Protester was 'pillar of community', trial hears

A man accused of violent disorder at an anti-asylum protest at The Bell Hotel was described at his trial as the "man who runs the local football team" who "went along as a pillar of the community".

Defence barrister Tony Wyatt said in his closing speech that Lee Gower had questioned why he had been pushed by a police officer during the protest in Epping, Essex, on 17 July.

The barrister told Chelmsford Crown Court that the 43-year-old Gower, of Epping, had "every reason to be" at the protest outside hotel, which was the scene of ongoing protests last summer.

Judge Alexander Mills has begun summing up evidence in the case to jurors as the trial continues.

Gower denies violent disorder and assaulting a police officer during the protest and is on trial alongside Phillip Curson, 53, of Upminster in east London, who denies violent disorder.

Wyatt told the court that Gower had been to two protests before the protest on the day in question.

Gower "went along as a pillar of the community" and the defence barrister described him as "the man who runs the local football team".

He said there was no trouble before counter-protesters from Stand Up To Racism turned up.

"This wasn't, you might think, a racist protest," said Wyatt.

"It was a protest about a very specific and very valid issue."

He said police put in a cordon with "no announcement".

The court heard Gower had asked a police officer "why are you pushing me?" and that the force he used was "in self-defence and it was most certainly reasonable".

Wyatt said the defendant kicked out at a police van that nearly hit him, adding: "He had a natural human response.

"I suggest to you nothing you see from this man is violence."

Stefan Bisson, defence counsel for Curson, said in his closing speech that footage showed police "pushing back those local protesters" after counter-protesters arrive.

"You will see there's an elderly man holding a cigarette who's pushed," Bisson told the court.

He said that "in the heat of everything" Curson pushed a police officer, and that he had acted in self-defence and in defence of others.

When Curson kicked out, it "didn't land" and described it as a "theatrical kick", Bisson said.

"He says he didn't intend to hurt him," the defence barrister added.

"It was just a show of bravado."

Prosecutor Sam Willis said in his closing speech that the case was "not about the rights and wrongs of the protests taking place in Epping on the day in question".

"It's also not about the reasons for the protests taking place," he added.

He said the case was about the offences charged on the indictment.

Willis told jurors that they saw in videos that Gower threw an object at counter-protesters, rushed and grabbed things from counter-protesters, as well as grabbed police shields and kicked a police van.

He also told the court that Curson "kicks out at a police officer" and "makes numerous threats of violence towards the counter-protesters".

"For both men, the videos show them being the aggressors and no plausible reason for them to think they were under attack or about to be," he continued.

He said Gower "quite simply wants to get towards the counter-protesters" and "pushes and grapples with police officers trying to keep the two groups apart".

"Both [defendants] appear intent on breaking through it [the cordon] to get to the counter-protesters up the road," he said.

The trial continues.

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