A dad-of-two who was at the forefront of racist rioting where he bombarded police with missiles has been locked up.

Jason Brady was caught on camera repeatedly throwing objects at police officers and private property when a far-right protest in Middlesbrough turned violent in August 2024.

The 25-year-old was spotted in the Parliament Road and Union Street area of the town hurling rocks while at the front of a crowd.

Teesside Crown Court was shown a compilation of footage detailing the painter and decorator’s behaviour throughout the rioting where he threw at least nine missiles.

Rachel Butt, prosecuting, said the damage had severely impacted the residents living in and around the town centre.

She said: “He was an active and persistent participant who was repeatedly seen at the front of the group on the CCTV and was repeatedly seen to throw objects at police officers and members of the public’s vehicles.

“We submit that it was incitement to others as he was at the front of the group which occurred in a busy public area.”

Brady, of Raisdale Close, Thornaby, pleaded guilty to violent disorder.

Kate Clark, mitigating, said her client had turned his life around since his shocking behaviour and urged the judge to pass a suspended sentence.

“The footage itself does not make comfortable viewing,” she said. “He has gone through it himself and during his police interview made comments about ‘how embarrassing and humiliating’ it was.

“He is most ashamed of himself.”

Judge Aisha Wadoodi told Brady that his actions were so serious that only an immediate custodial sentence was appropriate as she jailed him for 26 months.

She said: “You didn’t just throw one missile there were nine separate occasions you were seen to throw thing.

“You were seen throwing a stone at a police van before throwing an item at a red vehicle on Parliament Road, there was a female jumping on the roof and it then transpired that the vehicle was set on fire.

“You were then seen on Derwent Street throwing an object at the opposing group and again at a line of police officers.

“You stayed in the area and continued gesturing towards the police and the opposing group.”

Northern Echo

Two men who joined in a city centre riot as mass disorder swept through the country have been put behind bars.

Violence erupted in Sunderland on August 2 2024 and mirrored similar shocking scenes across the country.

At Newcastle Crown Court yesterday, during separate hearings, Liam Clarke and Michael McHugh were both jailed for their parts in the riots.

The court heard Clarke, a joiner who has never been in trouble before, threw five missiles at police during a “moment of severe madness” that day.

McHugh, who also has no convictions, said he had been out drinking before things “went pear-shaped” and he threw two projectiles at police during the trouble.

Clarke, 25, of Kirkdale, Spennymoor, County Durham, admitted riot and was jailed for four years.

McHugh, 42, of Haydon Square, Sunderland, admitted riot and was jailed for 40 months.

The court heard during the widespread trouble in the city that day police officers, dogs and horses were pelted with missiles as areas became unsafe for ordinary members of the public.

Officers were met with serious and sustained levels of violence, attacked with flying objects and verbally abused.

Four officers required hospital treatment and some are not fit enough to return to frontline duties.

Police vehicles were targeted and damaged. Several patrol cars needed repairs.

The court heard the city’s police hub was set on fire, business premises were smashed and shops were looted.

Northumbria Police Chief Constable Vanessa Jardine said in an impact statement police vehicles as well as community buildings and businesses came under attack that day.

Ms Jardine said the violence was met with a £1.517m policing operation and the full psychological cost to officers involved is yet to be known.

Sunderland Echo

A pensioner has been jailed after he was ‘at the front and centre of the mob’ during the Hanley riot. Arthur Walker was involved in the mass disorder for more than an hour before he made his way home.

During that time the The 68-year-old:

was part of the mob which chanted anti-immigration and anti-Muslim slogans;

encouraged others to break through the police cordon;

filmed the protest on his phone and uploaded the footage to Facebook;

shouted abuse at officers;

encouraged protesters to sit down to block police vehicles;

made violent gestures to police.

Now Walker has been jailed for 13 months at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court. Prosecutor Sherrie Henry said the violent disorder happened in Hanley on August 3 last year, just days after three girls were murdered at a Southport dance studio on July 29.

Miss Henry said: “The disorder lasted for many hours. Both groups threw missiles at each other and shouted at police. There was damage to property and injuries to officers. The defendant was present at the disorder between 11.45am and 12.50pm.

