Ryan Corden has avoided jail after an Islamic leader came to his defence

A volunteer mosque worker has avoided jail for his part in supporting far-right agitators as a riot rocked Hanley. Ryan Corden’s case has been branded ‘strange’ after he acted ‘out of character’.

Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard 35-year-old Corden gives up his own time to do building work at the Town Road mosque. But on August 3 last year, he became embroiled in the anarchy that gripped the city centre, encouraging rioters as they resisted law enforcement.

Much of the unrest centred on the Town Road mosque where Corden has helped out. Now he has narrowly escaped prison after an Islamic leader came to his defence.

Prosecutor David Bennett told the court that Corden followed along with far-right protesters from 11am until 2pm, hurling abuse at officers while trying to break the police line.

He said Corden had riled fellow agitators and fuelled disorder throughout the day, adding: “He could be seen throughout the duration of the riot, often on the front line encouraging the actions of others. He was involved in four significant incidents throughout the day.

“At 11.34am, he was seen pushing others into the police line. As the group became agitated, police bodycam footage captured the defendant putting his arms behind the backs of two other men and pushing them forward in an attempt to break the police line.

“He was then seen on Broad Street as the protest group moved towards Hanley’s centre. Footage shows the defendant motioning with his arms to get other protesters to sit down in the road to block police. He did so himself for around 30 seconds, before getting up to film.

“At 1.50pm, police bodycam showed the defendant pushing into police shields in an attempt to prevent officers moving forward. Footage at 2.30pm showed the defendant hurling abuse towards officers.

The court heard police bodycam footage captured Corden shouting ‘we’re fighting for our country, you should be too’ at riot officers.

Corden was later quizzed by police on September 27, where he admitted to being the individual captured in the footage – but denied acting in a threatening manner or attempting to fuel disorder. He claimed he protested peacefully, adding he ‘stayed out of curiosity’.

The defendant, of Willowbrook Walk, Norton, went on to plead guilty to one charge of disorder.

Scott Ashdown, mitigating, said: “While his attendance may be seen as prolonged, he spent that time mostly as an onlooker. He did push others towards police, but others were behind him pushing him too. That conduct was fleeting and the police line held.

“When he was at the front, he was pushed there. He threw his hands up in the air to indicate to officers that he had no intention of causing harm. It is quite clear that the majority of his comments were either absent threats or mere observations.

“His actions should not be considered to have any racist undertones. His actions were primarily a reflection of his dissatisfaction towards police, not particular ethnic or religious groups. He is someone who is inclusive – he has actually done much volunteer work at the Town Road mosque.

“He recognises that his actions could have caused harm to those who were being subjected to prejudice. He is genuinely remorseful for his participation.”

Judge Graeme Smith handed Corden a two-year suspended sentence, along with 25 days of rehabilitation work and 240 hours of unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay £350 in damages.

Judge Smith said: “Everyone is entitled to express their opinion or to protest. That is what you say you were doing. But that does not grant the licence for disorder.

“Although you were involved, I have the reference given by Farooq Faraj of Town Road Islamic Centre. He says this was out of character for you and commends your volunteer work, which you still do. I accept you may not have acted from a place of religious hostility.

“Yours is an unusual case. In most other cases, I have not given suspended sentences due to the seriousness of the offending. But I accept your motivations were somewhat different. I have just been convinced to give you a suspended sentence, which is rare in these cases.”

Stoke Sentinel

Two 16-year-old boys have been sentenced after participating in “disgraceful” violent disorder outside a South Yorkshire hotel housing asylum seekers.

Both defendants, who cannot be named due to their age, admitted violent disorder, with one admitting a further charge of arson reckless as to whether life is endangered.

People inside the Holiday Inn Express in Manvers, Rotherham, “thought they were going to die at the hands of the violent, racist mob” on 4 August, Sheffield Youth Court heard.

The teenagers, who were both told by a judge they would have been jailed had they been adults, were given year-long referral orders.

The first defendant was captured on CCTV adding wood to a fire which was burning against the hotel.

Footage played to the court showed him hurl a fire extinguisher at police officers and push a metal bin towards a police line.

Clare Ford, defending, told the judge: “He wants me to assure you he isn’t racist – he happened upon the incident without knowing what it was.

“He got carried away, swept up in it, and was being encouraged by adults present.”

When district judge Tim Spruce questioned why he initially told police he wasn’t there, the boy said: “I didn’t admit to it because I was scared. Sorry.”

Judge Spruce said the boy’s actions could have resulted in “catastrophic harm and loss of life”.

