Sunderland rioters jailed for ‘orgy of violence’

The first four people to be convicted for their part in a violent protest in Sunderland a week ago have been jailed.

Up to 700 people were involved in a night of violence on 2 August, in which police officers were repeatedly attacked, a building burnt out and businesses looted, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

A woman who pushed bins at officers and a man who threw missiles were among those jailed for more than two years.

Judge Paul Sloan KC said they had brought “shame” upon Sunderland and were part of an “orgy of mindless, destructive violence”.

Prosecutor Omar Ahmed said a “planned protest” started at about 16:00 BST in Sunderland city centre, but it “very soon turned into widespread violent disorder”.

He said at its peak about 700 people were thought to be involved, with multiple police officers subjected to “serious and sustained levels of violence” over the course of several hours.

Four officers needed hospital treatment, while many others were not yet fit enough to return to frontline duties, Mr Ahmed said.

He said the officers’ families had to watch in “fear for their loved ones” as the attacks were shown on the news and social media.

“It was simply not safe for ordinary members of the public to be in the city centre at that time,” Mr Ahmed said, adding a police office on Waterloo Place was set on fire, businesses were damaged, shops looted and numerous windows smashed.

One officer said it was the “worst and most frightening” disorder they had experienced in 27 years of service, Mr Ahmed said.

The first defendant to be jailed was Andrew Smith, 41, of High Street East in Sunderland, who threw a can of alcohol at officers before being taken down by a police dog at about 19:30.

In mitigation, Helen Towers said Smith was “deeply ashamed of what he did to his own community” and wanted to apologise to everyone impacted and the police.

Smith, who had numerous previous convictions including for racially aggravated criminal damage, was jailed for two years and two months.

‘Revelling in mayhem’

Josh Kellett was reported to police by a member of the public who recognised him from a live stream on social media, Mr Ahmed said.

In the footage, Kellett, who was wearing a balaclava, repeatedly threw rocks and stones at officers during the “violent and chaotic scenes”, the prosecutor said.

In mitigation, Andrew Espley said Kellett had anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder and, like most people in the country, wished “the clocks could be turned back” to before the disorder.

Kellet, 29 and of Southcroft in Washington, was jailed for two and a half years after Judge Sloan said footage from the scene showed him “revelling in the mayhem”.

Leanne Hodgson, 43 and of Holborn Road in Sunderland, was first seen by officers in Keel Square at about 15:30 where she shouted racist abuse at an officer, Mr Ahmed said.

Later she barged into an officer and was seen pushing bins at police, as well as pulling up paving stones for other people to throw, the court heard.

Hodgson, who was wearing distinctive bright pink shorts during the melee, also smashed a police car windscreen by throwing an object through it, the court heard.

She was jailed for two and a half years.

Bradley Makin filmed himself cheering on attacks on police and buildings and shared it on his Instagram page, the court heard.

He was heard shouting slogans associated with the English Defence League and yelled encouragement as items, including metal beer kegs and scaffolding poles, were hurled through windows of an office building and at officers, Mr Ahmed said.

In mitigation, Peter Thubron said Makin had gone to the scene out of curiosity and “and got sucked into it”, adding he “didn’t touch anyone, didn’t touch anything, didn’t pick anything up” and did not realise the connotations of what he was chanting.

Makin, 21 and of Simonside Road in Sunderland, also admitted possession of cocaine and heroin which police found at his home when they went to arrest him and was jailed for two years.

‘Ferocious attacks’

Judge Sloan said the rioters had “brought shame upon the city of Sunderland”, telling them: “For no justifiable reason whatsoever you and many more gathered in the city centre and participated in an orgy of mindless destructive violence and disorder.”

In a statement read to the court, Northumbria Police chief constable Vanessa Jardine said the estimated policing cost of the riots was more than £1m, while the cost of repairing all the damage caused would “likely be in the hundreds of thousands of pounds”.

She said officers suffered fractured fingers and head injuries during “ferocious” attacks and the actions of those in Sunderland “fuelled and encouraged” other violent mobs around the country.

BBC News