A teenage girl said to have been “in the thick of it” at a riot outside a hotel housing asylum seekers has been told she could go to prison.

Elarna Abbey-Garner, 19, pleaded guilty to violent disorder at the Holiday Inn Express hotel in Manvers, Rotherham, on 4 August when she appeared at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court earlier.

Abbey-Garner, of Station Road in Dunscroft, Doncaster, had been on bail for a separate offence at the time, the court heard.

Judge Marcus Waite said an immediate prison sentence would be an option when she was sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court.

Judge Waite told the court Abbey-Garner was “said to have been in the thick of it” at the riot, which saw more than 60 police officers injured by demonstrators trying to gain access to the hotel which was being used to house more than 200 asylum seekers.

At the time, the defendant was 18.

The court heard Abbey-Garner has no previous convictions and she was granted unconditional bail ahead of her next court appearance on 25 March.

Judge Waite told her: “Whilst I’m giving you bail for now, that’s not an indication for what might happen at the crown court.

“This may be an immediate prison sentence. There may be alternatives, that’s up to the crown court judge.”

A South Yorkshire Police spokesperson said 104 people had been charged in connection with the riot, with 89 of them jailed.

Violence erupted across the country at the start of August following the deaths of three schoolgirls in a knife attack in Southport in Merseyside in July.

BBC News

Building site worker Lewis Edwards who hurled bricks and stones at police as anarchy erupted in Hanley has been spared jail.

The 21-year-old was arrested on September 19 and has served the equivalent of a 12-month prison sentence on remand after his involvement in the violent disorder in the city centre on August 3.

Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard he was captured on CCTV twice during the riot. Prosecutor Fiona Cortese said: “He was standing on a concrete block shouting towards the opposing group, ‘Twenty boys from Shelton, go and get us a kebab’. He was joining in the chanting.

“In Town Road, near the mosque, he picked up a rock and threw it towards the police line. He picked up a large paving stone, raised it over his head and threw it to the ground, causing it to smash to pieces, which meant others could pick it up. He picked up a brick and threw it towards the police line.”

The defendant was arrested at a building site on September 19. Edwards, of Thornhill Road, Bentilee, pleaded guilty to violent disorder.

Hamish Noble, mitigating, said Edwards was aged 20 at the time and has no previous convictions. Mr Noble said: “He was in a good position in life. He was working and was approaching the end of his gas and plumbing apprenticeship.

“He has no history of substance misuse and has a supportive family. He was with friends. He was disinhibited by alcohol. He had had four or five pints and went to Hanley to see what was happening. He does not hold racist views but accepts that the behaviour displayed was contrary to this. There was a lack of maturity and an element of peer pressure.

“He apologises through me for his behaviour that day. He understands and acknowledges it was totally unacceptable. He has had a significant period of time to reflect on his behaviour while in custody.”

Mr Noble added that Edwards’ grandad has recently been diagnosed with cancer. Judge Graeme Smith sentenced Edwards to two years in prison, suspended for two years, with a rehabilitation activity requirement for 30 days and 300 hours unpaid work.

Judge Smith said: “Weapons were brandished, missiles were thrown, including by you, and a number of people were injured. There is no suggestion that anything you threw caused an injury.

“Outside the town hall you were shouting slogans with racist connotations. Although they may have been offensive, you were not causing or inciting anyone to violence. In Town Road you were seen picking up and throwing missiles.

“According to your references you have no racist views and are friends with people who hold to the Muslim faith. It is puzzling how you got involved in this.

“You are assessed as a low risk of re-offending. The probation service considers they can work with you. There is the recent diagnosis and treatment is about to start for your grandfather. You have already served the equivalent of about one year. In those circumstances, I am just persuaded that I can suspend the sentence.”

Edwards was ordered to pay £150 costs.

Stoke Sentinel

This is Blackpool man Peter Waite.

He left a man with a bleed on the brain after headbutting him in an attack during the Blackpool disorder last summer.

CCTV showed Waite running towards his victim and headbutting him causing him to fall back and bang his head on the pavement. The man, in his 50s, lost consciousness.

In a victim personal statement, the man describes how he now cannot sleep and feels socially isolated and feels unwell in crowded places.

Hundreds of people gathered in a demonstration in Blackpool on August 3 where police and members of the public came under physical and verbal attack. Items were thrown at officers and police vehicles, and racist and offensive signs were used.

There was also serious disorder and looting in Hounds Hill shopping centre.

Waite, 50, of Cheltenham Road, Blackpool, admitted charges of Section 20 wounding and violent disorder.

As well as the headbutting incident Waite threw two bottles he had retrieved from a bin, although he claimed he had made sure they were plastic rather than glass. He said he had gone to town for a beer festival and not to engage in disorder.

