Former right wing group member fined for carrying screwdriver

A former member of a right wing group found in possession of a seven-inch screwdriver, told magistrates he carried it for his own protection after being assaulted by a group of ‘Asian males’ just a week before.

Bailey Chapman (21) of Bear Lane, Pinchbeck admitted illegally possessing the screwdriver in a public place, when he appeared at Boston Magistrates Court.

Jim Clare, prosecuting, said that during the late evening of October 14, police were told that a man was in possession of a screwdriver and they found him in New Road.

He admitted to them that he had the screwdriver for protection as he had been assaulted by several men in balaclavas a few days before.

Chapman, who was not represented, told the magistrates that at the time he had been involved in some right wing groups and that as he had been walking home a few days before, he had been attacked by “four Asians in balaclavas” who “cut his face open” and were racially abusive to him, adding that he had been carrying the screwdriver for protection.

He said he was no longer involved with the right wing groups.

The magistrates were told by the Probation Service that Chapman had been made subject to a community order for assault just three weeks before this incident and that he was “fully complying” with the order and engaging with probation officers.

He was fined £120 and ordered to pay £117 in court costs and charges.