Skip-fire killer took potshots at Jewish man
His mindless "pranks" have ended in pain and tragedy. Now skip fire killer Kris Cherry has been exposed as a member of the BNP in court after he fired potshots from a pellet gun at members of Gateshead’s Jewish community.
Just three weeks ago the 20-year-old was named for the first time as the youth who killed Michael Temperley by setting fire to the skip he was trapped in. Both boys were 15 when Cherry lit paper and pushed it through a gap between the skip’s door and its frame, on the Team Valley Retail Park, Gateshead, six years ago. There was nothing motorists and nearby shop staff could do to free Michael as debris inside caught fire.
Cherry was locked away for four years’ detention after he was found guilty of manslaughter at Newcastle Crown Court in March.
Today Cherry is at the start of a 12-month supervision order after being brought back before the courts to be sentenced for firing a toy pellet-gun at a Jewish man “for a laugh”.
In court, prosecutor Jenny Hart referred to police records to inform magistrates that Cherry had been a known member of the British National Party, and he still bears a tattoo in loyalty to the party.
Cherry’s lawyer Michael Foley challenged the claim, but conceded his client’s 2006 conviction for being drunk and disorderly had involved him tearing around the streets, chasing Jews.
The court heard the male victim had been walking along Rydal Street, at the centre of the North East’s biggest Orthodox Jewish Community, in Bensham, Gateshead, on March 14, when he was hit by the plastic pellets, fired by Cherry from his silver Rover. Unhurt, he took down the registration and contacted police. In a victim impact statement, he explained he dialled 999 fearing ignorance of smaller incidents could lead to more serious attacks.
He said: “I am an Orthodox Jew and feel the assault was religiously motivated because I an easily identifiable by my clothing.”
In a police interview Cherry, unemployed, of Field House Road, Bensham, said: “It was a laugh for myself, but to be honest I don’t like Jewish people. I just don’t like them. Yes I did it for a laugh, but to scare him.”
He had previously pleaded guilty to carrying out religiously aggravated common assault. Yesterday, prosecutor Ms Hart told magistrates they should be aware of aggravating features from Cherry’s past.
She said: “The defendant was a member, or at the least associated with a group promoting racial hostility towards race and religion. He is, or was, a BNP member, according to police, and he has a BNP tattoo on his wrist.”
The family, friends, and community around Joseph Swan School pupil Michael Temperley were thrown into turmoil after his death.
But a year later Cherry’s sentence for starting the fire was cut to three years by London’s Criminal Appeal Court. Seeking the sentence cut, Cherry’s QC Peter Lodder said the tragic incident had been a “prank”.
Chairman of magistrates James Dawson told Cherry he would also be electronically tagged and made the subject of a three-month curfew, banning him from being out between 8pm and 7am, each night.
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