Colin Stonehouse, 36, and David Kirkbride, 28, joined a crowd of protesters who caused damage to a hotel housing asylum seekers in Staffordshire.

A couple who joined a protest outside a hotel in the wake of the Southport stabbings because they were “unhappy their taxes were being spent on housing asylum seekers” have both been jailed for 21 months.

Colin Stonehouse, 36, and David Kirkbride, 28, turned up at the Holiday Inn Express in Tamworth on August 4 wearing matching football shirts with their initials on, and joined a crowd of hundreds of protesters who caused nearly £100,000 worth of damage to the hotel.

The pair spent around an hour at the scene, where others were throwing missiles including fireworks, a petrol bomb, bricks, chunks of concrete and lampposts at Staffordshire Police officers who were trying to protect staff and residents inside the hotel.

Prosecutor Daniel Moore told Stafford Crown Court on Thursday that the couple arrived at the hotel at around 6.30pm and were caught on CCTV and police body-worn camera footage in the crowd.

Stonehouse was seen shouting abuse at police and raising his arms while Kirkbride held him back.

Mr Moore said the pair were “actively encouraging people to move forward” towards the police and Kirkbride was seen laughing when a firework exploded, chanting and asking police about his taxes being spent on those in the hotel.

Stonehouse also shouted “we ain’t paying for them dickheads in there”.

When they were arrested, Kirkbride said he did not think he had done anything wrong but accepted that his actions could be perceived as racist and denied that the Southport stabbing had impacted his decision to attend the scene.

Stonehouse told police he wanted to “get his point across” that he was “unhappy” about his taxes being spent on asylum seekers but left when a hotel window was smashed and a firework was lit.

The pair both pleaded guilty to violent disorder at an earlier court hearing.

Mark Moore, defending Kirkbride and Stonehouse, said the pair had shown “incredible naivety” when they got involved in the disorder, did not realise their behaviour would equate to violent disorder and made no attempt to hide their identities.

He told the court: “They have both had four long months in custody awaiting their fate. They are regarded as model prisoners.

“They made a stupid decision to go to the protest and they became swept up in that. They have paid a price and they will continue to pay the price.

“There is no doubt they will not be back before any courthouse again.”

Jailing them, Judge John Edwards said the pair, who live together in Wilnecote, Tamworth, had attended out of “misplaced curiosity” after hearing about the protest at the pub but should have gone home instead of “vociferously venting your opinions and encouraging violence”.

He said the incident outside the hotel was an excuse for “wanton lawlessness” and said those involved are “criminals who do not represent the decent people of Tamworth”.

Addressing Kirkbride, who wiped away tears in the dock, and Stonehouse, who sat with his head in his hands throughout the hearing, the judge said: “How it comes to be that seemingly sensible, mature, hard-working people find themselves in the dock at the crown court in the aftermath of this disgraceful incident is beyond me.

“Both of you doubtless rue the day you decided to visit the Holiday Inn out of misplaced curiosity. You were both there for some time and neither of you needed to go there or stay there.

“It would have been easier had you just gone home but you didn’t. You were both part and parcel of this disorder.

“Whilst your individual roles weren’t the most serious that I have encountered, it would be wrong and misleading to look at your acts in a vacuum because violence feeds on itself.

“This was planned and coordinated conduct and you were both part of it.

“There must be a clear message that any involvement in violence of this nature cannot be tolerated.”

Judge Edwards told the pair they must serve at least half of their 21-month sentence in custody and also imposed a criminal behaviour order banning them from going to the Holiday Inn Express in Tamworth or any other establishment that they believe is housing asylum seekers.
Evening Standard