Muslim Convicted in Rioting Should Have ‘Risen Above’ Far-Right Racism, Says Judge

A Muslim man has been sentenced to 20 months in prison for throwing missiles at far-right protesters who had thrown alcohol at him after the judge told him he should “rise above their simply obnoxious racism”.

Amer Walid, 24, of Central Park Towers in Plymouth, was seen throwing cans back at far-right rioters on four occasions in the south-west city on Monday 5 August.

Far-right rioters tried to confront an anti-racist rally for several hours, throwing missiles and fireworks. The clash was one of several across the country as racists attacked mosques and residential areas, wrongly attributing the murder of three children in Southport to a migrant.

Walid, who has no previous convictions, said he became angry after a bottle or can of alcohol was thrown at him, as he doesn’t drink.

The court heard he shouted Allah Akbar, in reaction to racist slurs being chanted by far-right rioters.

Sentencing Walid, Judge Robert Linford said he accepted he had not been “looking for trouble” and that far-right rioters had been throwing missiles and making “deeply offensive racist chants”.

“What you should have done was rise above their simply obnoxious racism”, he said.

“You were capable of doing that but you didn’t, instead what you did was throw four missiles of one sort or another at the group opposite.”

Walid was sentenced alongside three far-right rioters.

John Cann, 51, got three years for launching a firework or flare towards the counter-protesters before falling off his mobility aide. He told police he thought the protest would “kick off” because “an immigrant had killed some girls”, but said he was not racist.

Following his arrest, Cann, who has a long list of previous convictions, told police that immigrants are costing the country too much. In sentencing, Judge Linford talked of the cost of his combined 357 months in prison. “That, Mr Cann, is what you’ve been costing this country,” he said.

Ryan Bailey, 41, was given 30 months for throwing missiles at the anti-fascist counter-protest and was heard shouting “immigrants not welcome here”.

Gary Harkness, 51, was abusive towards officers and made a threat of violence. He was given 12 months.

The government has emphasised “strong policing and swift prosecutions” to stop the rioting. More than 1,000 people have been arrested for their involvement in disorder. Many have now been sentenced, including children as young as 12.

This is a similar response to the rioting in 2011 following the killing of Mark Duggan, an unarmed Black man, by police. Under Keir Starmer – then director of public prosecutions – the justice system went into overdrive to mete out punishment to quell the disorder. All-night court sittings were criticised as “chaos on stilts” by one magistrate, while MPs and justice campaigners said that many of the sentences handed out to those who were “caught up” in disorder were too harsh. Starmer said he believed that the speed with which rioters were brought before the courts was more significant than the length of sentencing.

Following the recent bout of racist rioting, the government has avoided mentioning toxic anti-migrant rhetoric which helped cause the riots and to which Labour has contributed, instead taking aim at far-right influencers and Elon Musk, owner of X/Twitter.

And rather than change the tone of discussion around migration, the government is set to continue with more of the same. According to a BBC report, “the government has avoided discussing immigration, again for fear of suggesting any of the unrest was justified. But in time they are likely to remind voters that the prime minister believes many people do have legitimate concerns about legal and illegal migration.”