James Goddard latest: Self-styled yellow vest protester found guilty of assaulting photographer at Manchester demonstration

Goddard was found guilty of assault
PA
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Self-styled yellow vest protester James Goddard has been found guilty of assaulting a photojournalist at Manchester Magistrates Court.

Joel Goodman was covering the protest at Piccadilly Gardens for the Manchester Evening News on February 9 when Goddard allegedly approached him and lunged twice at the photographer to grab his camera.

The 29-year-old was arrested five days later by police at his home address in Timperley, Greater Manchester.

Goddard first came to public attention when he was pictured shouting at MP Anna Soubry earlier this year.

Goddard was convicted of the first charge but found not guilty of the public order offence.
PA

He denied a single charge of common assault, and a public order offence of using threatening and abusive words and behaviour with intent to cause fear of unlawful violence.

He was convicted of the first charge but found not guilty of the public order offence.

​During the hearing at Manchester Magistrates' Court, as Mr Goodman began his evidence in the witness box, Goddard surreptitiously held up a piece of paper to him, with the words, "P**** coward leftist soy boy" written on it.

Three of Goddard's supporters were also ordered to leave court.

Police officers were called to court to seize the piece of paper but District Judge Mark Hadfield chose not to pursue the matter as a contempt of court issue and continued proceedings.

PA

Goddard told the court his words were a "common English idiom".

He was fined £300 for the common assault, and ordered to pay £500 in prosecution costs, £50 compensation to Mr Goodman, and a £30 victim impact surcharge.

Earlier today, Mr Goodman told the court how he was working a shift covering a 'yellow vest' protest and counter-demonstration at Piccadilly Gardens.

He was wearing a body-camera and the court was shown footage of the incidents, which began at around 12.30pm when Goddard noticed Mr Goodman, who he approached and appeared to lunge at, twice trying to grab his camera.

Supporters of James Goddard outside Manchester Magistrates' Court
PA

Mr Goodman backs away, shouting: "Don't you dare touch my lens!"

About 20 minutes later, Mr Goodman told the court that Goddard approached him again.

Goddard is filmed telling him: "When there's no police around here, I'm going to take your head off your shoulders.

"Next time you are in London, you are finished, all the football lads know you. Next time you are down, see what happens."

Using a megaphone and surrounded by yellow vest supporters, Goddard is then recorded referring to "Joel" and saying: "Your card is marked."

A further 20 minutes later, there is a third encounter where the two argue about freedom of speech and the right to protest and the right of Mr Goodman to take photos.

The discussion ends in a handshake.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in