UK police seek six men over anti-migrant protest in Portsmouth
Hampshire police have released images of six men wanted in connection with a September 6 protest in Portsmouth, where demonstrators tried to block coaches carrying migrants. Several vehicles were damaged and seven officers were injured.
Police in Hampshire are appealing for help identifying six men linked to disorder at Eastney Marina in Portsmouth on 6 September, when hundreds of protesters blocked roads in an attempt to stop coaches carrying 120 migrants from leaving the city. The migrants had crossed the Channel by dinghy.
Officers said several police, coastguard and Border Force vehicles were damaged that evening. Seven officers were treated at the scene for injuries, though no one involved was seriously hurt.
Assistant Chief Constable Tony Rowlinson asked anyone who recognises the six men pictured to come forward. He said public order incidents don't always allow for immediate arrests, since evidence often needs careful review to identify offenders, adding that investigators had gone through hundreds of hours of footage.
A 42-year-old man from Paulsgrove was charged on Friday with violent disorder and assaulting an officer, and remanded in custody. A 16-year-old boy arrested on Saturday over the disorder has since been released on bail pending further inquiries.
The government condemned what it called intimidating and thuggish behaviour at the demonstration while affirming the right to peaceful protest. On Saturday, around 500 anti-migrant protesters marched through Portsmouth, met by hundreds of counter-demonstrators from Stand up to Racism.
Migrants crossing the Channel are usually taken to Dover for initial processing, but this dinghy had departed from near Cherbourg, considerably further west than typical crossing points. Bringing the group to Dover would have added four to five hours to a journey already lasting about ten hours, so Border Force instead brought them ashore at Eastney, with lifeboats from the Isle of Wight assisting. Analysts suggest smugglers may be testing new departure points to dodge heavy policing around Calais and Dunkirk.
