North East EDL 'meet & greet' announced

The NE EDL is pleased to announce that we will be holding our long awaited meet & greet in Newcastle

Our popular meet & greet's are the perfect opportunity for anyone wanting to come along and meet other NE EDL members and supporters as well as your local division organiser, ask questions or hear about local issues.

The North East EDL will also be supporting the March for England (MfE) rally in Blackpool on the 25th April this year to celebrate St Georges Day.
We have a coach booked and will be taking payment at this meet and greet for anyone who would like to attend with us.
The cost will be £20.00 per seat & we have pick up points throughout the North East. This is a not a demo but a family orientated procession to celebrate the patron saint of our country and all are welcome to travel with us.
PLEASE NOTE: This is not an EDL event so please leave EDL colours in the house. We will be making this an all day event so we will be leaving early(ish) and our coach will not be leaving to return till early evening (8 or 9 oClock).

Details can be found on our facebook event page >> HERE <<

Drunk Afghan pizza chef hurled racist abuse at fellow drivers after causing A19 crash chaos in Sunderland

Drink-driver caused fire-car pile up. Called fellow motorists ‘white trash’. Was restrained after threats to kill family.

A DRINK-driver who was responsible for rush-hour chaos after he caused a five-car pile-up last month has been banned from the roads.

Afghan refugee Ahmad Reshad Rasooli, 23, ploughed into other cars on the A19 – pushing them into each other like dominoes during the morning rush-hour on Thursday, March 19.

When a dazed Rasooli got out of his Nissan Almera he had to be physically restrained by members of the public as he hurled racist abuse at them, Sunderland magistrates heard.

The accident caused hours of traffic chaos after the road was blocked and tailbacks at one point reached nearly an hour.

Lee Poppett, prosecuting, said a witness described seeing the green Almera weaving across both lanes before clipping the central reservation in thick fog and “very poor” driving conditions.

He followed it north until it approached the A19 junction with the A690 Durham Road, where the slow-moving traffic was “bumper to bumper”.

He said: “The Almera ploughed straight into a Peugeot. This pushed the Peugeot into the car in front and so forth. In all, five cars were involved.”

A second witness said Rasooli got out of the car and walked to the central reservation where he used the barrier to hold himself up.

He said that, when he spoke to him, he appeared drunk.

Mr Poppett said Rasooli became aggressive when the keys were taken from him as he walked back to his mangled car. He said: “Other people helped restraining him and he began to push them.

“He aimed a punch at one of the drivers, which missed.

“He had to be restrained and was shouting ‘I’ll kill you, let me see your face. I’ll come round and I’ll kill your family’.”

The driver of the Peugeot said he then shouted: “I’ll take you all on, you white pieces of trash.”

“He was detained by the drivers until police arrived,” Mr Poppett added.

After Rasooli, of Lort House, Shieldfield, Newcastle, was arrested he told police he had been to a family gathering in London, where he had drank vodka.

He had then set off at 1am for the long drive home to Newcastle, with his cousin as a passenger, and hit the rush hour as he drove north on the A19.

By the time a breath test was carried out at 8.30am – over seven hour after he left the capital – he had 55 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath – the legal limit being 35.

He admitted drink-driving.

A probation report said Rasooli, a pizza chef, came to the UK from Afghanistan in 2007 because of problems in his own country and has leave to reside permanently here.

Victoria Oliver, defending, said that while there were many aggravated factors, he only faced a charge of drink driving.

“It’s fair to say that he has never been in this predicament before,” she said. “He has a clean driving licence. He was in shock. He was going back to his vehicle. It was at that point that others decide he was going to drive away.

“There was no way he was going to drive his vehicle. It was still entangled in the vehicle in front. There was nowhere for him to go.”

She added: “It is fair to say that in his shocked state he has not acted in the best of ways. He has seen a threat and lashes out.”

Rasooli was sentenced to a six-month tagged curfew from 8am until noon seven days a week.

He was banned from driving for 16 months an told to pay £85 costs and a £60 surcharge.

'If you can't speak English you shouldn't be driving taxis,' County Durham cabbie claims

Would-be taxi drivers will be tested on their maths and English skills as part of a revamped application process in County Durham

County Durham cabbies should have a good grasp of the language before they can ply their trade, drivers have claimed.

