Exclusive:Portsmouth man accused of violent disorder after migrant boat arrived in Eastney pleads in court
“He is fully prepared for immediate custody,” his lawyer said.
A man involved in violent clashes with police after a migrant boat arrived in Portsmouth has pleaded guilty in court.
In the early hours of Sunday, September 6, a crowd of around 200 people attacked police officers, and attacked Coastguard and Border Force vehicles, after a small boat arrived at Eastney Ferry Landing.
The vessel was carrying roughly 140 migrants; once word of their arrival spread, protesters gathered soon after, with activist Daniel Thomas, known as Danny Tommo, livestreaming from the scene.
Following a police investigation into the unrest, Del Somerville, 42 from Walsingham Close, Paulsgrove, was charged with one count of violent disorder, and one count of assaulting a constable in the execution of their duty. Today (Wednesday, September 16) he appeared at Portsmouth Crown Court, where he pleaded guilty to the first offence.
No plea was entered for the charge of assaulting a constable.
Philip Allman, prosecuting, said: “I would ask for a short amount of time, potentially for a victim impact statement, but more importantly, a community impact statement.”
Lucy Blue, representing Somerville, told the court that the defendant has two previous convictions - neither of which are for violent conduct. She also asked for an adjournment, to prepare medical reports for the judge ahead of sentencing.
”He’s under no illusions,” Miss Blue said. “He fully understands that he might get a suspended sentence order, but is fully prepared for immediate custody.
“There are mental health concerns, but he is a man of no previous violence. [An adjournment] is to get a medical report and gather evidence, in the first instance.”
Judge Daniel Sawyer said: “I have in mind a relatively short adjournment. I won’t order a pre-sentence report at this stage - once we’ve for the material, I may or may not then grant an adjournment for a psychiatric report.
“I will adjourn the matter for a week or so, and we’ll come back to reassess the situation then. Hopefully we will have enough information at that point to proceed.
“As to the charge of assaulting a constable, we will look at that next time.”
At his first appearance at Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court on Saturday, September 12, the court had heard he was accused of throwing a bottle towards a police line and was heard telling officers to f*** off as the bottle was thrown.
The defendant had a boat moored in Eastney, and was unable to access it after police locked down the area, his lawyer said.
Somerville will now be sentenced on Thursday, September 24. Until then, he has been remanded in custody.