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Jail for racist who stopped drivers during disorder to ask if they were ‘white’

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November 6, 2024
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Jake Wray, 23, admitted violent disorder after stopping cars, trying to set a hatchback alight and pushing flaming wheelie bins at police.

The behaviour of a racist yob who stopped drivers during the summer riots to check if they were “white” or “English” was “disgraceful”, a judge said.

Jake Wray, 23, of Seaton Street, Middlesbrough, was jailed for 38 months after admitting violent disorder in the town on August 4, including trying to set a car on fire, making racist chants and pushing a flaming wheelie bins into police lines.

He was serving a 24-week suspended sentence for spitting at a police officer and carrying a knife at the time.

Judge Richard Bennett, sentencing at Teesside Crown Court, told Wray: “(Your) behaviour was disgraceful and in no way reflects the values of the decent people of Middlesbrough.”

The judge said Wray’s offending was violent, “overtly racist” and included arson that day.

Wray, wearing a distinctive red top and an England flag around his shoulders, stopped cars at a junction in the town centre and was caught on mobile phone footage asking drivers about the colour of their skin.

On the clip which was played in court, while he stood blocking traffic, Wray could be heard asking: “Are you white, are you English?”

The judge said the incident was so shocking it was played on the national TV news.

Further clips showed him setting fire to a wheelie bin which was pushed towards police lines and helicopter video captured him interfering with a red hatchback which minutes later burst into flames.

Wray told police that he was merely stopping cars to warn drivers, but he no longer stood by that account.

Judge Bennett said: “You were clearly enjoying the attention and power of being masked during a frightening event for those drivers.”

A clip was played in court of Wray, with his England flag over his mouth as a mask, approaching a police video operator and shouting: “You can stick you chicken tikka up your arse. Tee-Tee-Teessiders.”

Harry Crowson, defending, said Wray initially denied the racial motive for stopping the cars “out of embarrassment and shame”.

Mr Crowson said the defendant had repeatedly watched the clips in court over several hearings, adding: “In the cold light of day, he doesn’t even believe the things that came out of his mouth that day.

“He is quite appalled by it.”

Wray’s partner and her mother have also been jailed for violent disorder.

The independent

Riot racism hearing over ‘white’ driver checks

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September 30, 2024
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The sentencing of a man who stopped motorists to check if they were “white” during anti-immigration disorder has been delayed so a court can determine if his actions were racist.

Jake Wray, 23, was seen asking drivers if they were “white” or “English” during violent protests in Middlesbrough on 4 August, Teesside Crown Court heard.

He has admitted violent disorder but claimed he was trying to warn drivers they could be attacked if they continued down the road, the court heard.

Judge Francis Laird KC said Wray would get a longer term if he was deemed to have acted on racial or ideological grounds.

More than 1,000 people attended a protest march which began at the cenotaph on Linthorpe Road shortly before 14:00 BST, prosecutor Rachel Masters said.

Shouts of “take our country back” were heard as the initially peaceful march made its way towards the town centre, the court heard.

But violence erupted after an object was thrown at the marchers from Clarendon Road, which prompted cars and buildings to be attacked and missiles to be thrown at police.

‘Racist group’

Wray, who had a St George’s Flag draped around his neck which he used at times to obscure his face, was seen at several incidents, Ms Masters said.

He was first spotted leaning into a car three minutes before it was set on fire, the court heard.

Footage was then recorded of him trying to stop vehicles and asking drivers if they were “white” or “English”.

Later he was part of a group seen thrusting a burning bin towards officers, Ms Masters said.

The prosecutor said Wray, of Seaton Street, was at the “forefront” of the disorder and was “part of a racist group”.

She said it caused “serious fear and distress throughout the community” as well as having “substantial financial costs”.

‘Swept up’

Wray told police and probation officers he had been trying to help drivers by warning them of possible attacks.

Judge Laird said he had already jailed a number of people involved in the disorder on the basis they were “foolish” and got “swept up in the events” but who were “not directly there for any ideological or racist motive”.

He said the motivation of defendants was a “matter of some significance” and people who took part in disorder because of racial beliefs would get longer jail terms.

A date for the two-hour hearing to establish motive, called a Newton hearing, is due to be fixed in the next few weeks.

Meanwhile Wray remains on remand at HMP Nottingham.

His partner and her mother have also been jailed for their involvement in the disorder.

BBC News

‘Checkpoint’ rioter joins girlfriend and her mum in court over violent disorder on Teesside

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August 29, 2024
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Jake Wray, Megan Davison and Amanda Walton appeared at Teesside Crown Court

A rioter who set up a “checkpoint” in Middlesbrough to ask drivers if they were English joined his girlfriend and her mum in court for their part in violent disorder on Teesside.

The trio pleaded guilty to violent disorder in the Middlesbrough riots on August 4.

Amanda Walton, 53, appeared at Teesside Crown Court on Thursday, via video link from Low Newton prison. She admitted throwing a missile at a building and causing damage to a car mirror. Her barrister asked the court for a pre-sentence report to be carried out before she is sentenced. Walton, of Ashling Way in Middlesbrough, will be back in court on September 23.

Minutes later, Walton’s daughter, Megan Davison, 24, pleaded guilty to violent disorder within the same riot. Davison was captured on CCTV on Parliament Road; she was seen jumping up and down on the roof of a car.

The court heard that the mum-of-two has had previous problems with substance misuse; her barrister Tabitha Buck, asked for a pre-sentence report. Davison, of Seaton Street in central Middlesbrough, will also be sentenced on September 23.

Megan Davison’s boyfriend, Jake Wray, also pleaded guilty to violent disorder in the Middlesbrough riots. The 23-year-old set up a “checkpoint” and asked drivers if they were “white” or “English.” Wray, who lives with Megan Davison on Seaton Street, was captured on video allowing white or “English” drivers to pass. He was under a suspended sentence when he committed his new offence. He will be sentenced on October 14.

Evan Wilkins-Doyle, 19 pleaded guilty to violent disorder within the Hartlepool riots. Wilkins-Doyle, of The Spinney in West Park, Hartlepool, appeared in court via video link from Durham prison, and was told he will be sentenced on September 20.

Lisa Davison, 31, also appeared in the dock. She pleaded guilty to violent disorder within the Hartlepool riots on July 31. Davison, of Lister Street in Hartlepool, was told that she will be sentenced on September 18, after the probation service has carried out a pre-sentence report. She was remanded into custody until then.

Dylan Willis, 18, admitted violent disorder after he was captured lobbing a brick through a glass door, from a Middlesbrough street filled with rioters. Willis was captured on camera wearing sunglasses and a gold chain. He later handed himself into police. Willis, of Masefield Road in Hartlepool, will be sentenced on September 2.

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