EDL leader Stephen Lennon spared jail

English Defence League leader Stephen Lennon has received a suspended jail sentence for head butting a fellow member of the group.

Lennon, who pleaded not guilty, received a 12-week sentence suspended for a year at Preston Magistrate Court. He had assaulted his victim shortly after speaking at a rally in Blackburn in April.

The court heard Lennon had launched a verbal assault at a man who was accused of putting messages on the internet about police informers and "grasses" amongst EDL members. Trouble then broke out and Lennon was seen head butting Alan McKee by two police officers who stepped in to stop the trouble.

But a bid to ban him from attending or organising rallies outside his home borough has been rejected. The Crown Prosecution Service and Lancashire Constabulary jointly applied for an ASBO against Lennon but District Judge Peter Ward refused the application.

Lennon, who has been spared jail for now, will also be required to perform 150 hours of unpaid work for the assault conviction and pay £200 costs. Outside the court, Lennon made it clear he would have gone against any kind of order banning him from any further EDL marches.

He said,

"This was an attempt to silence me and take away my democratic rights. I respect the judge for this decision. If the asbo had been imposed, it would have meant me going to jail. I would have broken it and broken it."