Bristol dad of jailed thugs: 'My sons are not racist'

The dad of two Bristol thugs locked up for assaulting and abusing Asian shopkeepers has insisted: "My boys are not racist."

Luke Lovedale and his twin brother Justin, together with Nicholas Gardener, all aged 17, were each jailed for 18 months at Bristol Magistrates' Court yesterday.

The trio screamed racist abuse at the shopkeepers as they beat and kicked them during a night of violence in Bedminster in June. Today one of their victims said the sentence was not long enough and he was still living in fear of racist attacks.

The three yobs sniggered and joked throughout their three-day trial last month and yesterday they sat slouched in the dock, smirking and smiling as they were sent down.

Watched by his mother, Gardener hurled foul-mouthed abuse at the district judge as he reacted to his sentence.

But after watching his sons get sent to prison, Paul Lovedale claimed he was "100 per cent" certain his boys were not racist, and that instead alcohol was to blame.

Last month the three thugs were found guilty of racially assaulting shopkeepers in Bedminster and racially aggravated criminal damage. The court heard they beat four men up during two different attacks on June 6.

In little more than an hour, the twins – who were 16 at the time – savagely punched and kicked Ashok Selvam in Bargain Booze on West Street in Bedminster, before Gardener joined them in an unprovoked attack on Parakram Zala and Girish Patel in Costcutter on North Street.

During their attacks they hurled racist abuse at their victims, threatening to kill them, using foul language and calling them "Pakis".

Gardener also attacked Hardik Patel outside Costcutter on North Street on April 5, punching and kicking him on the ground and screaming racist insults.

All three teenagers were caught on CCTV carrying out their attacks.

The Evening Post fought to lift a court ban so we could name them but we are prevented from revealing where City of Bristol College student Justin and his brother live in south Bristol, or where Gardener lives in Somerset.

Yesterday District Judge David Parsons told the trio the cases against them had been "overwhelming".

He sentenced each to 18 months detention and training – six months for each of their three racist attacks, to run consecutively, and six months each for the racially aggravated criminal damage, to run concurrently. The maximum the trio could have received was two years' custody.

He told the court that the racial dimension to the attacks had added a third to the length of their sentences.

He also gave them anti-social behaviour orders, banning them from entering parts of Southville and Bedminster for 30 months to protect the public. The Asbo stops the twins associating with Gardener in public in specified areas, and prohibits them from causing alarm, harassment or distress to anyone in Southville or Bedminster.

The three will now serve half their sentence at Ashfield Young Offenders Institution, and half under the supervision of a youth offending team.

District Judge Parsons said the trio had committed "ugly and violent crimes", attacks which were degrading and humbling to the victims, who suffered a "life-changing impact" because of their actions.

He told them: "Yours was a cowardly attack where as a group you overwhelmed your victims, targeting them on the basis of their ethnicity.

"You selected your victims for their membership of an ethnic group and treated them with hatred, hostility and violence.

"When you watched the CCTV you showed no empathy, remorse or shame, and unbelievably you revelled in and enjoyed revisiting your ugly and violent crimes. You have little or no understanding of the seriousness of your offences."

Afterwards Mr Lovedale, whose sons do not live with him, said: "I am deeply ashamed at what they have done. It was the drink, because they only seem to get into trouble when alcohol is involved.

"I 100 per cent don't think they are racist. It is impossible for them to be racist, when they are out with their black and Asian friends all the time.

"I am hoping that they won't learn the hard way.

"Now the youth offending team workers have to rebuild their lives so they can be educated to live in a multicultural society."