men have also been charged with one count of racially/religiously aggravated intentional harassment/alarm/distress and one count of using threatening/abusive/insulting words/behaviour to cause harassment/alarm /distress. They are Edward Scovell, 43, Robert Brammer, 50, Gary Hazel, 38, and Rory Rowbotton, 22.

All five have been bailed to appear at Newbury Magistrates’ Court on 1 May.

Rowbotton has already served a sentence for committing racially aggravated harassment after dumping a pig’s head outside a mosque in Newbury, Berkshire in 2012.

Similarly, Gary Hazel, has been involved in a previous campaign urging restaurants in Bournemouth to clearly label halal meat saying “A lot of people confuse the issue with race and religion.

““That’s a distraction. For me, it’s animal cruelty, and the way they [are] slaughtered.”

 

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