A woman, her daughter and her daughter’s boyfriend have admitted taking part in violent far-right disorder earlier this month in Middlesbrough.
Amanda Walton, 52, who was walking her pet chow chow, threw a missile and damaged a car. Her daughter Megan Davison, 24, jumped on the roof of a car. Davison’s boyfriend Jake Wray, 23, stopped cars at a junction demanding: “Are you white? Are you English?”
On Thursday, the three defendants made separate, short appearances at Teesside crown court. Wray appeared by video link from HMP Nottingham and pleaded guilty to violent disorder.
At a previous hearing prosecutors said he was arrested for stopping vehicles at a road junction and questioning drivers about their ethnicity. Motorists were only allowed to pass his checkpoint if he was satisfied they were white, the court heard.
At the previous hearing, the prosecutor Michael Embleton said: “He was heavily involved in the disorder and plays a leading role in my view.”
Judge Francis Laird KC said he would deal with Wray, who was subject to a suspended sentence at the time, on 18 September, and remanded him in custody.
The judge said: “You have pleaded guilty to violent disorder. I need to know a little more about you and particularly how you have progressed on the current suspended sentence order.
“Obviously as you were told when that order was imposed you are at risk of having that sentence activated as well as any sentence that is appropriate for this offence of violent disorder.”
Wray’s partner, Davison, and her mother, Walton, appeared in the dock where they pleaded guilty to violent disorder. Davison burst into tears as Laird explained she would be remanded in custody until her sentencing hearing.
The court was told she was the mother of two children, aged five and six, who were being looked after by an aunt.
At a previous hearing, video footage was shown of Davison jumping up and down on a car roof while her mother tugged at a wing mirror. The court heard that Walton could be seen hurling a stone towards a property.
The pair, both remanded in custody, were told they would be sentenced on 23 September after reports have been prepared.
At Manchester crown court, an Oldham grandmother was told she was facing jail after admitting violent disorder outside a hotel housing asylum seekers where her daughter was pushing her grandson in a pushchair.
Vanessa Smith, 42, admitted the same offence as her daughter, Nevey Smith, 21, during trouble outside the hotel in Newton Heath, Manchester on 31 July.
Nevey Smith earlier this month admitted violent disorder after being caught on camera throwing liquid from a bottle towards police officers who were trying to maintain order. She was also seen to be pushing her one-year-old son around in a stroller during the trouble.
Vanessa Smith, who like her daughter has no previous convictions, appeared for sentence but this was adjourned for the preparation of a pre-sentence report.
The lawyer Joshua Bowker told the court Smith had caring responsibilities for a daughter, 11, and son, 16, who both had health problems.
Judge Patrick Field KC, granted bail for the defendant, but warned her: “The judge who sentences you will have all sentencing options open to him or her. That must include a custodial sentence, so there must be no misunderstanding.”