“At 1.16pm, after leaving the protest, the defendant sent a Facebook message which read, ‘Had my final warning so I came away. Did you see my videos’? He was identified by police body-worn footage.”

The defendant told police he was penned in and if they had let him go he would have been home. Walker, of Marldon Place, Sandyford, pleaded guilty to violent disorder.

Matthew Ness, mitigating, said Walker was sentenced to a community order in February for supplying cannabis. He had engaged well with the order and made positive progress. Mr Ness said: “There is a realistic prospect of rehabilitation. He is not assessed as posing an imminent risk. There is some passage of time since the offence. There is a strong prospect of rehabilitation. He continues to benefit from the order he is currently serving. He is genuinely sorry for his involvement in this incident.”

Recorder Robert Smith said: “No doubt many who did attend the protest conducted themselves properly. Regrettably many did not. Weapons were brandished, missiles thrown, people and police were injured, verbal abuse was exchanged at police simply performing their public duty of keeping the King’s peace.

“Your part in the violent disorder was to be part of a mob of people chanting anti-immigration and anti-Muslim slogans. That mob tried to break through the police cordon that was there to prevent serious public disorder, injuries to people and damage to property. You participated between 11.45am and 1pm. You disengaged and left before the more serious violence occurred in the area of the mosque.

“You willingly involved yourself in unlawful activity rather than a peaceful protest. On the video footage you can be seen shouting to the crowd, at the front, ‘There is not enough of them, go through them’. You were gesturing to the crowd to go through the police cordon. You were at the front and centre of the protest filming the police on your mobile. The footage was uploaded to Facebook.

“You told the police to, ‘Get f*****’, and repeatedly encouraged the mob to rush the police cordon. Some broke the cordon but were pushed back by the police. Pushing police is a criminal offence. You encouraged that. You were shouting at the police line, making elbow jabbing gestures and other gestures of violence towards police.

“Eventually the crowd began to move towards Potteries Way. You walked in the area of Broad Street. You were encouraging people to sit down, blocking the way of the police cars as the march continued. When the mob attempted to gather outside the Quality Hotel, known to house refugees, you were again front and centre.

“You came away from the protest and took a bus home, something that had been open to you for the previous hour. What you did was not a peaceful protest, you crossed the line by a significant margin. You were for an hour front and centre, trying to push through a cordon.

“Your behaviour influenced the developing situation. You were not penned in, far from it. You could have, and should have, turned around and walked in the opposite direction out of the city centre. You chose not to. You chose to very actively participate in a large-scale public disorder. The 14-month sentence cannot and will not be suspended. Your offending is so serious.”

Yahoo News

Carl Sharp was seen throwing bricks through the glass door of the Red Lantern Chinese takeaway and throwing a missile at police during widespread disorder in Middlesbrough on August 4

A milkman hurled a brick through a business window and launched a missile at police officers during far-right disorder in Middlesbrough.

Carl Sharp participated in the widespread unrest which unfolded in the town centre on 4 August last year.

The 22-year-old had been invited to take part in the demonstration by two family members who had recently been freed from custody, a court was told. As the situation descended into violence, Sharp was filmed “laughing and applauding” while bins were set ablaze and projectiles were hurled towards police cordons.

On Friday, Sharp appeared before Teesside Magistrates’ Court via video link from HMP Holme House for sentencing on a charge of violent disorder, to which he had entered a guilty plea.

The court was told that on 4 August, Middlesbrough town centre witnessed an eruption of violence, with crowds taking to the streets and creating mayhem estimated to have resulted in £600,000 worth of damage and policing expenditure. Riot vehicles and shield-bearing officers descended upon the town in a bid to suppress the disturbances.

The disorder occurred during the same period as numerous other violent demonstrations took place nationwide, orchestrated by far-right and anti-immigration factions in the aftermath of the Southport killings. Similar scenes of unrest were witnessed in Hartlepool, Sunderland, London and Manchester.

Prosecutor Omar Ahmad stated the Middlesbrough ‘demonstration’ had been “broadcast on social media” and approximately 1,000 individuals congregated on Linthorpe Road. Officers were summoned to the location as events rapidly escalated into violence.

He stated: “People were chanting ‘take our country back’ and the atmosphere became heated. People were trying to break through police lines.”

