Wellgate violence trial: Man denies racist slur

Reece Mclaren (21), of Huddersfield, denied being affiliated to any right-wing organisations and using racist language towards Asian men, who had been on the counter protest, as they walked past the William Fry pub on Wellgate on September, 5 2015.

The trial has previously heard from an eye-witness, James Mercer, who said he heard Mclaren shout “P***”, but Mclaren said Mr Mercer had picked out the wrong man in the police identification parade.

Mclaren, who is one of seven men on trial for the fracas, said he made the 54-mile round trip to the town for the first time on September 5 with co-accused, David Woodward (48) of Sowerby Bridge, and Andrew Fox (48) of Halifax, to arrange a trip to watch England play with two of Woodward’s Rotherham friends.

Prosecutor, Mr Paul O’Shea asked: “Could these plans not have been made over the phone?”

Mclaren said he wanted to get to know the men as he was going to be sharing a room with them on the football trip and claimed he did not know the right-wing march was taking place.

Mr O’Shea said the visit to Rotherham came just two weeks after Mclaren had been involved in another incident where he had been outside a pub and threw a glass at a man.

Giving evidence Mclaren denied he was affiliated to any right-wing groups and called one outfit, the English Defence League, “a set of jokers”.

The defendant said they began drinking in the Bridge Inn in the town centre because they were physically “pushed into it” and “couldn’t leave because police were everywhere”.

He said they never made contact with Woodward’s Rotherham friends because they were in a pub they could not get to.

Instead, the men made their way to the William Fry, he said, because they could not get in anywhere else and were there for around 30 minutes before the trouble erupted outside.

Three Rotherham men — Daniel Lee Luty (20), of Redshank Road, Henry Mark Fisher (21), of Rockingham Road, and John Sheridan (26) of Henley Way — also deny violent disorder along with Dennis Farrell (31), of Halifax.

The trial continues.