Violent racist jailed for brutal attack revealed as founder of Heywood ‘school patrol’ group

One of the founders of a neighbourhood patrol group which has been ‘standing guard’ outside schools in a Greater Manchester town is a violent convicted racist, the Local Democracy Reporting Service have revealed.

Organisers behind Heywood Community Guard say it was set up to ‘keep women and children safe’ in response to concerns about asylum seekers being housed in the town. But the LDRS can reveal that in 2022 one of its founder members, Adam Farrell, was jailed after he left an innocent man with life-changing brain injuries in an unprovoked racist attack outside a nightclub.

After punching the victim in the face, the then 35-year-old then made a string of vile racist statements in the back of a police van, including ‘P**** went down like a sack of black s***’ and ‘Yo little n**** go to sleep, hope he dies’.

At Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court, Farrell, then of Middleton Road, Heywood, was jailed for three years and four months after admitting racially aggravated grievous bodily harm. The court heard Farrell, who also goes by the name Addy Carroll, had previous convictions for racially aggravated criminal damage, harassment and assault.

Farrell’s criminal past emerged during a Manchester Evening News/Local Democracy Reporting Service investigation into HCG. It’s understood numerous members of the public have raised concerns about the group’s activities, which include ‘standing guard’ outside school gates and patrolling the streets at night while wearing high-vis vests with the name of the group on the back.

The LDRS approached Mr Farrell via another founder of the HCG, Jamie Thomason, who said Mr Farrell will not comment as he’s ‘stepped away and tired of being labelled as a racist’.

Mr Thomason was inspired into taking action after splitting up an alleged attack just outside his home in Darnhill. He told the LDRS how this experience led to him joining an anti-immigration protest in Heywood, where he met Mr Farrell for the first time.

Mr Thomason said: “I live above a shop in Darnhill, Heywood. One day I heard my mate shout at me, ‘Jamie, Jamie, Jamie’ – so I went to the balcony and my mate said ‘get down here quick this guy is beating a woman up’.

“So I ran down the stairs and I saw this guy, about six foot five, looked like he was from another country. I’m not racist, my son is mixed-race.

“He’s shouting in this foreign language and this girl is screaming. I intervened then the police turned up and shouted at me to let him go. I did, I had no choice.

“I was a professional bare knuckle boxer, I fought for my country. This is my new fight now.

“I am a general, I am a born general and I will lead this and I will not stop because I know in my heart this is right and I will succeed.”

His hope is to create a security patrol that would essentially rule out the need for police in the area to keep order, so they could focus on other crimes going on.

One member of the public, who asked not to be named, said: “I feel intimidated. The schools don’t want them there. They just feel like vigilantes to me.

“They create the bad atmosphere they are talking about protecting people from. They are trying to sow hate and division.

“Lots of people are feeling fearful and concerned. None of them are background checked. I feel like it is spiralling in Heywood – it just feels really wrong.”

Leaked messages from the HCG WhatsApp group, first reported by Roch Valley Radio, show members using slurs against black and Jewish people and discussing fears ‘millions of Muslims’ were ‘ready to fight’. One member used the N word and shared a Google maps location pin after saying he had seen a black man with a ‘London accent’ in the town.

Other members apparently joke about joining a gun club or an archery club for ‘improving aim when we’re out hunting them there deer’.

Mr Thomason admitted this WhatsApp group he created named ‘Keep Heywood Safe’, was where it’s ‘gone pear-shaped’.

However, he denies this was the official chat group of the HCG and was used to get an understanding of problem areas for anti-social behaviour and crime. Mr Thomason clarified that anyone who made racist remarks on the chat is not involved in the HCG and is not on patrols or guarding school gates.

The latest town hall meeting in Rochdale on October 15 saw a unanimous cross-party condemnation of the language used in the WhatsApp chat as well as the HCG itself.

Rochdale council leader Neil Emmott said: “We’ve all been alarmed over the last few weeks at the rise of what can only be described as a vigilante group in Heywood. They are allegedly calling themselves Heywood Community Guard.

“I think it’s very dangerous when people think they can move in that direction. There have been some quite unsavoury comments made by this group.

“I would hope all political groups in this chamber would be able to condemn these comments and condemn the group using them.”

A joint letter sent by all schools in Heywood on October 6, raised concerns about HCG and ‘strongly encouraged’ parents ‘not to engage’ with the patrol.

It read: “Neither our school, GMP, nor the LA (local authority) endorses, collaborates with, or permits access to the school site for this or any similar community patrol group. We have been strongly advised by the authorities not to engage with this group or allow them access to the school site.”

HCG was formed in the wake of an anti-immigration protest which took place in Heywood in late August. The demo, thought to have been organised by Farrell, saw protesters march through the streets of the town holding Union Jack banners with the slogans ‘Save our children’, ‘Stop the boats’ and ‘Close the HMOs’.

