Carl Ryan, 55, had been drinking in a Wetherspoons pub when he joined the trouble on August 3
A man who took part in attack on a lone black man when rioting erupted in Piccadilly Gardens sobbed in court when a judge spared him a jail sentence.
Carl Ryan, 55, a father-of-three from Gorton, tried to trip the man as he fled a baying mob when a protest and counter-protest erupted in violence in Manchester city centre on August 3.
Disorder hit towns and cities across the country, including in Greater Manchester, followed the fatal stabbings of three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance club in Southport last month. Incorrect rumours – that the suspect in the stabbings was an asylum seeker who arrived in the UK on a small boat – spread on social media and appears to have fuelled the trouble.
Prosecutor Duncan Wilcock told Manchester Crown Court on Tuesday: “Following the tragedy on July 29 in Southport in which three young girls were killed and others were injured, false rumours began online as to the identity of the person involved and as a result of this false information a variety of demonstrations and protests were planned around the country, some in Middlesbrough in the north east and further afield in Bristol and also in Liverpool and here in Manchester.”
Disorder erupted in Piccadilly Gardens on August 3 and Ryan was part of a ‘significant group’ who had gathered, according to the prosecutor, who went on that footage gathered by the subsequent police investigation showed an ‘altercation’ between members of the mob and a lone black male who was punched and kicked on the floor.
Ryan tried to kick the male ‘but was unsuccessful’, said Mr Wilcock. The defendant then ‘remained in the area’ as police moved in to save the man from further violence, the court was told.
The defendant was also captured kicking at an Asian male but again ‘was unsuccessful’, said Mr Wilcock.
The disorder prompted a huge police investigation in which the man who had aimed the two kicks was initially identified only as ‘male 9’. Following a police appeal for information, Ryan handed himself into a police station on August 19 and identified himself as male 9.
Ryan, who had no previous convictions, was interviewed, accepted his part in the attack and apologised, the court was told.
David Bentley, defending, said Ryan had travelled into Manchester with his wife, from whom he is separated, on August 3 to drink in a Wetherspoons pub near Piccadilly Gardens.
Combined with medication he is also taking, the alcohol ‘had an adverse effect on him’, said Mr Bentley. The couple had intended to head to another pub but he ‘inexplicably’ became involved in the trouble, the court was told.
Mr Bentley said his client ‘did not assault’ the black male and had only attempted to trip him, adding that his client denies being racist and was ‘in no way affiliated to any organisation from the far right’. One of Ryan’s grandchildren was mixed race, said Mr Bentley.
“The defendant rejects any suggestion his actions that day were based on hostility towards any race or religion,” said the barrister, who added his client ‘deeply regrets’ his actions.
Ryan had identified himself as ‘male 9’ to the police before they knew his identity, said Mr Bentley, who went on to describe a series of character testimonials including from a Muslim friend.
The court heard Ryan had battled cancer previously, and now suffered associated health problems, and his youngest son is also now being treated for cancer.
Judge Patrick Field KC told the defendant: “You became involved in an ugly incident of disorder. Having listened to all that’s been said today, it’s still unclear to me how that happened. I’m sure that’s something that will trouble you for some time to come.
“However, became involved you did and that involvement included indirect involvement in what was an assault by others on a black male. They attacked him mercilessly. He attempted to run away, or at least run after the man who had punched him, and as he passed you tried unsuccessfully to trip him up which on any view was a rather malicious thing for you to try to do. You then remained part of the angry crowd that was shouting and gesticulating. Whilst there, you were seen on some of the footage to grab and try to kick another man, of south Asian appearance.”
Ryan, appearing in court via videolink from prison, mouthed ‘thank you’ to the judge and made a prayer sign with his hands, and then sobbed uncontrollably, after Judge Field decided to suspend a jail sentence.
Judge Field said the incident had been ‘shameful’ but the defendant’s role was ‘rather limited’. “In view of your personal mitigation particularly and in view of the fact I believe there are reasonable prospects of rehabilitation, I propose to take an exception course in your case,” said Judge Field.
Ryan, of Collin Avenue in Gorton, was handed a 14-month prison sentence suspended for two years after he had early admitted a single charge of violent disorder.
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