Woman gets jail time after taking child to hotel protest gone wrong
A local woman faced consequences for joining a protest with an 11-year-old boy at her side. The court heard evidence of her shouting at police during riots near asylum-seekers hotel last summer
Aimie Hodgkinson-Hedgecox got a 27-month jail term for her part in last summers protest near a Tamworth Holiday Inn Express. The 37-year old (who has done wrong 30 times before) took an 11-year-old boy to what turned into a big-scale riot
Its a joke‚ its a f---ing p---take
The court saw video clips showing her in shorts and croc-style shoes yelling at police officers; she had to grab the young boy away when someone shot fireworks at the law-enforcement. Her lawyer said she just wanted to go to a skate-park that day but joined the crowd after seeing whats happening
The protest turned real bad with these issues:
- Hotel got damaged
- Someone poured gas inside
- Hundreds joined the violent acts
- Police had to protect people inside
Judge Jonathan Gosling said: this wasnt politics - it was pure chaos (and bringing a child made things way worse). The defense tried to show she didnt have racist views and left quickly after yelling at police‚ but court decided she helped make a peaceful protest turn into something dangerous
Her lawyer Stephen Rudge told court she regrets that day: she didnt plan it‚ didnt know anyone there‚ and just made a real-bad choice. Still‚ the judge said endangering lives cant be excused with community work
