Man, 20, pleads guilty to violent disorder

A 20-year-old man has admitted taking part in disturbances in Bristol city centre.

Joseph Bradford, of Bishopsworth, Bristol, was charged as part of a police investigation into the unrest which took place on 3 August.

He pleaded guilty to violent disorder at Bristol Magistrates' Court on Tuesday and has been remanded in custody ahead of an appearance at Bristol Crown Court on Friday.

A total of 27 people have now been arrested as part of the investigation, including a 15-year-old boy.

Avon and Somerset Police said the teenager was arrested on Monday night on suspicion of violent disorder.

Officers also arrested a man, aged in his 30s, for the same offence on Tuesday and he remains in police custody.

Prosecutor Stephen Sadler said Bradford, who was supported by 10 family members in court, said he had been "right at the front line" of the disorder on Bristol Bridge and was seen "amping up the crowd", "encouraging chanting" and "gesticulating to officers".

He added that Bradford had thrown a can at police officers and had been part of a group which had rushed at the police three times, forcing them backwards.

Defence lawyer Ian Kelsey said his client had accepted his behaviour had been "idiotic" but that he had acted with the "naivety of youth" and had left the scene early, texting his mother to tell her he "didn't want anything more to do" with the violence and that the situation had "got out of hand".

Remanding him into custody Judge Joanna Dickens, who joined the hearing from Swindon Magistrates' Court, said there was concern that "those who have done it once [taken part in recent violent disorder] might do it again".

The force has charged 10 people in connection with the unrest in Bristol, when violent scenes occurred after hundreds of far-right protesters and a counter-protest group gathered for two demonstrations near Castle Park.

A total of 27 people have now been arrested in connection with the disorder, after two women were arrested on suspicion of violent disorder on Tuesday afternoon.

Tensions have been high across England after the killing of three young girls in Southport, Merseyside, on 29 July.

False claims were spread online that the person responsible was an asylum seeker, who had arrived in the UK by boat.

Detectives have reviewed hundreds of hours of CCTV and body-worn camera footage, as well as images and videos shared by the public, in order to try to identify those involved in the disorder.

Follow BBC Bristol on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.