Two men jailed for violent disorder at Henry Nowak police protest in Southampton
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emailsTwo men have been jailed after throwing a traffic cone and smoke grenade at police during violent disorder in Southampton following the murder of Henry Nowak.Leon O’Leary, 41, and Connor Bishop, 24, received their sentences at Southampton Crown Court on Tuesday, a day after admitting to violent disorder at the city’s magistrates’ court.Footage captured O’Leary "walking casually" through the crowd before spotting a smoke grenade on the ground, picking it up, and launching it towards officers. O’Leary also admitted and was sentenced for resisting a police officer and possessing an offensive weapon.When police arrived at his Basingstoke home at 3.30am on 7 June to arrest him, he adopted a "fighting stance" at the top of the stairs and threatened officers, who were forced to use pava spray to subdue him. A samurai sword was subsequently discovered in his bedroom.From a search in his bedroom, officers also found the samurai sword, which O’Leary said he owned for 20 years as decorative only and he did not know the law had changed on owning one.Meanwhile Connor Bishop, 24, from Southampton, was seen in footage wearing a black jumper with “boys get sad too” written on the back, carrying a yellow traffic cone which he threw towards officers.There were violent clashes in Southampton between police and protesters (Jamie Lashmar/PA)In the video shown in court, other members of the crowd can be heard shouting ‘run you f****** pussies’.The father is seen running with the cone, “pursuing officers for some time with it”, prosecutor, Siobhan Linsley told the court.“Once it’s thrown he then follows it again, picks it up again,” she said.When he was arrested on June 3 at his home address he answered no comment but then accepted he was there when shown footage.He also admitted throwing a box of screws and punching a wall not captured on footage.He told officers in interview he was brought up Christian and “threw items to fit into the crowd” and that he had drunk a small amount of beer “that made him more lairy”.Defending Bishop, Thomas Evans said: “He is perhaps an example of peer pressure and group thinking”.He said Bishop told him “I was just being a dick I wanted to fit in” and that he was “very sorry” to anyone who was hurt.Mr Evans said of Bishop and O’Leary: “They are not the instigators of this disorder, they are inevitable result of other individuals who seek to harness anger.”O’Leary was sentenced to three years and one month in prison for the three offences, and Bishop was jailed for two years and eight months.The disorder came after anger erupted following the release of police body-worn video showing 18-year-old Mr Nowak being placed in handcuffs by police moments before he became unconscious and subsequently died.Vickrum Digwa, 23, was jailed for life to serve a minimum of 21 years for Mr Nowak’s murder after falsely claiming that the teenager had racially abused him.
