Man denies riot after Kill the Bill demo turned ugly
APROTESTER tried to set fire to two occupied police vans during the “Kill the Bill” demonstrations in Bristol last spring – and told one officer trapped inside he was going to “go bang”, Bristol Crown Court has heard.
Ryan Roberts, 25, of Rawnsley House, Bristol, is accused of leading protesters in anti-police chants outside Bridewell police station on the afternoon of Sunday, March 21, before throwing cans, bottles and placards at officers.
On the first day of his trial at Bristol Crown Court, the jury was told Roberts verbally abused and repeatedly kicked officers, before smashing in the windows of the police station.
Forty-four officers were injured during the riot “in terrifying scenes of violence, fire and missiles”, the prosecutor said.
Roberts is accused of damaging several occupied police cars by striking them several times with a police baton dropped by an officer during the crush.
He then allegedly set fire to a piece of paper and cardboard and a police van, telling an officer inside he would “go bang”, it is claimed.
Roberts is further accused of smashing in the windows of a mobile police station and encouraging the crowd to help roll it over, before setting light to the cab while hundreds of people were close by.
The defendant then allegedly tried to set fire to a moving police van full of officers, the court heard, before torching an industrial bin and an already partially burnt-out police car.
Prosecutor Matt Jackson said: “What we aim to prove – and it is for the prosecution to make you sure of all this, not for Mr Roberts to prove himself innocent – is that this was not just mindless activity.
“It was of course stupid, irresponsible and dangerous, his actions were also deliberate, and he knew exactly what he was doing.”
Roberts, of no fixed address, denies a charge of riot as well as two charges of attempted arson with intent to endanger life in respect of one of the vans and the mobile police station.
He further denies two alternative counts of attempted arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered.
Roberts is also on trial for two counts of arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered for allegedly setting light to the mobile police station and the police car.
Mr Jackson told the jury that on March 21 the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill was making its way through parliament and a protest took place in Bristol to draw attention to concerns about it.
The vast majority of people regarded it as a well-intentioned, peaceful protest to voice their concerns about restrictions on liberty.
But others, including the defendant, hijacked that peaceful protest and Kill the Bill took on a very different and menacing meaning, the court was told.
Mr Jackson said video captures Roberts trying to set light to police vans while police were inside – putting them in fear of their lives.
The jury was shown a compilation of video footage which the Crown says shows Roberts offending.
The jury was told they were seeing footage of Roberts kicking and bashing the window of the manned police station, with other clips showing Roberts placing unknown items under a police van’s front offside wheel arch before flames appear.
They were told video showed Roberts starting a fire inside a mobile police station parked on Bridewell Street, and Roberts pushing a wheelie bin into a burned-out police car, flames rising from the bin, and then the car fully ablaze.
The case continues.