Three men who went to a counter-protest armed with weapons at the height of the summer riots have been spared a jail sentence.
Adam Boukhaf, 22, Mohammed Wako, 22, and Edward Savvas, 19, turned up to an asylum protest in York city centre armed with dumbbell bars and a pair of armoured motorcycle gloves on 7 August.
Prosecutor James Holding told York Crown Court the three men went to a planned demonstration outside an apartment block housing asylum seekers.
He said that protesters and counter-protesters were “mostly peaceful, in good spirits and engaging with police on patrol in the city centre”.
However, at about 8.30pm, an officer in a marked police vehicle on the Fishergate loop drove past the Barbican centre and spotted two men, Wako and Boukhaf, “acting differently to others gathered at the demonstration”.
They were “away from the crowd”, not mingling with others and when the officer drove past, they “turned to face a wall”.
The officer drove around the loop road and before she returned to the same spot, a member of the public contacted police to report “two black males, one with a skinhead and dark clothing” and one who had dreadlocks.
The witness was concerned because Wako, who had the skinhead, appeared to have “some type of handle” sticking out of his waistband.
Just before 9pm, the officer approached the two men in Fawcett Street and when she asked them what they were doing, Wako said he was just “getting some fresh air”.
Another officer searched a raised flowerbed near where Wako had been loitering and found a short, black dumbbell bar “with nothing attached to it”.
An officer who searched Boukhaf found a pair of armoured motorcycle gloves with “significant and firm padding over the knuckles”.
“The officers thought it was strange because it was a warm summer’s day and Mr Boukhaf didn’t have a motorbike with him,” said Mr Holding.
Wako and Boukhaf were then joined by Savvas who was also searched. He was also found to have a dumbbell bar matching the one found in the flowerbed. The weapon was found inside his waistband or the front pocket of his jumper.
“He said it was for his own protection,” added Mr Holding.
Never been in trouble
All three York men were arrested and quizzed by police. Wako said that Boukhaf and Savvas had been to his house and they went out onto the streets after they heard that “something was happening near the Barbican and wanted to see what was going on”.
Wako, a professional boxer, denied carrying an offensive weapon. Boukhaf said he didn’t realise that the motorcycle gloves had any padding around the knuckle area.
Savvas said they had gone to the protest “to align their voices with the counter-protesters” and in support of asylum seekers.
Police searched Wako’s house and on the floor of the living room they found 12 circular, metal weight discs and screw clips for dumbbell bars but the bars themselves were missing.
“CCTV showed the three defendants making their way to the city centre on foot and Mr Wako can be seen with a dumbbell bar seemingly pushed through a loop on his belt,” said Mr Holding.
The three men were initially charged with conspiring to commit violent disorder, but this allegation was later dropped as the prosecution said there was “no evidence to support that”.
They were each charged with carrying an offensive weapon in a public place.
Savvas, of Murray Street, pleaded guilty to the offence at the first opportunity but Wako and Boukhaf maintained their innocence right up until Thursday when they pleaded guilty before their trial got underway.
They appeared for sentence on Friday after being remanded in custody since their arrest in August.
Defence barrister Laura Addy, for Boukhaf, said her client, of Eboracum Way, had never been in trouble before and described him as a “very well-mannered” young man.
She said he was seven years’ old when he settled in York with his family and found work in early adulthood.
She said that neither Boukhaf nor his two co-defendants were at the protest “to start violence”.
“They were there to observe, being young and nosy,” she added.
“They took some weapons along in case they were attacked.”
She said Boukhaf’s long-term aim was to join the Royal Navy and that any jail sentence over three months would scupper that “dream”.
She said that all three defendants had served the equivalent of a six-month jail sentence which was the maximum for such an offence.
Glenn Parsons, for Savvas, said his client had no previous convictions and character references spoke of a “very diligent and hard-working young man who has a bright future ahead of him”.
He said neither Savvas nor his two friends had any intention of “stirring up any unrest whatsoever”.
“They made the foolish decision of taking these weapons with them and they paid a heavy price, losing their liberty,” he added.
He said that “thankfully, the white heat of the summer disturbances” had now passed and there was no longer a need for deterrent sentences or “to make an example of any of these individuals”.
He said that Wako, of Walmgate, came to the UK from Ethiopia aged 15 and didn’t speak a word of English.
“He taught himself English and was training to be, and actually was at the time of his arrest, a professional boxer who has had three bouts,” added the barrister.
“His hopes and dreams for the future were to become the first Ethiopian boxing champion.”
He said that any criminal conviction would have to be reported to the Boxing Board of Control.
Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, said the three defendants had made a “silly mistake”.
“They weren’t rioters; they weren’t aggressive,” he added.
“They were not charging around, shouting, being part of a disturbance. They just idiotically took weapons to the protest in case they were attacked.
“They are not in the league of others I’ve dealt with for this summer’s civil unrest. They have been locked up for far longer than anything I could lock them up for.
“Each of them has worked hard in their own way and they’ve got bright futures.”
He added: “I want to make it plain for the public: these men were thoroughly investigated and there was no evidence to support that they were in any way conspiring to commit violent disorder or were part of any organised group.
“They have each served the full sentence that I could possibly pass and so it would be a walk-out if I passed a prison sentence.
“But to have a prison sentence on their record would prevent one of them serving his country in the Royal Navy and badly affect the other two as well, and I don’t think that’s justice.”
For those reasons, the judge decided to hand each defendant a 12-month conditional discharge.
In August, 18-year-old James Martin was jailed for over two years after he waved an England flag and shouted at police outside an Islamic centre in Scarborough during the summer protests.
The teenager, of Riggs Head, Scarborough, pleaded guilty to possessing an article, namely firelighters, with intent to damage or destroy property, resisting a police officer and causing racially-or-religiously-aggravated harassment, alarm or distress. He had no previous convictions and worked as an apprentice bricklayer.