Hammer-wielding protester jailed for terrifying rampage
A right-wing supporter who became involved in a bust-up with rival left-wingers at Maidstone Services has been jailed for three years.
Callum Lambe, 27, was in a coach load of activists heading to demonstrations in Dover when they pulled in at the M20 Junction 8 services.
Within minutes, coaches carrying other demonstrators arrived and the two groups began a pitched battle in front of terrified diners and staff, Canterbury Crown Court heard.
Lambe, from London, used a hammer from an emergency panel to smash every window in a rival coach, causing £16,000 damage.
Judge Adele Williams said: “Those people at the service station must have been absolutely terrified.”
Lambe, who admitted violent disorder, was jailed after appearing by prison video link from Elmley.
He has previous convictions for racially aggravated assaults and possessing parts of a firearm and was jailed in 2010 for five years
The court heard how 40 protesters were involved. Some picked up paving slabs, smashing them into smaller pieces to use as missiles.
Bins were thrown and punches were exchanged in the car park and inside.
Prosecutor Paul Valder said: “People were aghast. The manager of a McDonald’s restaurant told how he saw 40 to 50 men, many in black with faces covered, throwing bottles, bricks and bins.”
The prosecutor said the manager saw Lambe go up to a coach with a red hammer and shatter every screen. Mr Valder said another protester, carrying a stick, also attacked the coach and threatened the driver.
Police later found the ham- mer dumped in a bin and traced Lambe through DNA.
Mr Valder said Lambe received a head injury caused by broken glass.
Adrian Crossley, defending, said Lambe paid £20 to travel to Dover for the January demonstrations but discovered the coach was full of “50-year-olds, mainly skinheads”.
He added: “He had no intention of getting involved in any violence.
“But after arriving he was injured and is remorseful about how he reacted.”
In another case Thomas Fereday, 28, from Newport in Wales, was jailed for 16 months after admitting violent disorder. He was seen throwing stones during fighting in Dover.