Demonstration aftermath: three charged, one cautioned

The Norwich Evening News follows up on the four arrests:

Scott Maddox, 22, of Beecheno Road, Norwich, was charged with possession of an offensive weapon, namely a form of baton. He has been bailed to appear at Norwich Magistrates’ Court on November 30.

 

Darrell Copeland, 45, of Dorchester Ave, Bletchley, Milton Keynes, was charged with using threatening words or behaviour, and has been bailed to appear at Norwich Magistrates’ Court on November 26.

 

Matthew Berryman, 28, of Astell Road, Norwich, was also charged with using threatening words or behaviour, and has been bailed to appear at Norwich Magistrates’ Court on November 27.

 

A 44-year-old man from Telford, Shropshire, who was arrested on suspicion of assault was later cautioned for a public order offence.

According to an anonymous poster on the Hope Not Hate Norfolk blog, Scott Maddox was with We Are Norwich.

The four arrests

The Norwich Evening News reports a total of four arrests taking place during today's demonstration:

12 noon – 22-year-old man from Norwich arrested in Theatre Street on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon.

1.20pm – 44-year-old man from Telford, Shropshire, arrested in Castle Meadow on suspicion of assault.

3.12pm – 45-year-old man from Bletchley, Milton Keynes, arrested on Gaol Hill on suspicion of committing a public order offence.

3.15pm – 28-year-old man from Norwich arrested in Prince of Wales Road on suspicion of committing a public order offence.
 

Still no confirmation as to which group each of them belonged to.

More from the comments boxes...

Yesterday the Evening News ran a short piece on the EDL march and We Are Norwich counter-demonstration. For me, the most interesting comments come from people who are critical both groups:

"timmy_two_sheds": The EDL are just a bunch of wanabee hard men.football hooligans or morons stuck in the past.All bomber jackets and shaved heads.Generally too stupid to be dangerous. The UAF to be fair are'nt much better.Brainwashed students,middle class lefties or muslims with a chip on their shoulder.

"nrg": My usual Saturday supping ruined by two groups of idiots . 

 I also notice that "dave123" (see here) has weighed in; that chap gets around. Rather rudely he tells "nrg" to "get a real life" following his comment.

We Are Norwich vs the EDL

We Are Norwich held its first public meeting on Wednesday 24 October. Its speakers included representatives of Chapelfield Mosque, Black History Month, PCS Union and the Green Party, along with Reverend Simon Wilson.

Martin Smith, who has a history of involvement with loony far-left organisations such as Unite Against Fascism and the Socialist Workers Party, appears to have been the lead speaker.

EDL members discussed the possibility of "infiltrating" the meeting:

The image comes courtesy of Hope not Hate, which does not identify the Facebook page that the discussion took place on.

Note the final comment from Julia "Angelcynn" (of Steadfast Trust fame), which ekes yet more comedy from the notion that anyone who criticises the EDL must, by definition, have poor personal hygiene. Keep at it, Julia, that one never gets old.

And here we have an exchange from the EDL East Anglian Division's page:

Aside from the curious mockery of the people at the meeting simply because some of them are elderly, notice how quickly these EDLers tar them as "UAF". Thanks to Martin Smith's presence We Are Norwich is a little too close for comfort with UAF, granted, but it seems a stretch to assume that every single one of these people is a UAF member.