“Teen fined for tweet inciting racist chant at Cheltenham vs Hereford FA Cup game”

“A boy of 17 who used Twitter to encourage football fans to sing racist chants has been fined.

The teenager, from Ross-on-Wye, admitted a public order offence and was issued with the £80 fixed penalty notice by police on Friday.

Hereford United Anti-Fascists

Officers said they were taking action to prevent racist incidents at the Cheltenham Town v Hereford United match on Monday.

A large crowd is expected at the second round of the FA Cup at Whaddon Road.

Supt Rob Priddy, commander of the policing operation for the match, said: “Gloucestershire Police, supported by Cheltenham Town Football club, will do everything we can to identify any individuals or groups that engage in racist chanting.

“Where we have evidence to support an arrest we will do so and the individual risks not only a criminal prosecution but also a Football Banning Order, which would last for a minimum of three years.”

He added: “The vast majority of supporters that come to our games at Whaddon Road are able to enjoy themselves in a safe and respectful environment, but sadly there is a very small number whose behaviour is unacceptable and is not welcomed by the football clubs and genuine supporters.”

Original news article here

Three Counties Antifascists hope that other fans of both local clubs join us in condemning the disgusting racism spouted by this young man. Far-right groups have often used football grounds as areas for recruitment, and as a result we believe that supporter-led anti-racist initiatives are important.  We have good links with a number of Hereford United fans and we’re working on links with some Cheltenham fans. Lets kick racism out of football.

Racist Huntsman Found Guilty of Harassment

Hunt saboteurs association Press Release November 15th 2012

David Lee peters, huntsman of the Ross Harriers hunt, was today found guilty of racially aggrevated harassment and threatening behaviour at Hereford Magistrates Court.  He received fines and costs totalling £3000 and was ordered to pay £200 to the victim of the  abuse.

The convictions relate to an incident from January this year when hunt saboteurs were present to ensure no illegal hunting took place.

Mr. Peters shouted racist remarks about a saboteur to other members of the hunt.  Fortunately he was overheard by an independent witness who called the police.

Mr. Peters conviction comes just weeks after Paul Standen, a supporter of the Ross Harriers, pleaded guilty to assault after punching a saboteur in the face.

Lee Moon, spokesperson for the Hunt saboteurs association,  stated: “Decent people know that racism is completely unacceptable.  The hunting community however appear to be stuck in some kind of time warp where it is still ok to use this kind of disgusting language.  Maybe they would like to join us in the 21st Century  and realise that racism, along with the senseless murder of animals in the name of sport, is something that society no longer tolerates.  We hope the Ross Harriers do the right thing and sack Mr. Peters immediately to show that they do not condone racism”

All Press enquiries:

07774 279133
press@huntsabs.org.uk
http://www.huntsabs.org.uk

Case background

David Lee Peters – Ross Harriers – Racist Scum

Three Counties Anti-fascists would like to send our solidarity and support to the hunt sabs who go out and oppose these animal abusing scumbags, and racists, every week, especially our local comrades in the Three Counties Hunt Saboteurs. Keep fighting the good fight. 

More racism at another local hunt

Yet another local hunt has been accused of racism after followers of the Heythrop Hunt, which hunts in parts of Gloucestershire, were caught making racial slurs on the video below.

This comes after two other recent incidents of racism from the hunt masters of neighbouring hunts.

In January we reported on the arrest of 33-year-old huntsman Lee Peters, of the Herefordshire-based Ross Harriers, for racially abusing a hunt saboteur. Even the Daily Mail picked up on this one, publishing a surprisingly accurate article which you can see here.

Alan Morgan, previous huntsman for the Cotswold Vale Farmers Foxhounds, plead guilty to racial abuse aimed at a saboteur in Gloucestershire in December.  This followed a string of violent incidents at the same hunt. You can see more information on the case here.

