A man who threw a plastic bottle and swore at the police while taking part in an anti-immigration protest in Portsmouth has been sent to prison for two years.
Del Somerville was given a jail sentence on Thursday after pleading guilty to violent disorder following unrest, involving around 200 people, at Eastney Marina on 6 September. Yes, Somerville threw a plastic bottle at police officers, which he shouldn’t have done. But it’s notable just how quickly and severely the courts moved to punish him. It was clear the legal establishment was looking to make an example of him. At Portsmouth Crown Court, the judge explicitly stated that the severe sentence was intended to ‘act as a deterrent’ to others.
