'Bloodthirstyguttersnipes' jailed after campaign of race violence
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Two racist ringleaders who led a violent neo-Nazi campaign against asylum-seekers were given stiff jail terms yesterday by a judge who described them as "bloodthirsty guttersnipes".
Two racist ringleaders who led a violent neo-Nazi campaign against asylum-seekers were given stiff jail terms yesterday by a judge who described them as "bloodthirsty guttersnipes".
Ben Povey and Christopher Sirrs mowed down an Iraqi asylum-seeker, sending him flying into the air "like a rag doll" and shattering his leg in three places. Later Povey, when asked about the attack, said to his girlfriend: "They should all die."
It was just one of a serious of violent scenes which brought Hull's racial tensions to melting point in the stifling heat of July last year, turning the city into a battleground. Gangs clashed in the streets, brandishing lead pipes, baseball bats, Samurai swords and planks of wood studded with nails. Cars were set alight with petrol bombs.
Jailing Povey for 19 years and Sirrs for 14 and a half years, Judge Tom Cracknell described the sentences as a deterrent to others. "You are a bloodthirsty guttersnipe," he told Povey. "You have exhibited neo-Nazi tendencies like those shown by some groups that have infected the body politic of this country.
"I regard Sirrs and Povey as very dangerous young men," he added. "They have not shown one moment of remorse about their conduct."
The pair had joined the Hull Cruise Club - a group which spent its evenings driving souped-up cars around the streets. Sirrs, 30, was adept at manipulating younger members of a club which until then was described by police as a "nuisance rather than a menace". Along with Povey, 24, he recruited a hard core of thugs bent on violence.
Detective Inspector Mark Smith, the officer in charge, said: "Sirrs is just a thug who thinks he has a brain. He likes to have people around him, likes to have muscle, and he seems to command respect among this element. [He] wouldn't think twice about just petrol-bombing your house or car."
Trouble flared last July when a group of immigrants began driving their cars around the same area as the club. A minor clash led to a series of battles with cars being rammed or smashed up with baseball bats.
In mid-July Povey smashed the windscreen of a Vauxhall car driven by immigrants while Sirrs threw a petrol bomb at the vehicle. They pursued it with Povey swinging a Samurai sword from the open sunroof.
A few days later, Salar Mohammed, 32, and Aras Abdullah Hama-Kareem made the mistake of parking their car in the area before going out to a nightclub. They returned in the early hours of 20 July to be confronted by a gang hurling racist abuse because they believed they were among a group of Kosovans who had damaged the club's cars. Mr Hama-Kareem was hit with a baseball bat and the two fled up the street, with Sirrs and Povey in pursuit.
The car being driven by Sirrs, with Povey as passenger, crossed the central reservation and ploughed into Mr Mohammed, sending him flying into the air, before driving off. Other members of the gang stayed to abuse the Iraqi with racist taunts as he lay there injured and in pain. "Since last year I've been frightened and don't like going out. I have to look over my shoulder every time I cross the road," Mr Mohammed said after the case.
The attack led to further tension as members of the local immigrant community clashed violently with the gang members.
"There was a lot of tension between them and ethnic minorities who had the perception that the police were not doing anything about these attacks," said Chief Superintendent Paul Cheeseman, Divisional Commander for Hull.
Sirrs and Povey had also tried to intimidate witnesses. Povey fire-bombed a car belonging to the family of a witness, David Newlove, while both telephoned him to get him to change his statement.
But their efforts were to no avail and yesterday Povey was convicted of causing Mr Mohammed grievous bodily harm with intent by a jury at Hull Crown Court. He was also jailed for making petrol bombs, intimidating witnesses, arson, violent disorder and possession of an offensive weapon.
Sirrs, 30, was jailed for grievous bodily harm, which he admitted, and convicted of possession of a Samurai sword and nail-embedded pickaxe handle, making an explosive substance, violent disorder and perverting the course of justice.
Mr Cheeseman said: "Mark Smith and his team went above and beyond any normal effort and worked very, very hard to gather evidence on this case. We hope this sends a clear message that this kind of racist violence will not be tolerated."
Also jailed were Dean Bangs, 22, of Hull, who received 18 months for racially aggravated common assault; Steven Moody, 24, also of Hull, who was sentenced to seven years for arson and making explosives and Paul Evans, 25, of Beverley, who received two and half years for violent disorder. All three pleaded guilty to the charges.