3CAFA would like to send  a clear message to the hunts in this region, racism will not be tolerated. You have now put yourselves in the sights of anti-racist activists. We would also like to send our support to those who continue to expose this unacceptable behaviour and stand up to the scum every weekend.

Local fascists terrorist links

In a recent report on ‘radicalisation,’ the Home Affairs Committee warned of the threat posed by extreme far-right terrorism. MPs said, “We received persuasive evidence about the potential threat from extreme far-right terrorism.”

“The ease of travel and communications between countries in Europe and the growth of far-right organisations… suggest that the current lack of firm evidence should not be a reason for neglecting this area of risk.”

Terrorism is not a new or unheard of phenomenon within British fascism. The most noteworthy case happened in 1999, when David Copeland, a neo-Nazi and former British National Party member, killed 3 people and injured 139 in nail bomb attacks in London.

The aftermath of the bomb blast at the Admiral Duncan pub in Soho. The bomb was part of a campaign against black people and homosexuals by neo-Nazi David Copeland.

More recently, sinister but thankfully less deadly attacks have been thwarted. In 2007 a British People’s Party regional organiser, Martyn Gilleard, was jailed for 16 years after police found him in possession of explosives, live ammunition and 39,000 child porn images. In 2010, Ian Davison and his son Nicky, both of County Durham, were jailed for producing a chemical weapon. The ‘Aryan Strike Force’ members had manufactured enough ricin to kill 9 people.

But far-right terrorism can also been found closer to home.

Bep (left) and his friend – also a South African white-supremacist – Arthur Kemp

One of the founding members of the Herefordshire British National Party branch is a convicted terrorist. South African, Lambertus Nieuwhof (or ‘Bep’ as he is more commonly known), is a previous member of a white supremacist group that planted a bomb in a mixed-race school in 1992. Bep, who was part of Eugene Terre’Blanche’s Afrikaner Resistance Movement, apparently received a 12 month suspended sentence for his part in the bomb plot.

In 1994 he moved to Britain and became involved in far-right politics, setting up and administering a number of BNP websites. Since his exposure he seems to have dropped out of political activity, at least locally. Instead he has spent his time running website-hosting services, ‘Vidronic Online’ and ‘Noisy Dinosaur,’ from his home in Peterchurch, Herefordshire.

Martin Roberts – ex-Worcester BNP

Previous candidate, organiser and treasurer of the Worcester BNP branch, Martin Roberts, also has some unsavoury terrorist links. Roberts, who now lives in Potter Heigham in Norfolk, was once described as ‘the Godfather of Worcestershire nationalism’ by his colleagues within the local group.

Last year he was emailed by Norwegian ultra-right terrorist and murderer, Anders Breivik. Breivik, who killed 76 people, had sent out his manifesto to contacts before carrying out his attacks.

Roberts had also run a web-shop selling tacky far-right merchandise, called ‘Calder Designs.’ Items he sold included badges bearing the names and logos of neo-Nazi groups ‘Combat 18’ and ‘Blood & Honour.’ The website was hosted by Nieuwhof’s company, Noisy Dinosaur.

Racism at Ross-on-Wye hunt

Lee Peters, huntsman with the Herefordshire-based Ross Harriers hunt, was arrested on Saturday after racially abusing a hunt saboteur who was present to try and stop illegal hunting from taking place.

The Hunt Saboteurs Association said, “As the Harriers left their meet at Penny Farthing, Aston Crews, Mr. Peters shouted racist remarks about a saboteur to other members of the hunt. Fortunately he was overheard by an independent witness who called the police.”

Only weeks ago Alan Morgan of the neighbouring Cotswold Vale Farmers Foxhounds, based in Gloucestershire, plead guilty to racially abusing another hunt saboteur and was fined £100 and ordered to pay £200 compensation to his victim.

If hunts in the region think it’s acceptable to use racial abuse and intimidation as a weapon then they’ll soon be attracting the attention of not only animal rights activists and the police, but also anti-racists and anti-fascists.

The Hunt Saboteurs Association press release on the incident is here.