Rave organisers banned from forest
10 January 2007 | 08:21
LORRAINE PRICE
FIVE men have been banned from entering an East Anglian forest for their part in organising an illegal rave which brought misery to people living nearby.
The five, who admitted staging the rave near Bury St Edmunds, were also banned from attending such events for the next year and ordered to pay hundreds of pounds in court costs.
District Judge David Cooper, sentencing the five men, said: “This is extreme thoughtlessness. It causes sheer misery to a large number of people who live in dread of just these sorts of events, which ruins their peace of mind and tranquil lives.
“I know that wasn’t your intention but that’s what such events do. People want to live quietly, that is why they live in these places.”
The men involved in organising the event were all banned from the King’s Forest following the rave at the isolated village of North Stow, near Elveden, on April 30 last year, which ended in violence after a raid by Suffolk police, magistrates in Bury heard.
Samuel West, 21, of Little Melton Road in Hethersett, Norfolk, Anthony Hall, 20, of High Street, Brandon, David Graves, 20, of Ash Close, Heathersett, Norfolk, Stephen Singleton, 26, of Pretorial Cottages, West Acre, Norfolk, and Stephen Forster, 20, of Beccles Road, Lowestoft, were all banned from the forest for one year.
All five pleaded guilty to carrying on an unauthorised licensable activity. They were all banned from attending any unlicensed music events for one year and ordered to pay £300 costs each.
Hall was put under the supervision of probation officers for the next six months. Singleton and West were both ordered to do 60 hours of unpaid community service
Adelle Parker, 24 of Magdalan Street, Norwich, and Singleton also admitted resisting or obstructing a constable in the execution of duty as the rave was broken up. Parker was given a conditional discharge and ordered to pay £300 costs.
Aaron Ward, 19, of Fairland Terrace, Hingham, Norfolk admitted using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent to cause fear of, or to produce violence. He was fined £300 and ordered to pay £300 costs.
lorraine.price@eadt.co.uk
