Man and woman jailed for role in violent ‘paedophile protest’ mob
A man and woman who joined a 400-strong ‘paedophile protest’ that drove a family from their home in Wrexham have been jailed.
Nathan Scott, 32, and Sophie Evans, 20, were among the mob that marched on Wynnstay Avenue in the Welsh city on April 11 last year.
The crowd was acting in the apparently mistaken belief that a convicted sex offender was staying on the street, and targeted a specific house by damaging the door, smashing almost every window and pushing a burning pizza box through the letter box.
Riot police were called to control the crowd and members of the family living in the house were escorted out under their protection, according to the Wrexham Leader.
Scott was found guilty of violent disorder at an earlier hearing, and branded the jury ‘paedophile lovers’ after the verdict was delivered.
He was jailed for three and a half years by a judge at Caernarfon Crown Court yesterday, while Evans was sentenced to 16 months.
In May, the mob’s ‘ringleader’ Thomas Clarke was given three years and two months in prison for his role in inciting the hours-long disorder.
Scott’s lawyer Paul Smith argued that his client played a ‘much lesser role’ in the violence than Clarke, and he had appeared when the disturbance was already underway.
While father-of-one Scott ‘may have been loud’ and ‘said a lot of things’, the lawyer said his behaviour was more consistent with being a participant than a leader.
Defending Evans, John Wyn Williams said his client was ‘still maturing’ and felt ashamed when she looked back on her actions.
He added: ‘Her involvement is limited to threats alone. Her family tried to dissuade her from attending but there was an element of bravado driven from the emotion of the moment.’
Judge Niclas Parry said the protest was driven by ‘ill-informed knowledge’, and explained that his sentence for Scott was influenced by the way in which he frustrated police efforts to bring order to the crowd and vocalised the harm he thought should befall the family in the house.
He said: ‘Your attitude to authority was only underlined when on hearing the verdict in your trial.
‘You stood and hurled verbal abuse at the jury, accusing them of being paedophile lovers.’
Giving his reasoning for jailing Evans, the judge added: ‘You were clearly enjoying the extreme difficulties the police were experiencing and you were clearly seen chanting with the crowd.’
Both defendants were also given a five-year restraining order banning them from contacting any of the victims or mentioning them on social media.
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