Smiling thug hurled missile at police but didn’t realise he knew officer

Another rioter gave a thumbs up to a judge today as he was jailed over the violent scenes in Southport

A rioter “smiled in satisfaction” after hurling a missile at police, but was recognised by an officer he went to school with.

Paul Dryhurst, Luke Summerfield and David Engleby all launched objects towards PCs as violent scenes unfolded in Southport following the fatal stabbings of six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar, with the latter giving a thumbs up to a judge as he was jailed.

Liverpool Crown Court heard yesterday, August 19, that evening prayers were in progress at Southport Islamic Society Mosque on St Luke’s Road when worshippers were “made aware of a significant number of white males gathering outside”. Members of the crowd began shouting vile chants and throwing objects towards the building and police officers at the scene, more than 50 of who were injured during the incident.

Simon Leong, prosecuting, described how Engleby was seen filming the violence on his mobile phone and chanting “Allah, Allah, who the f*** is Allah?”. The 29-year-old, of Scarisbrick New Road in Southport, then “surged forward with the crowd” before picking a brick up from the floor and throwing it towards PCs.

He subsequently followed this up with a second “projectile”. Engleby was identified from video footage provided to the police and handed himself in at Southport Police Station on August 12, having been circulated as wanted.

His criminal record shows two previous convictions from 2013 concerning the theft of bicycles and going equipped for theft. Olivia Beesley, defending, told the court: “He is lightly convicted. There has been a gap in offending since the last conviction, when he was 18 years old. This is his first experience of custody. He understands that it will not be a short experience of custody.

“He tells me that he was on good terms with his family, who he was estranged from for a matter of years. However, this incident has led to them cutting him off. He has been diagnosed with schizophrenia. He was sectioned when he was 13 years old. He was in respite foster care from when he was eight years old, and this progressed to full time care when he was 15.

“He secured accommodation for himself and rebuilt the relationship with his family. He worked hard to build that relationship and is sad to now have lost it due to his actions.

“He understands that he has ruined that in a matter of hours and says he deserves it. He wants me to convey his remorse to the court. Quite frankly, he sees his behaviour as disgusting.”

Dryhurst, of Gale Road in Litherland, was meanwhile brought to justice after a “police constable recognised him as someone with whom he went to school”. He was also identified in footage as he was “slightly shorter than most of the people there” and due to his “distinctive” green hooded top.

This film showed the 33-year-old “throwing an object” at two officers and recording the scenes with his phone, as well as “surging forward with the rest of the crowd” and then standing on the wall of a resident’s front garden. Dryhurst surrendered himself at Marsh Lane Police Station on August 11 and “claimed he had gone to Southport to attend the vigil, but somehow found himself caught up in the wrong group” and was “trapped and scared”.

He has previous convictions for possession of cannabis in 2000 and assault in 2012. His counsel Desmond Lennon said: “He has not been in a position like this ever before in his life.

“He blames nobody but himself for his behaviour. He is only sorry and ashamed for that behaviour. His last conviction was in 2012. Since then, he has led a blameless and industrious life.

“He worked hard as a self employed joiner. He is held in his regard by those who he has had professional dealings with. He employs two people frequently and another two who work on and off with him. His own behaviour has effectively led to unemployment for four people who relied on him.

“He bitterly regrets his behaviour. He really is sorry for what he has done. He has no right wing affiliation or political interest whatsoever. He has no religious bias or adverse views about other religions.

“He did not organise this and he did not instigate this. He has gone along to go to the vigil, but saw this event unfolding and got swept up in this activity and acted in a shameful and reprehensible way.

“His mother is devastated over the fact that he is in this position. His mother and father work for the ambulance service and are at a complete loss after someone they believed had overcome earlier problems and built up a business and been in a stable relationship for almost 15 years with plans to acquire their own home. They have all been destroyed by his own stupidity.”

Liverpool Echo