“One adult charged with similar offences to you received a term of nine years,” he told the boy.

“Make no mistake, if you were an adult you would be going to jail right now.”

Further CCTV showed the second boy pushing a burning bin towards the hotel.

He was part of a crowd which “violently” rocked a police van “to the point it became completely unstable”, the judge said.

‘Won’t happen again’

He told the boy he would have faced three to five years in prison had he been older.

“You were fully engaged, chanting, making violent gestures,” the judge added.

The boy’s mother took him to a police station after seeing an appeal for suspects shared on social media.

Kevin Walker, defending, said: “He was helping his mum with the shopping before he got involved – that shows what he ordinarily does behave like.

“He didn’t appreciate [the racial element] at the time – that was not his motivation.”

The teenager told the judge: “I would like to say I am very sorry for what I’ve done.

“It’s not the real me, what happened on that day, and it won’t ever happen again.”

Judge Spruce said many of the 58 police officers who were injured had not returned to work due to the “anxiety and distress” caused by the incident.

He said: “Within that hotel there were families of migrants who had already fled trauma in their own countries, once again placed in fear, along with staff at the hotel.

“Disorder of this nature was extremely frightening for anyone close by and for people watching on the television.”

He added: “It was shameful and disgraceful, leaving communities terrified and intimidated.”

He said he accepted neither boy had overt racist views or negative views towards asylum seekers and their actions had been “isolated behaviour in a highly unique set of events”.

Referral orders can include courses about hate crime, fire safety and victim awareness, the court heard.

BBC News

Two men have indicated they are guilty of offences related to major unrest outside a Rotherham hotel housing asylum seekers last summer.

Callum Bacon, 18, of Wilkinson Street, Barnsley, appeared at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court on Monday charged with violent disorder and arson.

Scott Jones, 38, of James Street, Barnsley, appeared at the same court charged with violent disorder.

Both men were released on bail and are due to appear for sentencing at Sheffield Crown Court on 30 June.

During the anti-immigration demonstrations outside the Holiday Inn in Manvers last August, more than 60 police officers were injured after missiles were thrown by a crowd.

More than 90 people have so far been convicted for their part in the rioting.

BBC News

A pregnant woman who threw missiles at police officers and set items alight during rioting outside a hotel housing asylum seekers has been jailed.

Elarna Garner-Abbey, 19, was sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court to 18 months in prison earlier, just a week after finding out she was pregnant.

The court heard she attended the unrest at the Holiday Inn Express, in Manvers, Rotherham, on 4 August alongside ex-partner Philip Wood, 22, who was jailed for two years.

Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson said while he had reduced Garner-Abbey’s sentence “as much as I reasonably can” she had been “right at the centre” of the disorder.

He said: “I am conscious [pregnant women] have particular difficulties whilst in custody. That factor has caused me to reflect with great care on your case.”

The court heard Garner-Abbey and Wood were among hundreds of rioters who hurled missiles at officers trying to protect those inside the building.

At one stage Garner-Abbey was filmed stoking a fire with a blue stick, setting it ablaze and then passing the stick to another person, prosecutor Joseph Bell said.

Meanwhile, Wood was seen leaving the scene and returning with plant pots from residents’ gardens, which he passed to others to break and throw at officers.

He was also seen approaching a fire in the middle of Manvers Way, while topless and wearing a face covering, to set a phone charger on fire which he then swung above his head.

Marc Luxford, on behalf of Wood, said his client had a mental age of 12 or 13 and an IQ score of 51, putting him in the range considered to be a moderate learning disability.

He said suggestions Wood had groomed or coerced Garner-Abbey were misplaced saying he was “simply not able” to have due to his mental capacity.

Judge Richardson said while there was some evidence of Wood having a “controlling and malign” influence on Garner-Abbey CCTV showed her “acting of [her] own free will in a prominent way”.

Garner-Abbey and Wood were also issued with a criminal behaviour order for a period of 10 years.

BBC News

A couple were both involved in helping to stoke fires and throw missiles at police, as part of riots that broke out after a protest outside a Rotherham hotel housing asylum seekers turned violent.

Philip Wood and Elarna Garner Abbey were in a relationship at the time of the widespread disorder in Manvers, Rotherham on August 4, 2024 and travelled to the protest together. They have since ended their relationship.

In footage shown to Sheffield Crown Court, Wood and Garner-Abbey can both be seen involving themselves in the disorder that broke out on Manvers Way, a short distance from the Holiday Inn Express, which was at the centre of the disorder.

