- Del Somerville, a 42-year-old father-of-two, has been jailed for two years at Portsmouth Crown Court after pleading guilty to violent disorder.
- He is the first protester to be sentenced following violent anti-migrant demonstrations triggered by the arrival of 114 migrants into Portsmouth on 6 September.
- The court heard how Somerville threw a plastic bottle at police, aggressively pushed through officers, and shouted verbal abuse during the night of unrest.
- Judge Daniel Sawyer labelled Somerville a thug and expressed that the sentence must serve as a deterrent after subsequent local protests.
- The major incident involved seven reported assaults on police officers, thousands of pounds in property damage, and required 150 officers to restore order.
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