Yellow vest activist James Goddard denies assaulting journalist

The yellow vest activist James Goddard has denied charges of assaulting and threatening a journalist.

Goddard, 29, appeared with a small group of supporters at Manchester magistrates court on Wednesday morning.

Goddard is accused of common assault and using threatening or abusive words and behaviour with intent to cause fear or provoke unlawful violence against a photographer at a yellow vest event in Manchester city centre on 9 February.

Goddard represented himself during the short court hearing where he pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Addressing the judge from the dock, he said: “If I had committed an offence I would’ve been arrested at the spot but I wasn’t arrested at the spot, was I? Because there was no offence committed.”

Goddard’s bail conditions had prohibited him from Manchester city centre, from within the M25, and from the Nottinghamshire constituency of the former Conservative MP Anna Soubry after he was arrested for heckling her with “Soubry is a Nazi” outside parliament in January.

However, the judge, John Temperley, agreed to partially lift the ban on Goddard entering Manchester city centre. He remains prohibited from taking part in any planned demonstrations and was released on bail ahead of a trial in Manchester on 25 June.