No action after St George's Day violence in Brighton (From The Argus)
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No action after St George's Day violence in Brighton
2:50pm Monday 19th November 2012 in News By Anna Roberts , Crime reporter
Violence broke out at the March for England in April
No one has been prosecuted over the violent St George’s Day protest clashes in Brighton.
Sussex Police identified a series of suspects following witness appeals in The Argus after trouble flared on April 22 when March for England protestors met with Unite Against Fascism counter-demonstrators.
Bottles and other missiles were thrown at police and marchers in Queen’s Road and Church Street.
Now the force has admitted while officers managed to identify some of those they believed had committed offences, there was not enough evidence to prosecute them.
One man who was arrested on suspicion of using threatening behaviour on the day of the protests has now had the case against him dropped.
Alexander Weir, of Gratwicke Road, Worthing, had the charge against him discontinued at Brighton Magistrates’ Court on November 8 after the Crown Prosecution Service abandoned the prosecution.
A Sussex Police spokesman said: “Several of the five people whose photographs were published in May have been traced but there was insufficient evidence to enable them to be prosecuted.”
March for England earlier this month revealed it was planning a repeat event in the city for St George’s Day next year.
A spokesman for Unite Against Fascism said: “We firmly believe that the wider public in Brighton oppose the presence of a racist march in our city, and wish to demonstrate against it.
“It is our commitment to do all we can to ensure Brightonians can protest safely without threat of violence or arrest from the far-right or the police, which was the case for the majority of people on April 22.
“We hope that the police will now join us in this commitment.”
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