Taxi bosses have backed the move which could see would-be drivers facing tests of their numeracy and literacy if they want to receive a hackney carriage or private hire licence in County Durham.

Cabinet members will be asked to agree next week to a 12-week consultation on the proposal.

Alan Shield, chairman of the North West Durham branch of the National Taxi Drivers Association, said: “If you can’t add up, you can’t give change.

“If you can’t speak English, how do you know where your fare is going to?

“I’m not racist, but if you can’t speak English you should not be driving taxis.

“If someone jumps into a taxi and says ‘take me to Stanley’ and the driver says ‘Que? I’m from Barcelona – no English’ it’s not good enough.

“I think this is a valid point.”

The move is part of a raft of measures set to shake up the taxi industry. Improved safeguarding measures for child passengers are set to be put in place, as well as restrictions limiting the age of vehicles used as cabs and their emissions.

There will also be new regulations regarding limousines.

Chris Chandler, of Sunniside, is the director of the National Taxi Association, said: “For anyone coming to Durham or Chester-le-Street, a taxi driver is generally the first contact a member of the public has.

“If they have insufficient command of the English language and if they can’t write a receipt out properly it doesn’t look good.

“I don’t have a problem with people from other countries coming into this trade. We’re supposed to be a diverse community, but I just think if I’m going to work at 6am I want everyone on a level playing field.”

Andrew Goodchild, taxi operations manager at Durham City Taxis which employs 47 drivers, backed the proposals for the literacy test.

However, he said the introduction of a new knowledge test which covers the entire county has been seen as an overly severe measure by the county.

Mr Goodchild said: “In terms of literacy, if the driver can’t speak, or read, English he can’t work with directions.

“I don’t know what standard it would have to but it would have to be so you can communicate.”

He added: “It’s too advanced.

“They are purposefully trying to make it hard but the average age of a taxi driver is in the mid-40s and they will put off new blood.”

Mr Shield said: “If I had to sit this again, I’d go back to driving buses.

“It’s that hard.”

Councillors will vote on the consultation at their meeting in County Hall, Durham, on Wednesday.

EDL planning demonstration in Solihull over Catherine-de-Barnes Muslim cemetery plans

Gathering planned for later this month after planning application is submitted for a third time

The English Defence League is planning a demonstration in Solihull to protest against proposals for a Muslim cemetery in a nearby village.

Members will gather in the town centre on Saturday, April 18 in connection with plans for burial plots at Catherine-de-Barnes.

Proposals for the scheme were submitted to Solihull Council for a third time last month.

The plans for the burial ground were turned down twice last year after planners said the development would blight Green Belt land.

But Cemetery Development Services Ltd, the agent working on behalf of the applicant, has continued to insist there was a need for a dedicated Muslim cemetery to resolve a shortage of plots for followers of Islam.

The first application for planning permission for the cemetery was for 7,000 plots.

That was reduced to 4,000 in the next application.

The current proposal asks for permission to build a 3,333-plot cemetery with storage, toilet facilities and a garden.

The EDL announced the demonstration on Facebook.

It said: “The Solihull Division alongside the United Midlands will be holding a local demonstration in Solihull town centre on Saturday the 18th April 2015.

“The reason for this local demonstration is because of the third proposed Muslim burial plot in Catherine-de-Barnes.

“We have chosen to do the demonstration in Solihull town centre as Catherine-de-Barnes comes under the Solihull borough and we feel we will have more of an impact in the town centre than turning up in a small area a few miles down the road.”

Thirty arrests were made as the EDL staged a rally in Dudley in February against plans for a new mosque in the town.

EDL protesters stage demonstration outside outside London mosque

Far-right protesters today staged a demonstration outside a London mosque as worshippers attended Friday prayers.

Around 100 members of the English Defence League held a demonstration outside the London Central Mosque and Islamic Cultural Centre near Regent's Park.

EDL members were heard chanting - to the tune of the Beach Boys' Sloop John B - "it's our country, we're taking it back" as prayers were held.

Radical cleric Anjem Choudary was among those worshipping at the mosque as protesters chanted anti-Islamic messages and wielded banners and placards outside.

