Man who told protest police ‘I hope your kids are next’ jailed for 25 months

Mark Bowen made the comment to police officers on Bristol Bridge.

Mark Bowen was jailed at Bristol Crown Court on Wednesday (Avon and Somerset Police/PA) (PA Media)

A man who told police officers at a protest in Bristol “I hope it’s your kids next” has been jailed for 25 months.

Mark Bowen, 40, of Burton, Wiltshire, pleaded guilty to violent disorder following the incident on August 3.

Bristol Crown Court heard Bowen had consumed up to 10 pints of cider before taking part in the anti-immigration march.

Police bodycam footage captured him telling police: “Shame on you, you horrible c****, I hope it’s your f****** kids next mate.”

The footage showed Bowen in a crowd of people who were shouting “we want our country back” and behaving aggressively to officers, who were being pelted with objects.

Robert Yates, prosecuting, told the court how the group then moved to the Mercure Hotel in Bristol, which is used to house asylum seekers.

He said “two or three” officers on bicycles were trying to keep the anti-immigration protesters from reaching counter protesters, who were stood outside the hotel.

“They had become somewhere overwhelmed,” Mr Yates said. “The defendant was at the forefront of that.

“The genuine fear in the officers’ voices as the situation becomes more and more volatile and they call for support.”

Officers could be heard urgently calling for “more units” on their radios as the group of anti-immigration protesters advanced on them.

Representing Bowen, Giles Nelson said his client had been homeless for seven years and does not have social media.

Referring to the comments made to police, Mr Nelson said: “He is mortified by that. He is deeply disgusted with himself.”

Bowen told police he believed he had been attending a football celebration, but Judge Moira Macmillan said she did not accept this was true.

Sentencing Bowen, the judge said police dogs and horses were attacked during the rally, with police officers also assaulted.

“You were swearing and you were being highly abusive to the police,” she told Bowen.

“You said to them ‘You horrible c****, I hope it’s your f****** kids next mate’. It was a despicable thing for you to say.

“You became part of the angry mob.”

The judge commended the officers on bicycles policing outside the hotel, wearing bike helmets but no riot gear, who she said were approached by a “violent mob”.

She told Bowen: “Your claim to the police that you didn’t intend anyone to be intimidated by your behaviour is pretty hollow and unconvincing.”

Two other men involved in the unrest, Dominic Capaldi, 34, and Daniel Russell, 47 – both ground workers from Bristol, were also jailed at the court on Wednesday.

They were the first people to be sentenced following the disorder in Bristol.

Capaldi was jailed for 34 months for violent disorder after throwing objects towards officers in the city’s Castle Park, as well as outside the Mercure Hotel.

Russell, who also admitted violent disorder, was jailed for 32 months for kicking a black man during the protest and kicking at counter-protesters blocking the entrance to the hotel.

In a community impact statement, Chief Inspector Vicks Hayward-Melen said people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds had been left in “fear and terror following the outpouring of racism” in recent weeks.

She added: “Some have been stocking up on food, children are not being allowed to go and play in the park.

“The children are scared and asking why they are being targeted.”

She said those in the Muslim community feared “mosques will become fortresses rather than open community centres”, with charities reporting that people are feeling vulnerable from the “visceral and blatant racism”.

Judge Martin Picton, jailing Capaldi, described how disinformation had been circulating – particularly on social media – following the killing of three young girls in Southport on July 29.

He told the court: “Right wing extremists and racists have been intent on provoking violence directed at innocent members of our community and the police whose role it is to protect them.

“The disorder has been serious and widespread. In particular refugees and asylum seekers have been targeted, as have some of the premises where they are housed whilst being processed by the Home Office.”

The judge said anti-immigration protesters who went to the hotel were targeting the asylum seekers living there, which caused “considerable fear”.

He described how police were “clearly outnumbered and calling for assistance” and showed “remarkable bravery in trying to keep people safe”.

Judge Picton added: “Whilst our law properly protects the right of peaceful protest, and does not seek to criminalise the holding of views even where those may be abhorrent to the vast majority of the community, what it does not and will not tolerate is resort to violence and threats.”

Speaking after the case, Jon Reilly, the deputy chief constable of Avon and Somerset Police said the sentences passed by the judges sent a clear message.

“These abhorrent people will not win. They will not divide this city – a city rich with diversity,” he added.

“We will continue to arrest and bring to court those involved in this shameful incident, whether they took part in violent acts or crimes motivated by hate, and they too will pay a heavy price for their conduct.”