A leading member of the English Defence League banned from every football ground in the country has been spotted heading for Arsenal matches, the Old Bailey heard.

Joel Titus, 21, was banned from football after he led a mass brawl outside Liverpool Street station more than two years ago. At that time he led Brentford fans in a charge on rival Leyton Orient supporters.

But he has dodged the ban by switching allegiance to Arsenal and joining fellow hooligans in pubs, stations and on supporters coaches, the court was told. The leader of the youth wing of the EDL has also moved to Highbury to be closer to Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium.

When he was arrested during one clash he was found with a hard-knuckle Kevlar glove – the same type of weapon he used during the earlier Liverpool Street fight.

Police are now applying for his football banning order to be extended to prevent a repeat of his behaviour. Judge Timothy Pontius will pass sentence today.

Evening Standard, 6 December 2012

Also convicted along with Titus for his part the Liverpool Street station brawl was Martin Pottle, who was jailed again earlier this year over the attack on Kingston Mosque.

In addition to his 9-month prison sentence for affray, last year Titus was slapped with an ASBO banning him from attending EDL protests and entering or loitering outside mosques.

Still, Titus does have his admirers. One of them described this convicted thug as follows: “Nice fella, not afraid to get his hands dirty (so what) … intelligent kid – best of luck to him.”

The author of that encomium is former EDL activist Andy Hughes of the Islamic Far-Right in Britain blog, whose witch-hunting anti-Muslim articles have been approvingly cross-posted at Harry’s Place.

Update:  Court News reports that Titus has been banned from going within a mile of Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium. Bizarrely, it also notes that he “claims to work as a City broker in diamonds and wine”.