Around 100 police kept them away from the front of the mosque, although trouble threatened to escalate when a handful of far-right demonstrators surged down the pavement towards a group of Muslims.

The protesters, who said they were antagonised by some of the worshippers, had to be restrained by officers.

Scotland Yard said there were no arrests during the protest.

Speaking outside after prayers, Mr Choudary told Muslims not to vote at the forthcoming election.

He also handed out leaflets entitled "why it is strictly forbidden to vote in Islam".

One passage read: "Only God can make things lawful and unlawful. If a human being does this ... this is considered the most heinous crime."

However, he was accused by some worshippers of encouraging anti-Islamic protests

Demo relocation news

The English Defence League has relocated its 9 May demonstration from Woolwich to Walthamstow.

And we have broadened the purpose of the demonstration to embrace more aspects of the continuing assault from Islamification in the UK. We will, of course, continue our campaign to have a permanent commemorative memorial located at the site where Fusilier Lee Rigby was killed almost two years ago.
But our May 9 demonstration will not be as limited in scope as we had planned for Woolwich. The quiet respect that would have characterised our Woolwich demonstration to commemorate the fallen soldier will be replaced by a vigorous march and a forceful set of hard-hitting speeches. Two days after the General Election, we will be reinforcing the need for government action across a wide range of issues:
• the grooming and abuse gangs
• the continuing spread of mosques
• the heightened pressure to permit sharia law to edge its way into the UK
• the radicalisation of young UK Muslims
• the intrusion of unlabeled halal foods
• uncontrolled mass immigration
• the failure to act against female genital mutilation
• the corruption of our school curriculum by a misguided focus on diversity
• and the political correctness and timidity that allow all these to flourish.
These are all issues of concern across the country, but they have been downplayed by politicians and the media. We will keep ALL these issues on the national agenda.
And of course we will always remember the murder of Lee Rigby and all that it signifies about what needs to be corrected in this country.

Three Newcastle muslim men appear in court in connection with Operation Sanctuary

Mohammed Khalique, Nadeem Aslam and Jahangir Zaman from Newcastle faced allegations including rape and drug supply

Three more men have appeared in court charged with offences including rape and drug supply as part of Operation Sanctaury.

Jahangir Zaman, 41, of Hadrian Road, in Fenham, was in the dock accused of two counts of rape and one of supplying mephedrone.

Mohammed Khalique, 23, of Beaconsfield Street, Arthur’s Hill, was facing allegations of rape and administering a substance with intent to stupefy/overpower to allow sexual activity.

Nadeem Aslam, 41, of Belle Grove West, Spital Tongues, Newcastle, was accused of permitting the use of his premises for supply of a class B drug and supplying mephedrone.

The men appeared separately for brief hearings at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court on Monday, where Zaman and Khalique entered no pleas to all their charges.

Aslam pleaded not guilty to the two allegations he faces.

Fiona Varley, prosecuting, said the charges were all related to Operation Sanctuary and should be sent to the crown court to tie-up with other defendants who are already going through the court process.

Ms Varley said: “This is part of Operation Sanctuary, so it’s not suitable for this court.

“There are other matters in relation to this at the crown court and I would ask for it to go there.”

None of the defending solicitors made an representations.

District Judge Bernard Begley said: “You will next appear at the crown court on April 7.

“You must be there for 9.45am. If you fail to attend, you could be fined or sent to custody. If you breach any of your bail conditions, you could also be sent to custody.”

Aslam, Kalique and Zaman were each released on conditional bail to next appear at Newcastle Crown Court on April 7.

A further man facing charges in connection with Operation Sanctuary didn’t attend at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court but had his case sent to Newcastle Crown Court in his absence.

Abdul Khayum, 23, of Hampstead Road, Benwell, is charged with two counts of rape.

Northumbria Police launched Operation Sanctuary in January 2014 with a wave of arrests after receiving a report expressing concern for one girl.

But as the investigation continued detectives discovered a widespread problem of vulnerable women and girls being abused.

And Operation Sanctuary was subsequently broadened to include all incidents of females being sexually assaulted after being targeted because of their vulnerability.

Is Britain losing the war against radical Islam?

Some stories are almost too predictable. Take this one.

