{"id":1004298,"date":"2023-02-24T16:50:15","date_gmt":"2023-02-24T16:50:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thecanary.co\/?p=1649549"},"modified":"2023-02-24T16:50:15","modified_gmt":"2023-02-24T16:50:15","slug":"four-kill-the-bill-defendants-have-been-sentenced-to-nearly-eleven-years-between-them-this-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2023\/02\/24\/four-kill-the-bill-defendants-have-been-sentenced-to-nearly-eleven-years-between-them-this-week\/","title":{"rendered":"Four Kill the Bill defendants have been sentenced to nearly eleven years between them this week"},"content":{"rendered":"
This week, Bristol Crown Court sentenced four defendants to nearly 11 years in prison between them. Police arrested all four for their role in Bristol’s 21 March 2021 Kill the Bill<\/a> demonstration.<\/p>\n Judge Patrick – who has become infamous in Bristol for handing out brutal sentences to the Bristol ‘riot’ defendants – sentenced Dominic Gillett to four years and eight months in prison. Dominic had pled guilty to ‘riot’. Joe Paxton and Indigo Bond received sentences of 27 months and 20 months respectively. Indigo and Joe were both found not guilty of riot in 2022 by juries, but had offered guilty pleas to the lesser charge of violent disorder.<\/p>\n Charlie Milton received 26 months for violent disorder.<\/p>\n On Friday 24 February, a demonstration in solidarity with the defendants was held outside Bristol Crown Court. Demonstrators chanted:<\/p>\n Our passion for freedom is stronger than your prisons! On 21 March 2021<\/a>, officers from Avon and Somerset police attacked demonstrators with batons, and deployed horses and dogs against the protest. In footage from the night<\/a> police officers can be seen repeatedly hitting people over the head with their riot shields<\/p>\n The protest was against the draconian Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts (PCSC) Bill, now enacted into law. It took place just after the brutal rape and murder<\/a> of Sarah Everard by serving police officer Wayne Couzens, and the mood was both angry and defiant. The police’s brutality toward the crowd was the final straw, and the demonstration became an anti-police uprising. When the police attacked, the crowd fought back.<\/p>\n By the end of the evening protesters had smashed the windows of Bridewell Police Station, and several police vehicles were in flames.<\/p>\n The Crown Court has so far imprisoned at least 32 people for their role that night, and in the demonstrations that followed. On top of that, one person is currently on remand. Their combined sentences total over 96 years in prison. Ryan Roberts was given the longest stretch so far \u2013 a massive 14 years. These 32 Kill the Bill prisoners are among an increasing number of people imprisoned in relation to political demonstrations. At least 54 people are reportedly serving time<\/a> in the UK for their roles in protests and direct action.<\/p>\n Almost all of the defendants were initially charged with riot, the most serious charge<\/a> in English public order law. Riot carries a maximum sentence of ten years in prison, and has historically been used fairly rarely<\/a> outside of Northern Ireland<\/a>. The riot charge – for example – was not used<\/a> against most of those<\/a> arrested in the UK’s 2011 uprisings in London and elsewhere. On that occasion, the state opted to prosecute the majority of people for the lesser charge of violent disorder.<\/p>\n But in recent years, riot has been increasingly used by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). For example, last year\u00a018 people were imprisoned<\/a> for riot after a confrontation with police broke out at a wake in Swansea.<\/p>\n Many of the people now in prison went out to demonstrate against the PCSC Act because it would threaten their way of life. The Act targets the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller<\/a> (GRT) community by allowing police to arrest people for residing in a vehicle\u00a0 without the landowner’s permission, and even to confiscate their homes.<\/p>\n Dominic Gillett – who was sentenced to over 4 years this week – had previously lived in a vehicle. Indigo Bond comes from a Traveller background too.<\/p>\n Both Dominic and Indigo had joined the protest partly because of how the law would affect people living in vehicles.<\/p>\n Dominic’s barrister told Bristol Crown Court on Tuesday that:<\/p>\n He\u2019d been living in a caravan before, and felt threatened by the Bill.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nFrom a demonstration to an uprising<\/h2>\n
Massive sentences<\/h2>\n
\n<\/strong><\/p>\nProtecting a way of life<\/h2>\n
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