A Darlington man caught up in the violent disorder that swept through a North East town has denied throwing stones at police officers.
Joseph MacKenzie told jurors that he had no intention of causing trouble on the day and had only turned up in Middlesbrough to show support for the three young girls killed in Southport.
The 28-year-old accepted that he shouted at the police but maintained it was only out of frustration when they wouldn’t let him make his way to his car when trouble flared.
Teesside Crown Court heard how MacKenzie walked with a pronounced limp due to his ‘club foot’ and had difficulty walking long distances.
During his evidence, the defendant told the jury that he tried to leave area when it started to get violent as he didn’t want anything to do with that kind of behaviour.
His barrister, Alaric Walmsley, asked him whether he had become involved in the disorder.
He replied: “I had no intention of committing any violence at all. That’s not the character that I am, I’m not a violent person at all.”
When asked why he didn’t just leave the area, he said: “I tried to get to my car, I tried to explain to them (the police) I had a bad leg and my car was there but they were having none of it.”
Mr Walmsley asked what happened next. He replied: “I was frustrated that I wasn’t allowed to leave because I didn’t want to be associated with the violence that was going on, the throwing of wheelie bins and missiles, I wanted nothing to do with that.”
The defendant categorically denied that he had thrown anything at the police but accepted he had been shouting at them out of frustration.
Jurors watched a CCTV compilation of MacKenzie’s movements on August 4 which showed him at the forefront of the protesters standing in the way of the police line.
Under cross-examination, Rachel Masters, prosecuting, asked MacKenzie why he was filming the police during the stand-off.
He replied: “I was doing it for my own personal protection.”
The defendant denied shouting abuse at the officers but accepted that he was shouting at them.
Mackenzie, 28, of Skeldale Grove, Darlington; and Kaleb Peacock-Lightfoot, 20, of Dixon Grove, Middlesbrough; both deny violent disorder from August 4.
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Charges against a fourth man, Christopher Howard, were dropped on the second day of the trial when the prosecution offered no evidence against the 42-year-old Middlesbrough man.
A fifth defendant, Ethan Bowes, pleaded guilty to violent disorder and possession of an offensive weapon on the day of the trial.
The 19-year-old, of Woodhouse Road, Guisborough, will be sentenced on January 14 next year and was remanded in custody while a pre-sentence report was completed.
The trial continues.
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