Waite was jailed today (Monday, March 10) at Preston Crown Court for a total of three years and four months.

Assistant Chief Constable Karen Edwards said: “Peter Waite not only clearly played a role in the disgraceful disorder which we saw in Blackpool on August 3 but also caused serious injury to a man through his violent actions.

“Such behaviour is not welcome in Lancashire and will not be tolerated in our county.

“A number of people have already been brought to justice for the role in the disorder and I welcome the sentence in this case.”

Blackpool Gazette

A woman has been given a suspended prison sentence for inciting racial hatred in a social media post during last summer’s riots.

Megan Morrison, 27, from Workington, Cumbria, shared an image on Facebook of violent disorder at a Holiday Inn in Rotherham housing asylum seekers and suggested the same should be done outside the Cumberland Hotel.

Prosecutor Tim Evans told Carlisle Crown Court there were no asylum seekers being housed at the hotel, nor had there ever been.

Morrison admitted inciting racial hatred and was given a six-month jail term suspended for 18 months and ordered to do 160 hours of unpaid work. She was also given an electronically monitored night time curfew for two months.

The court heard that Morrison shared the image with the caption: “They should do this to the Cumberland Hotel. It’s full of them.”

Mr Evans said a follower of the defendant commented on the post “You can’t incite riots” and Morrison responded with a laughing emoji.

‘Self rehabilitation’

“This is of course the terrible danger of these criminally, ill-advised postings,” Mr Evans said.

“Entirely innocent people or properties can be dragged into situations by this sort of invitation if people accept.”

Morrison’s post was on 6 August, eight days after three children were murdered at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport.

The murders resulted in violent disorder across the country.

She was one of a number of people prosecuted in Cumbria for racially offensive online posts.

Morrison’s barrister said her phone had been seized by police and she had not replaced it having withdrawn from social media as part of what she called her “self rehabilitation”.

She told a probation officer who prepared a pre-sentence report that her offending was “stupid”.

‘Civil disorder’

After hearing details of Morrison’s family circumstances, Judge Nicholas Barker said he accepted she felt genuine remorse.

Referring to her sharing the image from the Rotherham riot, the judge said: “What you did was to demonstrate an implied assertion that you supported the actions that these mindless thugs were taking.

“No one considering this case can themselves disconnect it from the wave of civil disorder and appalling conduct that swept this country in August last year.

“You were part of that.”

BBC News

A man who admitted violent disorder and stealing from four shops during the Hull riot has been jailed.

Ashley Smith, 26, was seen on CCTV footage pushing a metal barrier on to Ferensway, outside a hotel which was being protected by police.

He was also seen throwing an object towards officers in a different part of the city and taking items from shops that had their windows smashed by looters.

Smith, of Woodhill Way Caravan Park, in Cottingham, was sentenced to 20 months in prison at Hull Crown Court.

His barrister Abigail Rowley told the court Smith had acted “wholly out of character” and was “full of remorse”.

She claimed her client did not “hold any discriminatory views” and was not an instigator in the violence.

Shops were looted, fires started, cars damaged and police officers attacked following demonstrations involving anti-immigration protesters on 3 August last year.

Passing sentence, Judge John Thackray KC said: “Your offence formed part of 12 hours of racist, mob-fuelled violence” which caused ” fear and distress in those communities who were targeted”.

Smith pleaded guilty to one charge of violent disorder and four counts of burglary of commercial premises.

The judge did not impose an uplift to Smith’s sentence as he accepted there was no racially motivated element to his offences.

BBC News

Yesterday (Wednesday 26 February) two men appeared at Sheffield Crown Court to be sentenced for their role in the violent disorder at the Holiday Inn Express Hotel in Manvers, Rotherham, on Sunday 4 August.

Launching bricks at the building, stoking a fire inside one of the hotel windows and ramming a shopping trolley into police, were just some of the vile displays of aggression which has resulted in Arron Bailey being put behind bars.

The 28-year-old’s behaviour was captured by the National Police Air Service (NPAS) as he threw bottles, fence panelling and other missiles at officers. Other footage recorded by those in attendance at the hotel showed Bailey attempting to gain access into a police van and adding wood to a fire.

Wearing a camouflage style balaclava, Bailey attempted to hide his identity during the disorder. However, a distinctive tattoo on his right calf led to him being identified following a media appeal to the public.

Bailey offered no explanation for his callous actions, refusing to comment during his police interview. He was charged with violent disorder and arson with intent to endanger life, pleading guilty to both charges at a hearing in November 2024.

Bailey, of Margaret Close, Darfield, was sentenced to eight years in prison with a further three on licence.

Another active participant in the violent disorder was Curtis Laycock who was seen throwing a chair and rocks at officers at the hotel.