Roch Valley Radio reported marchers were heard chanting in support of far-right activist Tommy Robinson. In the weeks following the protest Mr Thomason began asking for volunteers to form a patrol via the ‘Heywood HMO protesters’ Facebook page.

Since then the page, which has 2,700 followers, has shared several AI-generated images of bloodied crusaders, a meme reading ‘Being called far right today is like being called a witch in the middle ages, no evidence is needed and it helped the authorities get rid of the ones they didn’t like,’ and a picture of a Union Jack clothing patch with the message ‘Fit in or f*** off’.

In a number of posts Mr Thomason also falsely claims HCG has the backing of Greater Manchester Police. An example of one of these social media posts reads ‘I have spoken to GMP and we have their full backing as long as we do as I have stated and we will’.

In response GMP said: “Policing teams across Greater Manchester work with community groups every single day, from speed-watch schemes to local park groups who want to tackle anti-social behaviour in their area. We will always provide the necessary advice to these groups who want to assist their communities.

“We are aware of a group operating in the Heywood area, and while we do not have a partnership with them, we will work to ensure they follow the appropriate laws and guidance during any activities they carry out. We are additionally working to address concerns raised by members of the public, and will take the appropriate action regarding any issues that have been reported to us.

“The public are always advised to call the police to report a crime, or in the event of an emergency.”

Speaking to the LDRS, Mr Thomason said Farrell had stepped back from the HCG since a report of his conviction was shared on social media. He also denied Farrell was racist and said he had ‘no regrets’ about involving him in the group.

He said: “That criminal conviction, they’re saying it’s racist, but the guy is not racist, he’s had mixed-race partners in the past. Because the guy (who was attacked) was Asian they’ve labelled it as racist.

“I didn’t know him that well, I met him at the first protest in Heywood. I didn’t know much about him initially but he’s certainly not a racist guy. We actually went to the synagogue (after the Heaton Park synagogue terror attack) to take flowers.”

The local Reform party has shown its support for HCG. Sharing an apparently AI-generated video of two men wearing HCG vests on patrol on Facebook, the party described the group as a ‘truly inspiring display of community spirit!’ and shared the incorrect claim the group had the ‘police’s blessing’ and were ‘DBS checked’.

The post from the Reform UK Heywood Middleton Rochdale account added: “The people of Heywood deserve tremendous credit for taking a stand. It shows remarkable courage and dedication that these Heywood Community Guards have stepped up to patrol our streets and schools.”

But Reform councillor Jordan Tarrant-Short and the wider Reform party later rowed back on some of that praise. He said: “Local community groups play a vital role in protecting residents and promoting civic responsibility. Many individuals involved in these efforts act with honour and integrity, and their contributions are deeply appreciated.

“Unfortunately, It is evident that some members of the Heywood Community Guard have not upheld the moral standards expected of such a group.”

But Coun Tarrant-Short also referenced a police incident involving an asylum seeker said to have taken place in Heywood in mid-August. Following the incident MP Elsie Blundell called on the authorities to reconsider housing single male asylum seekers in a house of multiple occupation in central Heywood.

Coun Tarrant-Short added: “However when Labour-run local authorities endanger their local communities by housing a violent individual with a concerning background directly opposite a nursery, it is no wonder that some feel they have no choice but to take matters into their own hands.”

In response a Labour spokesperson said: “The fact the Reform UK Heywood has aligned themselves with and shown support for – what has transpired to be (according to leaked WhatsApp messages) a hostile, conspiratorial and unregulated vigilante-style group is unsurprising.

“It is clear that Reform UK have no interest in the residents in the constituencies that they are supposed to serve and that elections to them, are a means to further promote their vile agenda of division, decline and grievance to the detriment of hard-working people in the community.”

A Rochdale council spokesperson said: “We are aware of concerns in the Heywood area regarding a group calling themselves ‘Heywood Community Guard’ carrying out patrols. This group is not supported by the council and this message has been circulated to local schools as part of our joint communication with Greater Manchester Police.

“Schools have also been asked not to engage with this group or permit them access to their sites. Given their presence outside local schools we understand parents may have concerns and we urge anyone who believes their child’s safety is at risk to contact Greater Manchester Police by calling 101 (or 999 in an emergency) or our community safety team at community.safety@rochdale.gov.uk.”

A GoFundMe page set up by the group has been suspended by the fundraising platform after concerns were raised. Mr Thomason said this had raised just over £3,000 – to be used for walkie talkies, stab-proof vests, and jackets for volunteers – before the page was frozen by website administrators.

A GoFundMe spokesperson said: “We have removed this campaign for violating our terms of service.”