Five men are on trial at Liverpool Crown Court accused of violent disorder in connection with disturbance
07:38, 17 Jan 2024
A man described as being "almost the first person through" a line of police officers stationed outside the Suites Hotel before violent scenes broke out has told a jury that he was only walking his dog.
Five men are currently on trial at Liverpool Crown Court accused of violent disorder in connection with the disturbance at the site in Kirkby on February 10 last year. It came after a video, which allegedly showed an asylum seeker who was staying at the hotel "asking a 15-year-old for her phone number and a kiss", was circulated on social media.
A third defendant, Daniel Fulham, gave evidence from the witness box yesterday afternoon, Tuesday. He told a jury that he had lived in Kirkby "all his life", with his flat being a 17-minute walk away from the Suites Hotel.
READ MORE: Women accused over Suites Hotel disorder hold hands in dock as charges are dropped
Fulham said he had spent the day "chilling in his flat" before going out in the evening in order to walk his Jack Russell. He told the court that he would routinely take a route which saw him pass the hotel "day and night".
When asked by Judge Denis Watson KC what his dog's name was, Fulham replied: "Jessie. She's boss yeno."
His counsel Isabella Denn-White enquired whether he had "intended to join what was going on", and he said: "No. I seen a little bit of a crowd.
"I saw one person I knew, I said 'what's happening?'. He said 'it's this thing going on'."
Fulham described this as a "bit of a protest", which concerned "that poor baby getting touched by them people". He added: "Where I live, everyone knows.
"It's like a little village. Like Emmerdale."
When quizzed over who "them people" were, Fulham clarified "the people who lived in the Suites Hotel". Ms Denn-White asked: "Was your concern about that male's nationality?"
He responded: "No. It does not matter what nationality.
"A baby getting touched is totally unacceptable. It's totally unacceptable.
"I've got a baby myself. I have a five-year-old daughter you see.
"It's wrong. How would yous actually feel?"
Fulham was seen on the footage passing through what was described as a "soft cordon" of officers, before being followed by a crowd. He stated that he had been past by a PC because he was walking his dog.
When asked what his "intention" was, he said "to have my say, and to get past please". Fulham was shown holding his dog aloft once then stood in front of a second line of police, and told jurors of this: "I'm started to get scared for my dog."
He gestured with his hands above his head on the stand and said: "I've got a dog. I've got a dog."
Fulham also alleged that he had attempted to "stop everything", but admitted that he had shouted "f*** you" at officers. He said this came after his "mate's dad", whom he said was called "John", was pushed by PCs, saying: "He's not a well man at the end of the day.
"You see what they done to him. They were pushing everybody, y'know what I mean?
"He's an old man. I think he's 66 or something."
Fulham himself was shown being shoved from behind by another member of the crowd and said: "I started getting scared now, for me and my dog. It's nasty that, I think."
He told the jury that he left shortly after a clip in which he was seen "blowing a kiss" to the police, returning home from the direction in which he had arrived. Fulham recalled: "Something started going AWOL, kicked off.
"I tried to get through, I got pushed back again. I find a way to get away from everything, because it really did start getting nuts.
"I turned around. I managed to get through, then walked through with my dog."
Fulham was asked "how he felt about the whole situation" in the aftermath, and replied: "I thought it was s*** on my dog, I weren't there for nothing. I would not have took my dog that way."
Ms Denn-White continued: "Did you use any violence?"
Fulham said: "Nope."
Ms Denn-White: "Did you throw anything?"
Fulham: "Nope."
Ms Denn-White: "Did you cause any damage that evening?"
Fulham: "Only to my poor dog's brain. What she had to see."
Ms Denn-White: "Did you encourage anyone else to act violently?"
Fulham: "No."
Ms Denn-White: "Did you want anyone to act violently?"
Fulham: "No. I was walking the dog."
