A ‘belligerent’ protester faces jail after he took to the streets following the murder of Henry Nowak and threatened police while armed with a makeshift knuckleduster.
Daniel Frost, 44, wrapped a rope with a carabiner around his arm to form a ‘handmade knuckle duster’, claiming it was a dog lead, before telling police ‘come and get it’, a court heard.
Frost also launched two chairs and a bin at police during the protest, which he described as a ‘big party’.
The father-of-two, who attended Tuesday’s protest wearing a camouflaged mask, told the officers to arrest him, boasting that if they did he ‘would be home in four hours’.
Vickrum Digwa is seen lying to police as he tells them Henry Nowak ripped off his turban in a racist attack. He also points to his eye, claiming it has been injured by the teenager
Riot police armed with plastic shields face off with protestors in Southampton this week
An image issued by the Crown Prosecution Service shows the eight-inch ceremonial dagger used by Digwa
But he was remanded in custody after pleading guilty to violent disorder and possessing an offensive weapon and will now be sentenced on Wednesday when he will likely be jailed.
He has 25 previous convictions for 55 offences Southampton Crown Court heard when he appeared there on Monday.
The previous offending included four instances of public disorder, possession of a blade, burglary, robbery and GBH. He was previously handed a six-year prison sentence.
Public anger boiled over this week after bodycam footage was released showing police handcuffing Mr Nowak 18, after his killer falsely accused him of a racist attack.
In reality, he had been stabbed repeatedly with a religious blade by knife-obsessed Sikh man Vickrum Digwa, 23, who was jailed for his murder on Monday.
Siobhan Linsley, prosecuting, said that in addition to local protesters such as Frost and the so-called ‘Southampton Patriots’ group, there were ‘many individuals who had attended from outside the area having been called to attend on social media by far-right influencers such as Stephen Yaxley-Lennon’.
She said: ‘Significant disorder broke out with participants acting extremely aggressively towards the police, shouting continuous abuse and throwing makeshift projectiles such as bricks, chairs and bins at them.
Ms Linsley continued by saying: ‘The defendant can be seen to throw two plastic chairs and a bin towards the line of PSU officers, although none made contact.
‘The defendant somewhat ostentatiously wraps the rope around his arm and the clip around his hand forming what the observing officers feared to be a handmade knuckle duster.
‘In response to hearing this, the defendant said it was a dog lead but repeatedly invited the officers to come and take it from him.
‘He then told them that it will take four of them to remove it from him and that if they tried to do so, ‘these lot will f*** you right up, come and get it’.
‘Once crowds finally dispersed after 11pm, the defendant was seen by officers who were still maintaining a police cordon in the area walking down Belmont Road.
‘He was still wearing the same facial covering and the rope was hanging around his neck.
‘He told officers again that it was a dog lead but when asked where his dog was he told officers to f*** off.
‘He was extremely belligerent and aggressive towards officers who were asking him why he was in the location and were trying to ascertain if he was present at the earlier disorder.
‘He refused to provide his details unless he was arrested.’
She said he told officers had done nothing wrong and was ‘happy’ to be arrested as ‘he would be home on bail within four hours after being given a cup of tea and some food’.
‘In his police interview, he initially denied being present at the scene of the disorder before describing it as a ‘big party’,’ she told the hearing on Monday.
‘He denied throwing the bin and chairs, saying he merely dragged them and that he could do what he wanted. Throughout the interview he was agitated and called the interviewing officer a ‘gaslighting bitch’.’
Francisca Da Costa, in mitigation, said: ‘There was a four-year gap in his offending and there have been peaks and troughs in the offending of the individual.’
Judge William Mousley KC, said: ‘It was an incident involving widespread damage on property and directed towards the police.
‘It may be that I need a view of the whole incident as a starting point.
‘I am going to adjourn your sentence until Wednesday.’
Matt Styler, 50, of Orange Grove, Gosport, Hants, was also due to appear at Southampton Crown Court today charged with assaulting a police officer but refused to attend – as the hearing’s date had been moved forward.
He will now appear for a plea hearing on June 26 and if he pleads not guilty a provisional trial date has been set for November.
On June 2, 11 police officers and one police dog were injured as a violent protest over the death of Henry Nowak erupted on the streets of Southampton.
Frontline officers sustained blows as they received an onslaught of missiles from angry protesters in Southampton.
The force – which has received widespread criticism for arresting dying student Henry – said it arrested two people at the demonstration which turned ugly.
However 20 people have now been charged for events at the protest.
The protest left neighbours ‘terrified’ as protesters gathered outside their homes and will be left ‘out of pocket’ after their cars and houses were damaged.
Debris was left strewn across streets in the Portswood area of Southampton.
The ‘Justice for Henry Nowak’ protest started outside the central police station in Southampton, Hants, with far-right activist Tommy Robinson among speakers who addressed the crowd.
Hundreds of protesters then marched to the area where the murder took place, and police held them back as they tried to get into the street where Digwa’s family lives.
The fury from protesters raged on late into the night, with hundreds still causing damage as it got dark.
Volunteers took to the streets on the following morning to clear up the debris that had been left.
Over 150 people staged a second protest on June 7 outside of Portswood Police Station calling for an ‘end to two-tier policing’.
A large crowd gathered outside the police station in Southampton and took the knee in the street as part of their anti-police demonstration.
Protesters held a three-minute silence in memory of Henry.
