First three Hull rioters jailed for ‘ugly violence’

The first three people convicted for their part in a violent protest in Hull have been jailed.

Hull Crown Court heard police officers were attacked when missiles were thrown at them, shops were looted and a hotel housing asylum seekers was targeted during the violence in the Ferensway, Jameson Street and Spring Bank areas on Saturday.

Andrew Stewart, 37, of Anlaby, Hull, and Brandon Kirkwood, 20, of Downing Grove, Hull, have each been jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Christopher Douglas, 35, of Avenues Court, Hull, was jailed for two years and eight months.

Sentencing them, Judge Mark Bury said all three were involved in a “malevolent nature of violence”.

He said the “ugly violence” in Hull and other parts of the UK occurred following the fatal stabbing of three girls in Southport, and the killings were “used as an excuse for mindless acts of violence”.

All three had pleaded guilty to violent disorder at previous Hull Magistrates Court hearings.

The court heard racial chants were heard during the mass disorder, which started in the afternoon and carried on into the evening.

Prosecutor Jeremy Evans said projectiles had been thrown at police, and smoke bombs and pyrotechnics had been set off.

One police officer needed four stiches to his face and was “scarred for life” but “remarkably” came back on duty later in the evening, Mr Evans said.

Judge Bury said Douglas, a military veteran who completed two tours of duty in Afghanistan, was at the “front and centre” of the disorder while Stewart “clearly targeted individuals of the hotel”.

He said Kirkwood, who had pushed a large bin at a line of officers, had “to some extent been swept up” by the unrest.

“This was violent disorder of the very worst kind,” said the judge.

BBC News