Woman accused of leading Bristol riot says swearing at police 'probably wasn't her best move'

A protestor accused of starting a riot in Bristol has denied being violent towards the police, a court heard.

Jasmine York, aged 26, is accused of leading an attack on Bridewell Police Station on March 21 last year - after a protest against the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Court Bill turned violent.

York, of Paintworks in Arnos Vale, faces one charge of rioting and another of arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered or property damaged. She denies any wrongdoing and is on trial at Bristol Crown Court.

She was filmed leading a crowd in chants of "ACAB" which stands for "all cops are b******s" and 'f*** the police', the court heard.

York was also filmed allegedly helping to put an industrial bin up to a burning police car to add more fuel to the fire.

During the disorder, York was bitten by a police dog and also received blows from a police baton.

York told the jury she thought she was attending a vigil for Sarah Everard, who had been murdered by a police officer earlier that month.

“I thought Sarah had been let down by the police, which scared me and I was marching in solidarity,” she said.

The demonstration turned violent after protesters had marched from College Green towards the police station.

Giving evidence, York said she led chants of ‘f*** the police’ after uniformed officers – who she described as looking like “stormtroopers” – became violent.

“I saw a lot of pushing and shoving and I didn’t understand why they had batons… I was engaged in the moment,” she said.

“I might have got swept up, maybe I was being dramatic.”

She said the atmosphere changed when extra police officers arrived in riot gear.

“I was at the front because I didn’t understand why they were showing up like a fight was going to ensue,” York said.

Under cross-examination, York denied she had wanted to move the crowd forward because they wanted to get to the police station.

Sarah Regan, prosecuting, asked: “How does shouting ‘f*** the police’ de-escalate the situation?”

York replied: “It probably wasn’t my best move. At that point people were throwing stuff and I think I should have been better at calming things down.”

She insisted she had pushed the bin towards the burning police car to create a barricade – not add fuel to the fire.

Miss Regan asked: “You wanted that bin alight as you had seen the first bin alight – you wanted to provide more fuel to keep the fire alight?

“You were shouting to those police, ‘we will burn your f****** cars’. That’s actually what you were doing, you were burning the f****** cars.”

York denied this and said she did not think the police vehicle would explode as the fire was out.

Miss Regan asked: “You incited that crowd that day to use violence against the police. You used violence against the police both outside Bridewell police station and later in All Saint’s Street?”

York replied: “I was never violent against the police.”

Miss Regan said: “And you purposely pushed that bin into the car.”

“Absolutely not.” York replied.

“When you did all of these things, not one was about Sarah Everard?” Miss Regan asked.

York replied: “I was protecting the safety of people.”

The trial continues.