One of the rocks Laycock launched at the building contained a blood stain which after forensic examination was linked to the 30-year-old.

He was further identified by a member of the public following a media appeal. In his police interview, Laycock admitted his offending, apologising for his behaviour and adding that he “regretted” his actions.

Laycock, of no fixed above, pleaded guilty to violent disorder and was jailed for two years and eight months.

South Yorkshire Police

A rioter who repeatedly attacked police while draped in an England flag during a night of disorder has been jailed for almost five years.

John Kirtley, 26, was a “leading” figure in the violence in Sunderland on 2 August, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

The city was one of several to see outbreaks of disorder after anti-immigration protests were held in the wake of the murder of three young girls in Southport.

Kirtley, 26 and from Sunderland, admitted rioting, with a judge saying he “brought shame” on himself and the St George’s flag.

Judge Robert Spragg said Kirtley was a “leading member” of a group throwing beer kegs at police in Keel Square and encouraged and “whipped up” others to attack.

The court heard Kirtley, of Rutherglen Road, was also part of a group which tried to stop an unmarked police car and he was seen throwing stones and kicking at officers outside a mosque.

He was heard shouting claims including “the government is to blame for this” and “come on, this is England”, the court heard.

Judge Spragg said Kirtley had expressed remorse, especially for the “racial element” of his offending, and had “got in with the wrong crowd” from whom he was “seeking validation”.

Jailing him for four years and eight months, the judge told Kirtley: “Your behaviour was utterly disgraceful, you have brought shame on yourself and the St George’s flag you chose to drape yourself in.”

BBC News

Two racist thugs who were among a gang who tormented a family before torching their cars have been accused of ‘sponging off society’ by a judge.

The violent gang, including Craig Bradley and James Frost, threatened to slit the throat of one of the victims while shouting vile racist abuse at a couple – one who is serving in Royal Navy.

Teesside Crown Court how the gang were shouting and using disgusting racist language as the family returned to their Middlesbrough home.

Paul Rooney, prosecuting, said the family had been left devastated by the brutal nature of the racist abuse they endured.

He told the judge how Bradley was heard saying “you can’t live here, we will have you out tomorrow, we will burn your house down”.

The court heard how the gang was increasingly intimidating and threatening with one member heard to shout “let’s slit her throat” – later Frost grabbed a metal pole and was waving it at them.

Mr Rooney said: “This was a targeted attack because of the complainants’ colour of their skin. This took place on Saturday, August 3, 2024 – not 1824 or 1924.”

He said the family managed to get into their home safely but they were awoken by a loud bang an hour later.

“They thought it was an explosion,” he said. “The woman got out of bed and saw that their two cars were on fire outside.

“She noticed the same group of males standing near her home and laughing. Frost had a large metal pole in his hand and threatened to hit her with it – he was swinging it around his head as though he was about to strike it down.

“He was being encouraged to hurt her while they threw bottles and bricks at their cars. Frost then used the pipe to cause damage to the cars as they were burning.”

The family’s BMW and Mercedes cars were irreparably damaged during the violent disorder.

Mr Rooney said both men were arrested when they returned to the family home several hours later while the police were still on the scene.

The victims of the violent abuse said they were scared to be in their own home and reiterated the racial element to the offences.

One said: “It has been a longstanding situation where these males have targeted us for being black and living in this community.

“It is crazy. I feel lucky to be alive today.”

Bradley, of Fonteyn Court, Hemlington, Middlesbrough, and Frost, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to violent disorder and racially aggravated public order.

The court heard how Bradley was on bail at the time for a similar bout of violent disorder on the street where he lived.

On that occasion, a police officer was seriously injured and the defendant was jailed for 32 months for that offence.

Mr Rooney said Frost had 70 convictions for 139 offences on his record.

Nicci Horton, representing Bradley, said her client’s behaviour becomes more erratic and violent when he has been drinking.

She added: “He was, quite frankly, incredibly stupid and behaved in quite a vile manner.”

While Jonathan Gittins, representing Frost, said his client had “buried his head in the sand” until the day of his trial when he pleaded guilty.

He said: “His record is indicative of a drug addiction which at the time of this offence, he was struggling with and it spiralled into this terrible incident.”

Judge Simon Baptiste lambasted the pair for targeting the family, who had been serving the country for 15 years, due to their ethnicity.

“They have been model citizens of this country,” he said. “Yet they have been targeted by you and your associates, purely on the colour of their skin.

“Compared to you two and your associates – people who are career criminals sponging off society, committing crime and then causing huge expense of having to be incarcerated – these two people are far better British citizens than you two will ever be.”

Both men were jailed for a total of four-and-a half-years.

Northern Echo