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A right-wing thug offered a ludicrous excuse after he was caught wearing gloves with reinforced knuckle-pads at a neo-Nazi rally.

Brian Stamp was one of three men jailed over their roles in violent clashes with anti-fascists outside Lime Street Station in Liverpool.

A woman was left scarred for life, a man suffered a broken nose and a police officer was knocked unconscious in ugly scenes last year.

Opposing factions hurled missiles and caused up to £25,000 of damage to the historic St George's Hall on February 27, 2016.

(Image: Liverpool Echo)

Nazi swastikas were daubed on walls, cobble stones were torn up from the building’s plateau and a Victorian statue was damaged.

Another officer suffered a broken wrist and a 75-year-old black woman visiting the hall was racially abused and struck in the forehead by a stone.

Stamp was part of a hapless cluster of activists who failed to even make it beyond the Crown Pub and Lord Nelson Street – thanks to riot police.

But he was photographed and filmed screaming obscenities and vile threats at rivals, while also captured on camera wearing an unusual pair of gloves.

Simon Driver, prosecuting, said: "Brian Stamp signalled his intentions for the demonstration when he purchased a pair of gloves with reinforced knuckle-pads.

"He messaged an associate, the evening before the demonstration as follows: 'Demo Eve. Buzzing. LOL. Can't wait mate. Just got-some new bad boy gloves'."

(Image: Handout)

Liverpool Crown Court heard he "repeatedly surged violently" towards the counter-protesters and police lines while being escorted by officers to Lord Nelson Street.

Mr Driver said: "He verbally threatened members of the opposing faction, including the words: 'F*** off... I’ll have your ears mans'."

Stamp, 34, from South Shields, who admitted affray, has previous convictions for affray and a series of batteries.

He was jailed for 16 months last October for his part in another far right march in Dover, which led to violence in January 2016.

Matthew Crowe, defending Stamp, said he was a former alcoholic with mental health problems and going to jail would impact on his 15-year-old son.

Addressing the gloves, which were later seized by police, he said: "My instructions are he had injured his hands before at demonstrations."

He added: "The gloves were not there to assist in violence, they were there to assist his hands."

(Image: Liverpool Echo) (Image: UGC)

Judge Andrew Menary, QC, who raised an eyebrow during the mitigation, jailed Stamp for 16 months.

He told him: "In the incident, you were effectively 'kettled' by the police.

"But you had come to Liverpool prepared for a fight and were verbally aggressive when marshalled by the officers."

The "anti-immigration" event was held by the North West Infidels after fellow right-wing supporters were humiliated when trying to march in Liverpool in August 2015.

Organisers Shane Calvert and Wayne Bell were in a faction stood on the steps of St George's Hall, where neo-Nazi flags were displayed and Nazi-style 'sieg heil' salutes made.

(Image: Handout) (Image: Handout)

Calvert, 36, from Blackburn, was jailed for two years and Bell, 37, from Castleford, for two-and-a-half years, after they were convicted of conspiracy to commit violent disorder.

Nikki Prescott, 43, from Blackburn, and Alan Raine, 41, from Sunderland, admitted affray and both received 16-month jail sentences, suspended for two years.

David Watson, defending unemployed Raine, said his client, who is due to become a father, accepted being abusive.

His previous convictions include battery and discharging a firework in the street during "football-related violence".

Douglas Stuart, defending Prescott, who has convictions for dishonesty, said his involvement was "limited to words rather than physical actions".

He said the dad-of-three worked in a warehouse and as an SIA licensed doorman, prompting Judge Menary to remark: "I wonder why."