UK riots: Judge hands down longest jail sentences yet

Two men have received the longest prison sentences yet in relation to rioting that erupted in parts of England and Northern Ireland after the Southport stabbings.

David Wilkinson, 48, who was jailed for six years, and John Honey were part of a “baying mob” who attacked a car containing three Romanian men in Hull on 3 August.

Honey, 25, also looted shops including the cosmetic store Lush, and received a sentence of four years and eight months.

More than 1,000 people have been arrested so far over the disorder, with some 480 charged and at least 99 sentences handed down as cases continue to be brought to court.

Spotting the car as they marched down the street in Hull, a “baying mob” surrounded it and began to attack, attempting to drag the men from inside.

Hull Crown Court heard how Honey pulled the passenger door open as the man inside tried to close it to protect himself, while Wilkinson was seen damaging the windscreen of the car, which was left with £1,500 of damage.

The men, in fear of their lives, eventually left the car with their hands raised, before fleeing to a nearby hotel, the court was told.

Passing sentence, Judge John Thackray KC said the scenes on 3 August were “12 hours of racist, hate-fuelled mob violence”.

He said both Wilkinson and Honey had intended to create a high risk of injury, and that watching footage of the riots had been “depressing” and “horrifying”.

Wilkinson also took part in an attack on a garage in which nine cars were damaged.

He tried to set fire to a bin on top of a pile of tyres that were already alight, sending plumes of black smoke through the shutters of the workshop where people were sheltering.

Wilkinson pleaded guilty to taking part in violent disorder, racially/religiously aggravated criminal damage and attempted arson.

Honey, who also took part in the garage attack, pleaded guilty to violent disorder, racially aggravated criminal damage and three charges of burglary at Lush, an O2 store and Shoezone.

His behaviour during the unrest was “appalling, shameless and violent,” Michael Quinn, deputy chief crown prosecutor of CPS Yorkshire and Humberside, said.

Also jailed on Friday was Roger Haywood, 41, who was described as a “leader and instigator” of rioting in Blackpool.

Haywood pleaded guilty to violent disorder and two offences of assaulting an emergency worker and was jailed for two-and-a-half years at Preston Crown Court.

Lancashire Police said Haywood hurled abuse at police officers and attacked a member of the Hounds Hill shopping centre security team after attempting to break through the shutters of a closed store.

Judge Robert Altham said Haywood had beckoned the Blackpool rioters to breach police lines, and that that his drunkenness on the day was an “aggravating feature”.

Haywood was later seen visibly “too intoxicated” to work out how to use a loudhailer to speak to the crowds, the judge added.

Paul Williams, 45, was jailed for two years and two months on Friday after pleading guilty to one count of violent disorder in connection with the Sunderland riots.

The court heard he had entered the city centre to collect a takeaway, but ended up at the “forefront” of an “orgy of mindless destruction, violence and disorder”.

His defence lawyer said he had no political opinions around immigration and was “entirely unaware of the basis of what started this”.

Newcastle Crown Court heard Williams threw metal fencing and a can of beer at police, stripped off his shirt and ran at the line of riot shields.

Meanwhile, Stevie Mulryne, 29, was jailed for 16 months and Charles Smith, 22, was sentenced to 23 weeks for their roles in disorder near Downing Street on 31 July.

Westminster Magistrates Court heard that Mulryne made a stabbing gesture towards police and led offensive chanting, while Smith “struck up a fighting stance” and chanted “scum” at officers.

The first adult to be charged with riot, a more serious offence carrying a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, has appeared in court.

Kieran Usher, 32, did not enter a plea at South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court after being charged in connection with disorder in Sunderland city centre on 2 August.

On Thursday, a 15-year-old boy became the first person in England to be charged with riot over his role in the Sunderland unrest.

Meanwhile, Ashkan Kareem, 33, has been jailed for 12 months after participating in a clash in Darlington on 5 August.

Kareem said he was trying to protect a mosque from being attacked by “racists”.

The presiding judge said Kareem was part of a group which gathered in opposition to men “chanting racist and far-right slogans”, but it was “abundantly clear that would result in violence and it did”.

Further sentences for offences of violent disorder were handed out in Bristol, Sheffield, Sunderland, Blackpool, Liverpool and Plymouth on Friday.