A looter encouraged other hooligans to storm a Sainsbury’s store during the riot in Piccadilly Gardens.
A woman with a pram was among the customers left in terror as a 30-strong mob burst into the shop on Mosley Street. Kye McGlade was among them and stole two crates of beer, with some bottles smashing on the floor as he pilfered the booze, Manchester Crown Court heard.
The manager of the store heard one of the rioters shout ‘pa**’ and ‘they’re taking our jobs’. The mob were in the shop for about 30 seconds before police arrived and dispersed them.
McGlade, 24, remained involved in the disorder, kicking the door of a vape shop further down the street before returning to Piccadilly Gardens, where he threw a bottle of water towards police.
He has now been jailed for two years and eight months after admitting violent disorder, theft and criminal damage. Prosecuting, Kate Gaskell told how disorder broke out in the city centre on Saturday, August 3, after a ‘protest’ in Piccadilly Gardens. The event came in the aftermath of false information being spread online about the alleged perpetrator of the tragic events in Southport, where three children died.
Lawrence Timson, store manager of Sainsbury’s in Mosley Street, said staff were aware of the gathering and that two security guards had been employed to work that day. He said that at about 3.20pm, a mob of up to 30 people stormed the shop and began stealing items and damaging shelves and displays.
Mr Timson said he shouted to staff to tell the looters to take anything they wanted, in a bid to protect his colleagues. A woman with a pram who was in the shop was left ‘incredibly distressed’ and ‘sought safety in the kiosk area of the shop’.
n a statement, Mr Timson said: “At the time I felt threatened by the situation and worried for the four remaining customers that were in the store and clearly in distress. Throughout the incident other customers had managed to leave the store.
“I was very worried about my colleague’s safety too. we had already heard about trouble in the city centre and so we were already feeling heightened. At the time there were four members of staff and two security staff working. It was on our mind that we would need to monitor the situation throughout the day, and I changed my route to work because I knew that there would be trouble.
“I was conscious that I wanted to look after my colleagues and as to how to keep us safe.”
Ms Gaskell said CCTV footage showed McGlade ‘encourage others to enter the store’.
He stole two crates of beer from the shop. After he left he moved down Mosley Street and joined others who were kicking at the front door of a vape shop.
He later moved back to Piccadilly Gardens as a crowd had gathered, and threw a bottle of water towards officers. McGlade, who has a ‘very bad’ criminal record containing 49 previous offences, was arrested on August 9.
His barrister said the defendant’s behaviour was ‘disgraceful and shameful’. “The defendant was involved perhaps not as a leader or as an instigator, but certainly as a willing participant,” Saul Brody said. “He says that he feels he is a person who is easily led.”
Mr Brody said that McGlade was homeless at the time and was ‘effectively living’ in Piccadilly Gardens. “He simply says it was a spur of the moment thing, and he’s sorry to the people he put in fear,” the barrister continued.
The judge, the Recorder of Manchester Nicholas Dean KC told him: “You involved yourself in looting, that’s what it can be called. The CCTV images capture you entering Sainsbury’s, raiding that shop and stealing from it.”
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