A 42-year-old man who threw a plastic bottle at police during violent anti-migrant protests in Portsmouth has been sentenced to two years in prison.
Del Somerville hurled the bottle at officers and shouted abuse during the demonstration on September 6.
The father of two was the first person to be arrested and sentenced over the disorder, which broke out after a small boat carrying 114 migrants arrived in the city.
Somerville, from Portsmouth’s Paulsgrove area, had previously pleaded guilty to violent disorder.
The court heard that the protest left local residents fearing for their safety. Footage showed Somerville shouting abuse at police officers and telling them to “f***” off.
Wearing a grey top and black coat, Somerville stuck out his tongue at members of the public gallery as he entered the courtroom.
Judge Daniel Sawyer said the sentence should serve as a deterrent to others after further protests took place in the area.
Somerville is also awaiting trial on a separate charge of assaulting a police officer in connection with his arrest on September 11.
Hundreds of people, including right-wing activist Daniel Thomas, gathered at Eastney Marina on the evening of September 6 and into the early hours of the following day after the boat arrived in Portsmouth.
The demonstration later became violent, with protesters attempting to prevent several coaches carrying migrants who had disembarked from leaving the harbour.
Seven police officers were injured and treated at the scene, while Coastguard and Border Force vehicles were damaged, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said.
Del Somerville, 42, of Portsmouth, threw a bottle at an officer and was filmed shouting aggressively at police during the September 6 protest
Hundreds of protesters clashed with police near Eastney beach in Portsmouth after a dinghy carrying 114 asylum seekers was escorted ashore
Seven police officers were injured and treated at the scene, while Coastguard and Border Force vehicles were damaged, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said
During sentencing, Judge Sawyer described Somerville as a “thug”. He said: “Police officers dedicate their lives to protecting the public, regardless of their own views. The very least they can expect is for people taking part in protests to treat them with respect, and for the courts to punish those who assault them.”
Prosecutor Edward Warren said: “This case arises from the violence that occurred on the night of September 6, following the arrival in the country of 114 illegal migrants who had crossed the Channel from France and were diverted to Eastney Marina under escort from the Coastguard and the RNLI.”
Mr Warren continued: “Following an initial peaceful and lawful gathering by local residents, a large number of people assembled on Ferry Road near the marina.
“The protest initially appeared to be spontaneous. However, it later seemed that organised elements, encouraged online by public figures who had shared information on social media and elsewhere, helped draw a much larger crowd.
“Awareness of the protest spread online, prompting more people to gather in Eastney.
“Protests also began emerging in other parts of the area, including Hayling Island and ferry terminals.
‘Hampshire Constabulary declared a major incident during the evening and a significant police presence was deployed, and significant resources were required to maintain public order and to ensure those who had arrived in the country were moved to a secure location.
‘During the evening there were seven recorded assaults on police officers and damaged caused to police vehicles.
‘Other forces were deployed from outside Hampshire to assist and approximately 50 officers from Hampshire and a further 100 supporting officers to assist.’
The court heard local residents had given statements reporting feeling afraid in their own homes while protesters were seen to urinate in their gardens and thousands of pounds of damage was caused to property in the area.
Mr Warren said bricks, stones and bottles were thrown at police and community wardens had been trapped in their cars for five hours during the disturbance.
The prosecutor said at about 11.20pm, Somerville, wearing a khaki hoodie with the hood up, initially motioned to another protester to ‘back off’ from the police line.
He said the defendant then ‘turned to face the police and was seen to throw a small bottle and he has shouted at officers to ‘f*** off’.
‘He remains at the front of the group talking to protesters a short distance from the police line.’
He added that at 1am, Somerville was seen on body-worn video footage ‘aggressively pushing’ through the police line and ‘shouting verbal abuse at police officers’ as well ‘pointing aggressively’ at them.
Mr Warren said Somerville, who lives in a boat at the marina, was tracked to his van by officers on September 11 and is alleged to have assaulted a constable as they attempted to arrest him.
Somerville entered a not guilty plea to this offence and that charge has been referred back to be tried at Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court.
Mr Warren said when interviewed, Somerville ‘said the police were the ones responsible for the violence and he suggests he was struck by a baton multiple times and sprayed with CS gas’.
However, Mr Warren added Somerville ‘accepted throwing the bottle’, and nearly ‘tripped over it and picked it up and threw it’.
He added: ‘He was going to throw it into a bush but was angry and threw it into the air. He said it got out of hand.’
Helen Easterbrook, defending, said Somerville had been on his boat at the marina on the evening of the incident and had gone out to find out what was happening.
She said: ‘Unlike so many of those involved in disorders where people are transporting themselves across the country, he was caught up in it.
‘He was one of the people affected by this, his original involvement was when he came out of the marina to see what was going on. This does not excuse the behaviour he began to undertake.’
She added: ‘He asked police to go back to his place of safety on his boat but he was refused.
Ms Easterbook said Somerville initially attempted to calm the situation down but had thrown a ‘light plastic bottle’ which was not intended to hurt anyone.
She added: ‘He has suffered a number of mental health issues, rebuilding his life multiple times.’
Judge Daniel Sawyer told Somerville: ‘You didn’t simply find yourself caught up in this disorder, this maybe how it started but you made a decision to engage in this behaviour.
‘This was persistent and sustained violent activity. There was widespread violence.
‘This caused distress, disruption, a detrimental impact to the community, cost to the public purse and attacks on public servants.’
He added it is ‘important to distinguish the rights to peaceful protests and offence when people cease to protest peacefully’.
‘Many of those were wearing face coverings adding to the air of intimidation,’ he said.
‘The right to a peaceful protest is an important part of life. Whether a person wishes to protest against immigration, globalisation or climate change, all have the same right to a peaceful protest.
‘Police officers dedicate their lives to protect the public. The very least that they can expect is that those who engage in protests treat them with respect.
‘The community impact of that night’s violence has been profound.’
This is a breaking news story and is being updated.