The video footage shown to the court, during a hearing held on June 16, 2025, is from behind the police line, and shows a fire burning in between officers and where the majority of protesters are located.

Describing the roles of each of the defendants, prosecutor, Joseph Bell said Wood, who was wearing a face covering for much of the incident, can be seen stoking a fire which is a blaze in the middle of the road, repeatedly throwing missiles towards the police line, some of which were at “close range.”

A number of the items had been given to Wood, aged 22, by others involved with the disorder, the court heard.

Mr Bell said a “discarded firework” was among the items thrown in the direction of police.

“He takes a charger, places the end of that charger in the fire until it catches light, swings it round over his head. He passes it to someone else, who imitates whipping with the charger,” said Mr Bell.

He continued: “He commandeers a large metal pole, of which he can be seen to stuff tissue into the end, and then sets it alight.”

Moving to Garner-Abbey’s conduct, Mr Bell emphasised that while the defendants travelled to the riots together, they each “played their own role” and acted “independently” of each other.

Mr Bell said Garner-Abbey, aged 19, can be seen “pushing a blue pole into the fire and then hands it to another.”

“She can be seen repeatedly throwing missiles at police,” continued Mr Bell, adding that she also provided missiles for others to throw.

Garner-Abbey’s barrister, Rebecca Tanner, said her client, who was aged 18 at the time of the disorder, only actually threw missiles in the form of stones towards police on two occasions, however.

Mr Bell continued: “She then commandeers the large blue stick again so it’s set alight, and passes it to another. She can be seen going around collecting items, and adding them to the blaze, before handing items to people present.”

He told the court that the two defendants were in a relationship from October 2023 until around a fortnight after the riots.

They were living in a tent, which was camped a short distance away from Sheffield’s Meadowhall shopping centre, when they committed the offences.

Mr Bell said Garner-Abbey, of Station Road, Dunscroft, Doncaster, made a complaint to police about Wood concerning his behaviour towards her in December 2024, but ultimately decided against proceeding with it.

Both defendants pleaded guilty to a charge of violent disorder at earlier hearings.

Mitigating for Garner-Abbey, Ms Tanner said she could not suggest her client was anything other than a “willing participant.”

Addressing the Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC, Ms Tanner continued: “My Lord has seen her appalling behaviour on the CCTV, and I don’t seek to suggest for one moment that she wasn’t a willing participant.”

She suggested, however, that a distinction could be made between those who involved themselves with the disorder in and around the Holiday Inn Express, and the Manvers Way rioting a short distance away, where Garner-Abbey committed her offence.

Ms Tanner continued: “She did not direct any aggression towards the hotel, or those within it. There’s no evidence she was using racially aggressive language. Her animosity was towards the police.”

Ms Tanner referred Judge Richardson to documentation from Garner-Abbey’s GP, confirming her pregnancy, after the case was adjourned last week for that to be obtained.

She suggested the pregnancy was completely unexpected; and as a consequence of which, she has been advised to come off the medication she was taking, which may prove to have an adverse effect on her.

Ms Tanner said Garner-Abbey has endured mental health difficulties, and during her “toxic” relationship with Wood, became isolated from her family. She suggested this has subsequently been mended, and her family continue to offer her their support.

The probation officer who authored Garner-Abbey’s pre-sentence report said she had spoken to HMP Newhall, where she may be sent should she receive a custodial sentence, and was satisfied they could accommodate her, and any complications which may arise during her pregnancy.

Judge Richardson said he wanted to carefully consider whether a prison sentence should be passed down, and adjourned sentence for Garner-Abbey until Thursday, June 19, 2025 and remanded her into custody until then.

Judge Richardson also adjourned Wood’s sentencing until Thursday, after difficulties over the video link meant his barrister Marc Luxford was unable to make submissions on his behalf during Monday’s hearing.

Wood, of Milton Street, Bootle, Sefton, was told he must remain in custody at HMP Doncaster until then.

The Manvers disorder was among last summer’s riots, all of which took place after misinformation was disseminated in the wake of a fatal stabbing in Southport that claimed the lives of three young girls.

Previous sentencing hearings for those involved with the disorder have heard that 58 police officers, three police dogs and one police horse were injured during the course of the violence.

Some 22 members of staff present within the hotel barricaded themselves inside a kitchen, using three freezers, fearing they would die, the court has previously heard.

The most recent update from South Yorkshire Police, dated June 3, 2025, revealed that a total of 110 people have been charged in connection to the violent disorder at Manvers so far.

Of the 110 charged, 91 have been sentenced to a combined total of 223 years in prison.

Sheffield Star