The far right have long framed hate as “protecting the community”. The spate of anti-migrant protests that commenced this summer is no exception, with organisers exploiting local safety concerns through racist scapegoating. Chants of “Save our kids” mingle with “Tell the nation, remigration” and “Send them home”.
This has given way to a resurgent trend amongst far-right actors in the form of vigilante groups. Across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, far-right “patrol teams” claim to protect the local communities from the threat of asylum seekers. But behind the promise of protection lies intimidation. Many of these self-styled guardians are little more than bullies with violent pasts, dressing up harassment as “public safety”.
Vigilantism is a long-standing tradition of the far right. Back in 2014, the anti-Muslim group Britain First hosted ‘Christian Patrols’ whereby packs of activists roamed the streets in areas with large Muslim populations and ‘invaded’ mosques. Britain First also made a short-lived attempt to “patrol” the South East coast in order to “defend” it from cross-Channel migrants. In doing so, they mimicked other vigilante groups like South East Coastal Defence, which included former English Defence League (EDL) activists in its membership.
After the most recent series of anti-migrant protests and heightened tensions around public safety, there has been a resurgence of vigilantism. HOPE not hate have already covered UKIP’s exploits in Calais, where they recently walked the streets at night harassing asylum seekers. However, new groups have sprung up across the country that seek to take matters into their own hands.
In Northern Ireland, the East Belfast Nightwatch First Division openly threatens people of colour, while in Bournemouth the Safeguard Force hosts ex-EDL members. Aberdeen Against Illegal Migration invites John Carr to speak, a member of the fascist Homeland Party. The Shield is led by a man who claims violence is his “comfort zone” and tells abuse victims to face their trauma by “embracing the feeling of being pinned down”.
The most extreme anti-migrant vigilante group is The East Belfast Nightwatch First Division, which The Guardian reported is “seeking out dark-skinned males” to question them about identity documents and their reasons for being in east Belfast. In one clip, a member harassed a man sat on a park bench, forcing him to leave: “Hurry up, before I fucking remove you myself”. Their actions have earned them multiple social media bans, stripping the group of almost any online presence.
Key figures include Mark Payne, who was convicted for attempted murder after stabbing a 14-year-old boy. He was also charged with the intimidation of two female witnesses, who reported him waving a knife at them, as well as stealing a kitchen knife and possessing an offensive deadly weapon in a public place in connection with a burglary.
Another member is Mark Sinclair, known online as “Freedom Dad”, an ex-UVF bank robber who was jailed for 17 years. In court, he claimed to have been recruited by MI5 to spy on loyalist paramilitaries, which was later determined to be a lie. More recently, he racially abused a Chinese passenger on a ferry to Liverpool to attend Tommy Robinson’s Unite the Kingdom rally this September.
Sinclair is a staunch defender of Glen Kane, regularly attending his court dates to snag an interview. Kane is a convicted sectarian murderer, jailed for nine years for being part of a gang who beat a Catholic man to death in 1992. Sinclair recently interviewed Kane outside a courthouse where Kane was charged with intent to stir up racial hatred, after a selection of far-right material and religious pamphlets were found at his home.
The group leader is Neil Pinkerton, who boasts of an extreme history of animal abuse. In a 2018 photo, he holds a dead fox in one hand and his dog, Judy, in the other. Judy had been forced into a fox hole and mauled so badly that her muzzle was skinned. In 2022 Pinkerton had 12 dogs seized from his home, where he had kept them in cages for hunting purposes. He was also given a suspended sentence under the Dangerous Dog Act in 2024, after a dog in his care attacked an 11-year-old boy.
Pinkerton recently appeared in court in relation to assault and theft charges linked to his activity as part of the vigilante group. He remains in custody on charges of assault, disorderly behaviour, harassment, attempted criminal damage and incitement to hatred, having also been accused of racially abusing a delivery driver.
In Bournemouth, the Safeguard Force offers neat uniforms and an official looking website. Made up of around 200 people, they claim to enhance community safety “by patrolling hotspot areas, collaborating with local police, and raising awareness of their presence”. This is despite the fact that, as is the case with most groups of this type, Dorset police have forthrightly refused to endorse them, citing “significant concerns”.
Recently, the Dorset Eye exposed the group’s leader, Gary Bartlett, as the admin of Facebook group “Taking back our country”. The newspaper described the account as “awash with Islamaphobic posts, anti-migrant propaganda, and calls to arms”, referencing one post from Barlett featuring an AI-generated image of a gun mounted on a beach telescope. He describes this as his “new business venture”, a disturbing attempt at humour.