He was then cross-examined by prosecutor Martyn Walsh, who highlighted comments in which the defendant was recorded as saying "this is our road". Fulham said this was because it acted as his regular dog walking route, telling the court: "It's because it's our road - it should be called Jessie Road."
When asked why he had subsequently joined in with chants of "get them out", he replied: "For the kids. Get them out for the poor baby."
Mr Walsh described Fulham as "almost the first person through" the initial line of police officers, but he denied that he had been shown "gesturing" for others to follow him. He added: "I'm going 'this way'.
"I'm going this way. I've got my dog on the lead.
"It looks that way. It's disgusting, but it's not true."
Mr Walsh asked "how concerned" Fulham was for his dog, and he responded: "She could get stood on. She could get squashed.
"I love my dog so much. That's why I'm only there for a matter of minutes.
"I thought I could get through. It's our road."
Mr Walsh previously told a jury of six men and six women during the prosecution's opening last week that Merseyside Police received reports "which stated that members of the English Defence League were going to attend" the hotel on Ribblers Lane, which was "housing refugees and immigrants", on the Friday evening. The force also received reports that "far left groups were also planning on attending".
Mr Walsh said: "In light of this information, Merseyside Police commenced an operation to attend and prevent any potential disorder. During the course of the evening, a police drone was deployed at the scene, along with police officers, into what became a public order situation.
"Crowds gathered during the course of the evening, and the police attempted to put in place cordons so that members of the public could not encroach into the Suites Hotel grounds. The crowd built up both in numbers and in the level of violence.
"The police were faced with hostility and violence while the crowd forced its way through a cordon. The police then fell back into a stronger, more enforced cordon.
"Because of the escalating crowds and level of violence, they put on their protective gear. At this point in the evening, officers were bombarded with various missiles, for example rocks and bottles.
"There was an officer injured by a concrete slab. The crown would submit that fireworks were being directed towards the police."
The court heard that "further assistance was requested" by officers at the scene, who "feared for their own safety and members of the public". Mr Walsh described how a Matrix van was "set on fire" and "burnt out" after police equipment including riot shields, helmets and metal bars was taken from inside.
This was said to have resulted in £83,686 of damage. Three officers were said to have been injured in total, with two sustaining "minor" injuries and one inspector requiring hospital treatment after being "hit on the head with what he described as part of a paving slab" and suffering a concussion and "whiplash-type injuries".
Mr Walsh added: "The case against each of the defendants is the same. The crown say they were all present on the evening.
"None of the defendants takes issue with that. They all admit being present at the scene.
"A violent disorder was taking place. Again, that is not in dispute.
"The crown's case is that they acted as part of this large crowd using or threatening violence. Their roles and actions are different - whether they stood on top of the police carrier before it was burned out or lit and threw fireworks at officers or whether they stood together and moved as one with those who broke the cordon, trying to effectively enflame the situation as the night went on. The crown say each is guilty of violent disorder, and you can be sure on the evidence presented to you of their guilt."
Mr Walsh said that the "majority of the evidence in the case" came from footage obtained by a police drone, body worn cameras of PCs who attended the scene and "evidence gathering officers" who were "tasked with recording events". Four of the defendants were identified via these videos, with only one, Thomas Mills, being arrested on the night in question.
Fulham, of Old Rough Lane in Kirkby, was described as "one of a group of people who made their way past the first line of officers at the cordon by the police carrier". Mr Walsh continued: "He has his dog with him, a Jack Russell dog.
"Other people then push at the police officers at the second cordon, chanting 'get them out'. Mr Fulham picks his dog up and waves it or thrusts it towards police officers while shouting 'get them out, we're allowed through, this is our road'."
Fulham was said to have pushed at the riot shields of the officers before being pushed back, at which the 37-year-old shouted "f*** you". He was also "seen to be aggressive and shout f*** you while, behind him, the crowd are shouting 'get them out'".
Jurors have been told that they will now hear no further evidence in the case, and could retire to consider their verdicts on Thursday. Fulham denies one count of violent disorder, and the trial continues.
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