Hull father who looted O2 and Lush stores jailed for three years

A father-of-three who was filmed using a bar stool to smash the front of a Specsavers shop in Hull before doing the same with a fire extinguisher at a Holland & Barrett store has been jailed for three years.

Stuart Randall, 55, also looted an O2 store and a Lush shop in Hull city centre on 3 August.

Hull Crown Court heard Randall danced in front of a police line while waving a riot shield and smashed the front windows of the two shops.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of racially aggravated criminal damage, violent disorder, criminal damage to two shops, burglary of an O2 store and a Lush shop, and possession of cannabis.

The court heard Randall had gone into the city centre to attend a vigil for the three children killed in the attack in Southport.

Randall, who has an alcohol dependency, “accepted a can of cider” from someone and “that’s when things spiralled out of control,” a judge was told.

Separately, during an attack on a garage owned by a foreign national, Randall was seen smashing cars with a sledgehammer.

The owner, who was barricaded inside his own business with his children and six other people, could smell burning cars and hear threats to harm his family outside as he cowered in fear for his life, the court heard.

BBC News