Balaclava-clad Middlesbrough rioter who abused police 'tarred as a racist'
A rioter who screamed and swore at a line of riot police and ignored their repeated demands for him to move away has been jailed.
Jamie Govan, 26, was caught on police bodycam footage shouting at the police on Linthorpe Road during the Middlesbrough riots: "You're protecting them whilst they rape little kids." Govan told his barrister he went to the riots on August 4 because he was "unhappy about people arriving in our country on small boats."
Teesside Crown Court has heard that Govan hid his face with a balaclava, but was easily identifiable because of the distinctive yellow and black top he wore, as he approached a line of police who were blocking protestors from spreading onto Clarendon Road.
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Govan, of Hartington Road in Stockton, pleaded guilty to violent disorder, before he was due to stand trial. He has no previous convictions.
On Monday afternoon, Govan's barrister Matthew Moore-Taylor said that he had attended the protest "...through naivety; he had fallen victim to malign influences online. He was subject to misinformation about those who arrive on small boats. The only way he could express his opinions was to attend that march."
Govan was captured swearing at the police and struggling with officers as they arrested him. Mr Moore-Taylor said that Govan's attendence at the Middlesbrough riots was "politically motivated- not racially motivated."
Govan's barrister said that inmates at Durham prison chant "EDL" at him and that he has been "tarred as a racist." The court heard that Govan is now trying to address his drinking and that he is in a "fragile mental state" whilst he is being held on remand.
Judge Laird told Govan that he accepted that, "you were not racially motivated, that your attendance was prompted by an ideological objection to illegal migration."
Handing Govan an 18-month prison sentence, the judge told said: "You were aggressive, but you did not strike anyone or throw missiles. You repeatedly approached police lines and shouted and swore.
"You were repeatedly told to move back. Your behaviour was so aggressive you were arrested, and you struggled violently." Govan will serve 40% of his sentence, before he is released on licence.
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