Raise the Colours founder charged with 14 offences including assault

A leading figure in the group that put flags on lampposts has been charged with several offences, including racially aggravated harassment.

Ryan Bridge, 45, from Blackwell in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, is facing charges linked to 14 alleged offences.

Bridge is the founder of Raise the Colours, an activist group that gained attention for hanging flags following anti-immigration protests last year.

The alleged incidents happened in Oxfordshire between January 31 and March 31 this year, the police said.

Bridge has been charged with the following:

• Seven counts of using threatening words or behaviour to cause harassment, alarm or distress
• Three counts of using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent to cause fear of, or provoke, unlawful violence
• Two counts of racially aggravated intentional harassment, alarm or distress
• One count of racially aggravated fear of violence
• One count of common assault

Thames Valley Police said it has been investigating the reports and reviewing evidence, including witness accounts and footage, and it has submitted a file to the Crown Prosecution Service.

The 45-year-old is set to appear at Oxford Magistrates’ Court on November 3.

Oxfordshire County Council sought to stop flag-raising after they appeared on lampposts and road signs.

It won a High Court injunction in July against Bridge, Ben Cullen, Kevin Good, Trudy Wells and anyone else intending to attach flags on highway structures, or harassing council staff removing them.

Tim Bearder, the leader of the county council, said the injunction will help protect residents and workers and ‘keep the highway safe.’

He said the behaviour of Raise the Colours has ’caused fear within our communities for almost a year.’

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