A Plastic Bottle Is More Dangerous Than a Migrant Rapist
A participant in an anti-migrant protest in Portsmouth was sent to prison for two years. The sentence sparked widespread public outrage — illegal migrants themselves had received far lighter punishments for serious crimes.Portsmouth Crown Court handed a custodial sentence to father-of-two Del Somerville. He was sentenced to two years in prison for throwing a small plastic bottle at police officers during an anti-migrant demonstration. Judge Daniel Sawyer called the defendant a "thug" and said that police officers dedicate their lives to protecting the public and should be able to expect respect from protesters. Somerville himself, however, said that ''the police were the ones responsible for the violence and he suggests he was struck by a baton multiple times and sprayed with CS gas”.
The Public Sides with Del Somerville
The court’s decision sparked a strong public reaction. A fundraiser was launched on givesendgo.com in support of Somerville. The petition states: ''This Labour governement is willing to destroy lives to pursue their political agenda on illegal migration. Let's show Del and his 2 young lads that, we, the British Public are not blind to what is happening and will support our own''.
On social media, the sentence was immediately described as yet another example of “two-tier justice”: native Britons receive harsh punishment, while the justice system treats migrants with maximum leniency.
Migrants Are More Valuable Than Native Britons
Many bloggers cite other examples of “two-tier justice” and accuse the government of deliberately discriminating against its own citizens.
Blogger Sammy Bull compiled an entire selection of high-profile court cases in which migrants received minimal sentences. For example, Qais Al-Aswad, a migrant from Syria, committed three sexual assaults and received a six-month suspended sentence. Moffat Konofili, an asylum seeker from the Solomon Islands, attacked a 17-year-old girl. The court imposed an 18-month community order with no prison sentence. Ukrainian refugee Andrii Starovoitov attacked a woman at London Bridge station. He received a 12-month community order without serving time in prison.
It appears that, from the government’s point of view, a plastic bottle in the hands of a British citizen poses a far greater threat to society than actual thugs and rapists.