Two English Defence League protesters “bit off more than they could chew” when they caused a racist scene in a kebab shop. Turkish staff armed themselves with long knives used to carve meat and chased brothers Wayne and Darren Edwards out into the street. Wayne Edwards came off the worst and needed five stitches in a wound to his head.
The 36-year-old former soldier and his brother, 34, were each jailed for 14 months after a judge told them such racist aggression would not be tolerated.
An Orange Order march in Gillingham on the of a match at Gillingham FC had passed peacefully when the brothers and other EDL supporters went into Town Kebab House in the High Street. Judge Philip Statman was shown CCTV film showing the drunk brothers banging on the counter and chanting “EDL”.
Trouble then erupted with some of the staff vaulting over the counter and others emerging with knives and steels used for preparing food. Prosecutor Anne Phillips told Maidstone Crown Court the troublemakers were chased out but they returned with others. Darren Edwards got hold of a steel and smashed a display fridge. He also smashed a window as he fled.
Staff in the shop at the time included owner Ianer Timustekin, his brothers Orhan and Murat, father Abdulbaki and cousin Habib Taycur.
Darren Edwards, of Alpha Road, Woking, Surrey, and Wayne Edwards, of Holly Gardens, West Drayton, west London, admitted affray. Darren Edwards also admitted destroying property.