Weymouth house husband jailed for protest despite wife’s efforts to ‘coax him away’

A house husband has been jailed for 18 months for violent disorder for taking part in a “far-right” protest in Weymouth despite the efforts of his wife to coax him away.

Father-of-three Ian Vetier, of Weymouth, pleaded guilty to the offence at Bournemouth Crown Court in relation to the demonstration on August 4.

Richard Tutt, prosecuting, said that the 36-year-old played a “prominent” role among the group he described as the “Enough is enough” group which had gathered to confront a larger Stand Up To Racism group.

He described how police officers feared for their safety as they attempted to control the protest group who were shouting and swearing aggressively at them.

He added that the police attempted to stop the “far-right group” as it attempted to march towards the counter-demonstration despite such a march not being “planned or agreed” with the police.

He said that an officer “noticed two males pushing and shoving against one of the police sergeants who was then pushing back and the two males were trying to get past the cordon”.

He added: “One of those males was identified as Ian Vetier and he is noticeable as he is one of a few males who was shirtless and was holding a Union Jack flag in his right hand.”

He added: “Mr Vetier can be seen and heard shouting ‘It’s a free country mate’, as well as other racist comments and chants.

“He then walked back into the main protest group.”

Mr Tutt said that about two hours later Vetier was seen arriving in a car where he confronted officers in the cordon for taking photographs of the car, shouting at them aggressively.

Richard Martin, defending, said that Vetier had shown remorse for his actions and had pledged not to attend another demonstration in the future.

The court heard that Vetier was a “house husband” who had previously been convicted of three counts covering seven offences of dishonesty between 2013 and 2016.

Mr Martin said: “He puts it down to getting caught up in the heat of the moment, your honour knows this was a highly emotive day, people are entitled to assemble for lawful protest, what he seems to have done is fallen foul of the hostile animus there.

“He got caught up in it and realises that was a very wrong thing to do.”

Judge William Mousley KC told the court that Vetier’s wife could be seen in video footage shown to the court trying to “coax him away from his prominent position”.

Mr Martin responded: “She was supportive of him but she is the one left carrying the consequences of what her husband did.”

Sentencing Vetier, Judge Mousley said: “You were part of a group of 30 or more males causing public disorder on the Weymouth esplanade with members of the public not involved would have been nearby, holidaymakers and the like.

“Police were trying to prevent that disorder from escalating, the group of which you were a member were loud, threatening, abusive and threatening including making racist remarks.

“All that created a frightening atmosphere, violence was being threatened by the group. There was no lawful reason for the behaviour, doubtless some of it was fuelled by alcohol.”

He added: “It’s right to say you yourself did not use any violence towards the police or anyone else but your presence and your role served only as encouragement to others to do so.

“You were prominent and remained at the front of the group for significant parts of the incident, you were shouting at police, abusive and threatening.”

Kate Brown, chief crown prosecutor with CPS Wessex, said: “The disorder seen in Weymouth was a true blight on our region and will no doubt have disturbed residents of this otherwise peaceful community.

“The right to protest is enshrined in law, but that right does not extend to verbally abusing and physically attacking police officers who are there to ensure everyone’s safety.

“The behaviour seen will not be tolerated and the Crown Prosecution Service will continue working with our partners in policing and the wider criminal justice system to make sure those who bring violence to our communities face the full consequences of their actions.”

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