Other members of the Safeguard Force have questionable pasts. HOPE not hate have uncovered that one of their volunteers was an active member of the EDL in the 2010s. Photos of him show his activity in 2012 and 2013 EDL marches, proudly flying the group’s flag. The same man has also been active in local anti-migrant protests at the Roundhouse hotel, as well as Tommy Robinson marches.
Where some vigilante groups have attempted to distance themselves from their members’ racist politics, in Aberdeen they have no such concerns. Aberdeen Against Illegal Migration (AAIM) has organised multiple anti-migrant demonstrations in the past few months, but have also been attempting to run night patrols to “keep the streets safe”.
HOPE not hate exposed AAIM to be hosting Geoffrey Farquharson, who once sent death threats to an MP, at their protests. However, he is not the only member of the group who seems deeply unsuited to running a safety patrol.
Also involved is local fascist Gavin Turpie. Turpie, who has also dabbled in Britain First and the British Democrats, has been spotted at AAIM events wearing the group’s branded shirts, and at another sporting the gear of the neo-Nazi band Skrewdriver.
Moreover, a leading speaker at AAIM protests has been John Carr, a member of the fascist Homeland Party. Carr is an ex-royal marine who was interviewed by counter-terrorism police over alleged neo-Nazi links. The Telegraph reported that during his time as a marine, he wrote a letter to military chiefs expressing concerns that standards were being lowered for female recruits as part of a political ploy to promote women in the army. He claimed this would either “destroy” the marines or “create an unrecognisable, weak and compromised” version.
Carr’s protest speeches are packed with racist conspiracy theories, claiming we live in an “anti-white society” which “wants to replace us”. He steeps anti-migrant rhetoric in racial language: “Without white lives matter, we will never stop the boats… remigration will never be done without the foundation of white lives matter”.
Police Scotland have told locals not to get involved in AAIM’s street patrols, directing any concerns they may have about public safety to 101 or 999 in an emergency.
The Shield promises to provide a public service to counter predatory behaviour. Their aim is for “people know there is someone in the area all the time”, with an app which means “they can just press a button… and somebody will be there for you” if they are under threat.
The Shield is not an explicitly anti-migrant organisation, but was formed in the context of the broader far-right scene. Hargreaves has appeared on both The Dozen, hosted by Tommy Robinson’s close ally Liam Tuffs, as well as Voice of Wales, a far-right group of ‘citizens journalists’. The Shield also has an intense focus on men “being what they are designed to be” through their role as a protector.
Hargreaves is – by his own admittance – a violent man. He claims that he was suspended from school aged 13 after breaking a PE teacher’s legs (the PE teacher had asked him to run around a field). At 14, he started work as a doorman at clubs, and described a career of violence with “no limits” where he would often have to be “pulled off” people. He has been in prison multiple times, all for violent charges, one of which was a firearms charge.
His attitudes towards victims are also deeply damaging and inappropriate. In one clip, he speaks about a woman who had contacted him regarding having dreams where she relived her abuse, being “pinned down” and “forced upon”. Hargreaves advises her to “love it, embrace it… enjoy the feeling of being surrendered. Enjoy the feeling of being pinned down”. Hargreaves’ advice to victims is downright disturbing; throughout the video, he raises his eyebrows in a horribly suggestive manner.
The Shield has undergone criticism both internally and externally; Hargreaves was hounded on X by elements of the far right for appointing Muslim volunteers to leadership positions, resulting in him quitting the platform altogether. He was also criticised by former abuse survivors for his behaviour around victims, particularly in allegations that he shared sensitive information both online and with colleagues.
The emergence of vigilante groups is reflective of a well-rehearsed public safety narrative being used to target people of colour, and of a growing distrust of the police amongst a variety of political affiliations. Groups which claim to offer a public service are often thuggish in nature, donning official sounding titles in an attempt to legitimise street harassment.
Many feel that the police are not doing enough to prevent street-level crime, desiring a return ‘bobbies on the beat’ style policing to deter anti-social behaviour. This is understandable, as social media makes violent crime more visible than ever. However, vigilante groups capitalise on this concern to justify aggressive street patrols which unfairly target people of colour.
Prefer to listen? Click the play button to hear the audio version. Harry Shukman Reform UK is staffed by oddballs and enigmas, but none odder…
