Two men have been charged following the violent disorder in Southampton on Tuesday evening in the wake of the sentencing of Henry Nowak’s murderer.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) announced the charges after riots on Tuesday evening in the Hampshire port city following the conclusion of the court case, which led to the injury of 11 police officers and a police dog.
Matt Styler, 50, of no fixed abode from Gosport, has been charged with assault by beating of an emergency worker.
Daniel Frost, 44, of Northam Road, Southampton, has been charged with violent disorder and possession of an offensive weapon.
The pair will appear at Southampton Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
Sophie Stevens, Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS Wessex, said: “We have decided to prosecute Matt Styler with assault of an emergency worker.
“Later our out-of-hours team CPS Direct also directed that Daniel Frost was charged with violent disorder and possession of an offensive weapon – this followed an investigation into alleged offending following protests held in Southampton on Tuesday evening.
“Our prosecutors have worked to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring the case to court and that it is in the public interest to pursue criminal proceedings.
“We have worked closely with Hampshire Police as it has carried out its investigation.”
The Labour MP for Southampton Itchen said “violence is not the answer” in response to the murder of Henry Nowak.
Darren Paffey told BBC Breakfast: “This is a country where we have rule of law, we don’t have vigilante justice, we don’t have people taking things into their own hands.”
Referencing comments by Mr Nowak’s family outside court, the Labour MP said: “They said very, very clearly that they did not want Henry’s murder and the horrendous circumstances that it happened in to be the cause of any violence.
“They said they wanted it to be a catalyst for safer streets.
“What we saw the night before last was the total opposite of that, and I’m afraid those who came to Southampton to whip it up should really hang their heads in shame.
“Of course, we’ve all got questions, we’ve all recoiled in horror at the body-cam footage that we’ve seen of what happened to Henry that night, but violence is not the answer.
“The answers to the questions that we all legitimately have were not helped one single bit by the violence that we saw.”
Responding to an apology by Hampshire Police chief constable Alexis Boon, Mr Paffey said: “Apologies have to be accompanied by action, and what is going to lead to that action is the independent watchdog’s investigation into precisely what’s happened.”