Three schoolgirls from Britain disappear to Syria, apparently in order to join Islamic State and become ‘jihad brides’, or more precisely ‘jihad rape prizes’. There is a huge public outcry. In particular the families of the girls – and others in the Muslim communities – ask why the police did not know that these girls were planning to go to Syria. Before long Keith Vaz – never one to miss the lowest form of bandwagon – hauls police chiefs in front of his Parliamentary committee. There the police chiefs are made to apologise for not knowing the movements of the three schoolgirls. There is also much talk of the need for the British police to ‘rebuild trust’ from Muslim communities in the wake of this appalling oversight.

And then, piece by piece, the real story comes out. An early sign that something was not right could be spotted in the croc idea that the Muslim communities of Great Britain – whose leadership have spent recent years campaigning against any and all surveillance on Muslim communities in the UK – in fact expect the British police to keep such a close eye on young Muslims that they should know their intentions and movements better than the people who sleep in the room next door (ie. their own families). Sure enough it then turns out that the lawyer representing the families turns out to himself epitomise the problem. Tasnime Akunjee, who has spent recent weeks berating the police for their ‘failures’ turns out to be a man who has previously said that British Muslims should not cooperate with the British police – a very commonly expressed opinion among British Muslims. He also turns out to believe that the security services ‘created’ Michael Adebolajo who killed Drummer Lee Rigby.

Then there is another discovery — about the families of the girls, that is the people who seem to believe that the British police should know more than they do about the movements of their own daughters. In the last day we have discovered something very interesting about the father of one of the girls – a certain Mr Abase Hussen.

Just last month Mr Hussen gave evidence to Keith Vaz’s Parliamentary Committee. Indeed the committee’s report, released last week, quotes Mr Hussen’s evidence. As part of a fairly slick PR campaign Mr Hussen was also recently photographed holding a teddy bear and implying that Islamic extremism was a totally alien thing to his daughter, the 15 year old Amira Hussen. But now it turns out that the story is quite different. Some people have looked again at footage from a demonstration in London in 2012. Was this a rally calling for peace and harmony? Nope. It was a rally organised by Anjem Choudary and was a full-throated extremist rally, with burnings of American flags and everything.

Footage from this rally shows the same Mr Hussen without his teddy bear. Indeed he is marching at the front of the protest, behind a banner that says, ‘The followers of Mohammed will conquer America’. An American flag is being burned just in front of him, and also in attendance is one of the killers of Drummer Lee Rigby, Michael Adebowale.

I don’t suppose that Keith Vaz will have any sleepless nights or reconsider his grandstanding. I don’t suppose the British police will feel confident enough to ask for any type of apology, and I doubt anyone will ask for one on their behalf. But this little story funnily enough contains a microcosm of one of the most significant manias of our time. It was rather well summed up the other day in part of a piece by Newt Gingrich titled ‘We’re losing the war against radical Islam’:

‘We have been refusing to apply the insights and lessons of history, but our enemies have been very willing to study, learn, rethink, and evolve.

‘The cultural jihadists have learned our language and our principles — freedom of speech, freedom of religion, tolerance — and they apply them to defeat us without believing in them themselves. We blindly play their game on their terms, and don’t even think about how absurd it is for people who accept no church, no synagogue, no temple in their heartland to come into our society and define multicultural sensitivity totally to their advantage — meaning, in essence, that we cannot criticize their ideas.

‘Our elites have been morally and intellectually disarmed by their own unwillingness to look at both the immediate history of the first 35 years of the global war with radical Islamists and then to look deeper into the roots of the ideology and the military-political system our enemies draw upon as their guide to waging both physical and cultural warfare.’

Mr Hussen came to this country from Ethiopia and used at least part of his time here to denounce this country and campaign to radically change it. When something happens to his family his first instinct is to attack the authorities of the country which has given him sanctuary. That is not of course surprising. What is surprising is that our societies are at such a stage of weakness that we assume that it is the institutions of our society that have gone awry rather than anything closer to the girls’ home.