The mob subsequently progressed towards the town centre whilst projectiles were hurled at officers and various premises came under attack. CCTV imagery captured Sharp launching a brick through the glazed entrance of the Red Lantern Chinese takeaway on Parliament Road, before making a return visit to hurl a second brick at the same door.

He was additionally observed to “laugh and applaud” whilst wheelie bins were forced towards police cordons and was witnessed hurling a projectile at constables. Mr Ahmad explained that the Red Lantern establishment was subsequently burgled by others participating in the disorder, with the till being taken.

Sharp was apprehended following identification via recorded footage. The court was informed he possessed prior criminal convictions and is presently serving a 30-month custodial term for possession with intent to supply heroin.

Nick Ayres, representing the defendant, explained that prior to the disturbance, Sharp had been employed as a milkman whilst maintaining a relationship and raising two youngsters. He stated: “He began mixing with relatives who had just been released from jail. They asked him to come with them [to the protest].”

Mr Ayres indicated his client’s strongest point in mitigation was Sharp’s guilty plea. He noted that he is presently undertaking mentoring duties within the prison system.

Judge Aisha Wadoodi remarked that Sharp participated in the “completely mindless violence” of that day. He received a 28-month prison sentence.

Chronicle Live

A thug who threw 19 missiles at police officers during the 2024 summer riots in Sunderland has been jailed for almost four years.

James Cummings, 39, also launched bricks and scaffolding poles, cockily walked up to the policing line and kicked an officer’s shield. Donning a hoody and a face covering, some of the objects he hurled also hit police dogs and horses, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

Cummings, who encouraged the baying mob around him, launched a brick which smashed the rear window of a police car, while seven cop vehicles were damaged in total during the violence.

He was part of a gang who arranged to meet in Sunderland City Centre on August 2, 2024, following a spate of far-right riots across the country in the aftermath of the murder of three young girls in a Southport stabbing attack.

After initially denying he was involved when police questioned him in October last year, he admitted it in December 2024 and said it was a drunken ‘moment of madness’. The court heard how Northumbria Police Chief Constable Vanessa Jardine said the ‘appalling scenes’ from that day will have a ‘long lasting impact on the community’.

She said officers were met with ‘sustained violence, attacked with missiles, bricks and scaffolding poles, with some requiring hospitalisation’. The financial cost to Northumbria Police is around £1.5million, it was said.

Cummings, who has 14 previous convictions for 19 offences between 2005 and this year, was an ‘active and persistent participant’ in the disorder, the court heard. As she sentenced him to 44-months in jail for one offence of rioting, Her Honour Judge Carolyn Scott said the group had ‘gathered in an orgy of mindless destruction’.

“You and others brought shame on the City of Sunderland,” she told him. “Police in particular were subject to sustained violence, they were pelted with missiles, a police hub was set on fire. Officers were injured and undoubtedly have suffered psychological harm.”

She described how businesses were damaged, to the cost of hundreds of thousands of pounds, adding: “Members of the community where you live were left shocked and in fear. Those participating in mass disorder must expect severe sentences for what was done, and to deter others.”

The dad of four, from Hutton Crescent in Hutton Henry, Hartlepool, was ‘mortified’ by footage of the chaos shown in court, his defence solicitor Mr Hart said. He added: “There is no excuse for the terrifying criminality countrywide during the summer before last.

“The racist, right wing agenda was spurred on by those who should know better and those who don’t care. They prey on the fears of people and stoke up resentment, and in this case to devastating effect.

“He offers no mitigation or excuse or justification for his behaviour that day, he only apologises to the community as a whole, to his family, who will suffer greatly because of his actions and of course the police who, like him, are often local and hardworking, and don’t deserve to be put in danger like they were that day. He is sorry.

“The only thing he takes significant issue with is that he’s (called) an Islamophobe. He is not the bigot that he is made out to be in the pre sentence report. He holds no ill will against others. The online tinderbox that was pervasive across these islands that week was difficult to avoid.”

Referencing the murder of the children in Southport, he said that Cummings was ‘thinking of his kids being killed’, adding: “He is not a sophisticated man.” He claimed it was not driven by racism but ‘fear and alcohol’.

Sunderland Echo