Man admits violent disorder at anti-migrant protest

A man has admitted to throwing a bottle towards a police line and swearing at officers during an anti-migrant protest in Portsmouth.

Del Somerville, 42, pleaded guilty at the city's crown court to violent disorder after the overnight protest at Eastney Marina on 6 September.

He was the first person to be arrested over the disorder, which saw hundreds of protesters gather after a boat carrying about 120 migrants was brought ashore at nearby Eastney Beach.

Somerville, from Paulsgrove, is due to be sentenced on 24 September.

Portsmouth Magistrates' Court was told during his first appearance on Saturday that he was accused of swearing at officers and throwing a bottle towards a police line.

Prosecutor Lucy Paddick had told the hearing that during the protest Somerville was an "active participant in the disorder and demonstrated hostile and aggressive behaviour towards police".

Body-worn footage showed him approaching a police cordon in an "intimidating manner" and throwing a bottle directed at officers, she said.

Representing him at magistrates' court, solicitor Jennifer Hall had told the hearing "he hadn't set out to be involved in this matter" and had a boat moored in a marina where he spends three nights a week "being peaceful".

"There was a crowd of people sitting around the marina, they were on the fringes of the protest," she said.

The solicitor said police locked the marina, meaning Somerville could not get back to his boat.

She added that he spent part of the time trying to calm the crowd and, although he picked up an empty plastic bottle, he said it was not intended for police officers and that he meant them no harm.

Somerville is also charged with assaulting a PC during his arrest on 11 September.

No plea has ben been entered, but Judge Daniel Sawyer said if the defendant accepted the charge it would be dealt with during his sentencing hearing for violent disorder.

The judge added that there was nothing to suggest Somerville was a dangerous offender, who has one previous motoring offence.