There are reasons for this. Perhaps we genuinely think that only Britain and British institutions can be guilty. Perhaps we think it might be more complicated than that, but look out at the situation we have allowed to come about, think ‘crumbs’ (or words to that effect) and try to delay the realisation a bit longer. Or perhaps we’re just suicidal. A society that reacts in the way ours has to the disappearance of these three schoolgirls, and sucks up the claims of their families and legal representatives so completely happily is, I think, suffering from that final possibility.

LINK: Click

Five arrested on suspicion of human trafficking

Police have arrested five people on suspicion of human trafficking offences.

A man and a woman, both of Slovakian nationality, attended a police station in Newcastle early in the morning of March 29th. They informed police that they had been subject to human trafficking and that they were being exploited for work.

Enquiries were carried out and later that day officers arrested two men aged 22 and 38, and three women aged 24, 18 and 37, on suspicion of trafficking people into the UK for exploitation. They have been bailed pending further enquiries.

Northumbria Police said enquiries were ongoing and asked for people with information to contact them.

The Salvation Army human trafficking helpline can also be contacted in order to report instances of human trafficking on 0300 303 8151.

Afzal Amin quits Dudley North election race over EDL row

Afzal Amin has resigned as Tory candidate for Dudley North following the row over his links with the EDL.

A party spokesman said: “Afzal Amin is resigning as Conservative candidate for Dudley North with immediate effect.

“Conservative Chairman Grant Shapps has welcomed Mr Amin’s decision and thanked him for his work in the past.”

The Conservative Party will now select a new candidate to fight the constituency.

Mr Amin, who was filmed in discussions with former English Defence League leader Tommy Robinson, initially said he would fight the allegations in the hope of staying on as parliamentary candidate in the Tory target seat.

But party sources said he had resigned as candidate "with immediate effect", a day ahead of a planned disciplinary hearing.

Hunt for Newcastle sex attacker after 14-year-old girl assaulted in Walker

Teen groped by hooded man while walking along Eastfield Avenue in Newcastle

A sex attacker is being hunted after a teen was assaulted on a Newcastle street.

The 14-year-old girl was groped as she walked along Eastfield Avenue at just before 8am on Monday, March 16.

Police say a man followed her a short distance on foot before touching her ‘inappropriately’ over her clothing.

The girl was left shocked and upset by the incident, said officers.

The offender was wearing a black coat with the hood pulled up.

Northumbria Police’s Neighbourhood Sergeant for the area, Matt Bruno, said: “We have additional officers in the area carrying out enquiries and to reassure local people. We’d ask for anyone with information to contact police.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact Northumbria Police on 101 ext 69191 quoting reference number 189 16/03/15 or the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Acklam pair who carried out £2m frauds jailed for total of more than 11 years

Muhammed Asif Ali sat in the dock alongside his son and wife who received suspended sentences for their part in one of the conspiracies.

A Teesside businessman sat in the dock alongside his son and wife as he was jailed for six and a half years for fraud totalling more than £2m.

Muhammed Asif Ali, and partner in crime Carol Ann Bainbridge, 48, were previously convicted by a jury of conspiring to defraud the former regional development agency One North East of £500,000.

The pair also faced a separate charge of £1.6m mortgage fraud, alongside Ali’s son, Mohammed Salman Ali, 28, and, wife Ghazala Ali, 45.

For her part in both crimes, Bainbridge was jailed for five years.

Teesside Crown Court heard how they defrauded the now-defunct One North East between June 2008 and October 2009.

Prosecutor Andrew Haslam told a previous hearing they took money from the agency and kept it for their own ends in a bank account in Ali’s name.

He said just over £519,000 of taxpayers’ money was paid out by One North East on the basis of false information, and was spent.

He said Ali, 56, of Acklam Road, Middlesbrough, used other people’s identities and appointed “stooges” as company directors, giving him control while hiding his involvement and diverting creditors.

The case concerned a company, Well Springs Green Lane Ltd, and its failed development in Spennymoor, County Durham.

Ali and Bainbridge also took part in the £1.6m mortgage fraud alongside his wife and son where they used false identities or the identities of unsuspecting third parties as well as falsifying incomes to defraud a number of fincial institutions.

Angus McDonald, prosecuting yesterday, said Ali Sr “played a leading role” in the conspiracy while Bainbridge “operated in partnership” with him.

Nigel Ingram, defending Ali Sr, said: “References show he is a man held in high regard in some quarters.

