Ryan Bridge, ringleader of the Raise the Colours movement heralded by ex-EDL leader Tommy Robinson, is being pursued for an eight-year sentence in Spain
A ringleader of the controversial flag campaign, backed by far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson, faces jail over an alleged holiday sickness scam.
Ryan Bridge is a key figure behind the Raise the Colours movement, which was heralded by the ex-EDL leader. But we can reveal he is being pursued for an eight-year sentence in Spain over claims of fraud and membership of a criminal group.
The 44-year-old has been the centre of a probe into Brit tourists encouraged to make bogus compensation claims. Earlier this month, Robinson shared a Raise the Colours post boasting about a “migrant boat” being “destroyed” featuring a video of Bridge on the French coast.
Activist Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, said: “These lads are smashing it, showing what a group of normal working class lads coming together can do”. Raise the Colours’ website, which claims to have raised over £75,000, says what “started as a few flags… has grown into a campaign to cover Britain in symbols of unity and patriotism”.
But concern has been raised that flags are, in fact, being hijacked as a symbol of prejudice rather than pride. Last month, ex-England footballer Gary Neville told how he removed a union flag from one of his development sites. In a recent video, Bridge said he would “f**king smack” Neville “in his f**king face”. Raising flags has been linked to the far-right, with anti-racism campaign group Hope Not Hate revealing the similarly-named “Operation Raise the Flags” was founded by an ally of Robinson.
Bridge, from Worcestershire, has sought to distance himself from the far-right but a speech uncovered by the Mirror offers a window into his views. Clad in a yellow vest, he rants “unvetted refugees are not welcome… we don’t know who they are” – claiming “they’re murderers, killers”.
And in a video posted this month, he harangues a man — apparently from Egypt — outside a hotel, demanding to know why he has come to England. Villagers living where Bridge erected flags told how non-white people in the area felt scared, the BBC reported last month. “Some people have been in tears because of the clear far-right racism that these flags represent,” one said.
The Sunday Mirror revealed in 2018 how Bridge had been named by Spanish cops in relation to an alleged holiday illness racket. Last year, it was confirmed public prosecutors opted against accusing Bridge and seven other British suspects, including alleged ringleader Laura Holmes Cameron, of any crimes. But lawyers acting for hoteliers who claim to have been defrauded did decide to go to trial against the eight Brits charged by an investigating magistrate after a lengthy criminal probe. Under Spanish law they have the same right as state prosecutors to demand prison sentences and fines in pre-trial indictments drafted before defendants take the stand.
In the ongoing case involving Bridge, lawyers for three separate hotel groups are pursuing criminal prosecutions. Two want Bridge jailed for eight years if convicted at trial of aggravated fraud and membership of a criminal gang. The third, the Mallorca Hotel Business Federation (FEHM) is seeking a five-year prison sentence for Bridge if he is found guilty of the same offences at a trial which will take place at Majorca’s Provincial Court.
The FEHM said in its indictment of Bridge’s role in the alleged scam: “The entities UK Holiday Claims and Nationwide run by the accused, who was aware that there was no poisoning whatsoever and that this was, in fact, a form of unjust enrichment, filed claims against the tour operators with whom the tourists had booked their trips, falsely alleging that the customers had suffered some harm directly attributable to the hotel and providing receipts for medicines purchased in Majorca to alleviate said harm.”
Bridge and Holmes Cameron tried to halt their prosecution with an appeal during the earlier stages of the investigation against them, claiming Spanish courts did not have the right to take legal action against them because the claims were made in the UK. Appeal judges dismissed the plea after the hotel groups’ lawyers argued crimes intrinsic to the alleged scam had been committed in Spain.
Investigating magistrate Maria Perez Ruiz has said the amount of compensation obtained in the UK “far exceeded” €200,000 (£176,000) but insisted it can be properly quantified at a later date. Responding to defence claims of a lack of criminal evidence against their clients, the investigating magistrate said in a key court ruling before prosecution indictments were submitted: “There is ample evidence of criminal activity that has been gathered as a result of the proceedings carried out.”
Earlier this month, Mill Media referenced the Mirror’s earlier story on Bridge being investigated in Spain in a piece about the flag movement, reporting he claimed the trial had already happened. However, Carolina Ruiz, the lawyer prosecuting the eight accused including Bridge on behalf of Mac Hotels, told us: “All we’re waiting for now is a trial date. Ryan Bridge is one of the eight people we are taking action against.
“I submitted my indictment on November 28 2023, calling for Bridge to receive a six-year prison sentence for a crime of aggravated fraud and a two-year prison sentence for membership of a criminal organisation if he is convicted of those two crimes at trial. He is one of the eight people who are due to be put on trial. The public prosecutor to our surprise has decided not to formally accuse anyone of any crimes but two hotel groups including one I represent and the local hotel federation have done so.” Bridge was contacted for comment.