'Someone went to prison for wanting to burn us down'

INSIDE CITY'S INDEPENDENT AND ALTERNATIVE FIVE LEAVES BOOKSHOP

- By LOUIS CORBETT

HIDDEN away in a small alleyway off the Old Market Square, Five Leaves - an independent bookshop aims to represent minorities, campaign for political issues and strive to differ from that of commercial bookshops.

Yet this ethos and political mantra of the small shop off Long Row has had its trials and tribulations.

Five Leaves serves the people of Nottingham in unique ways, including by offering events, campaigns, radical publications, and a mirrored representation of society in its stock.

The shop has been the focus of a number of threats and hate over the years.

"A year before last, somebody went to prison for four and a half years for wanting to burn us down. That's a little extreme compared to other people who may not like what we do," said its founder and owner, Ross Bradshaw.

"I think our attitude for those people is simply to find another book shop." Mr Bradshaw was referring to a case in 2020 that resulted in a William Howitt, 27, being arrested by counter terrorism police for planning to burn the bookshop down, alongside plans to mark the site of the crime with Nazi memorabilia.

Howitt was sentenced to four and a half years in November 2023 for his threats and detailed plan of action.