“You are not dealing with a man involved in fraud who was involved in a particularly lavish lifestyle.”

Katy Rafter, for Bainbridge, a mother of Skerne Way, Darlington, said she was “of previous good character before she was involved in this conspiracy”.

In sentencing she asked the judge to take into account that her client had some “genuine mental health difficulties”.

Tanveer Bashir, for Salman Ali, said he “wasn’t a prime mover in the fraud and wasn’t a big mover of the money.

“In reality he wasn’t someone who would have been caught up in this had it not been for the company he kept, ie, his father and mortgage brokers.”

Mohammed Qazi for Ghazala Ali, a mum-of- three of Acklam Road, said but for her relationship with her husband “would she have embarked on this criminality?”

“One of the reasons she was lending support to the (mortgage) applications was that she thought she could retain the security of the family home.”

Ali Sr and his son, also of Acklam Road, admitted taking part in the plot.

Bainbridge and Ghazala Ali denied the conspiracy and were convicted after a trial in December 2013.

Judge Les Spittle, described the frauds as “quite sophisticated” and told Ali Sr: “You are devious and manipulative in your dealings”

Salman Ali was given 22 months suspended for 18 months with 200 hours unpaid community work. His mother Ghazala Ali received 24 months suspended for 18 months with a supervision order.

All defendants were also barred from being a company director for 15 years.

Three North East registered sex offenders are 'missing'

New figures show whereabouts of 396 UK offenders unknown, including two in Northumbria and one in Durham.

Three sex offenders have gone missing in the North East police have revealed.

New figures have shown 396 convicted perverts on the sex offenders’ register in the UK are wanted because their whereabouts are unknown, including some who have been missing for more than a decade.

And two of those were being monitored in the Northumbria Police area, while one was in County Durham.

One convicted sex offender in Northumbria disappeared in May 2002, while the whereabouts of the other has been unknown since November 2008.

Registered sex offenders - including rapists and paedophiles - are required to inform police and probation officers of their addresses and are supposed to be monitored by officials working under multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA).

But in freedom of information responses 39 forces revealed there were missing registered sex offenders in their areas.

Sara Payne, whose daughter Sarah was abducted and killed in 2000 by convicted paedophile Roy Whiting, said: “It’s completely unacceptable that any registered sex offenders have disappeared from authority management, putting the public at risk.

“It’s time to take some serious proactive action to bring them back under the police radar.”

The NSPCC described the figures as “alarming” and said its own research had found there was just one police staff member responsible for every 50 registered sex offenders.

Jon Brown, the charity’s lead for tackling sexual abuse, said: “About half of those on the register are offenders who have raped or sexually assaulted children, or committed online child abuse image offences, however most just receive one police visit a year after they have been released from prison and a period of supervision.

“The monitoring of registered sex offenders in communities needs urgent attention by the Government to ensure it is fit for purpose.”

A Home Office spokeswoman said: “The UK has some of the toughest powers in the world to deal with sex offenders and we are committed to ensuring the system is as robust as possible.

“It is for the police to manage offenders in their area, but we work closely with forces to ensure legislation is effective and that officers have all the tools they need.”

And Deputy Chief Constable Michelle Skeer, who is the National Policing Lead for the Management of Sexual Offenders and Violent Offenders, added: “Protecting the public from sexual and violent offenders is a key role for the police service.

“A large proportion of the recorded wanted or missing sex offenders are, following investigation, either known or believed to be living abroad or have returned to their country of origin. When registered sexual offenders (RSO’s) are missing or wanted in the UK, all police forces are alerted. If they return to the UK, there are several processes in place to ensure that they are brought to the attention of police and arrested where appropriate.

“The UK has some of the most effective tools in the world to manage RSO’s. While the reality is that the risks posed to the public by such individuals can never be completely eliminated, there is significant evidence that the multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA) successfully keeps them to a minimum.

“The new Sexual Harm Prevention Orders (SHPO) and Sexual Risk Orders (SRO) mean that, for the first time, we can safeguard children or vulnerable adults abroad as well as in the UK. “Along with the Shengen information system (SIS II) these will significantly enhance the existing procedures and processes we have in place.”