Judge imposes longest prison sentences ever

Two men have been sentenced to the longest prison terms ever in connection with the riots that broke out in parts of England and Northern Ireland following the Southport stabbings.

David Wilkinson, 48, who was sentenced to six years in prison, and John Honey were part of a “jeering mob” that attacked a car carrying three Romanian men in Hull on August 3.

Honey, 25, also looted shops, including cosmetics store Lush, and was sentenced to four years and eight months in prison.

So far, more than 1,000 people have been arrested in connection with the unrest, 480 have been charged and at least 99 cases have been sentenced, with more cases being brought to court.

When the men discovered the car while marching through the streets of Hull, a “jeering mob” surrounded it and attacked, trying to drag the men out.

Hull Crown Court heard how Honey ripped open the passenger door as the man inside the car tried to close it to protect himself. At the same time, Wilkinson was seen damaging the car's windscreen, causing £1,500 worth of damage.

The court was told that the men, fearing for their lives, eventually left the car with their hands raised and fled to a nearby hotel.

Passing sentence, Judge John Thackray KC said the scenes on August 3 were “12 hours of racist, hate-filled 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 was also involved in an attack on a garage in which nine cars were damaged.

He tried to light a container on a pile of already burning tires, causing black clouds of smoke to rise through the shutters of the workshop where people had sought shelter.

Wilkinson pleaded guilty to participating in violent disorder, racially/religiously motivated damage to property and attempted arson.

Honey, who was also involved in the garage attack, pleaded guilty to violent disorder, racially motivated criminal damage and three counts of burglary at Lush, an O2 store and Shoezone.

His behaviour during the riots was “appalling, shameless and violent”, said Michael Quinn, deputy attorney general of the CPS Yorkshire and Humberside.

Also arrested on Friday was Roger Haywood, 41, who was described as the “leader and instigator” of the riots in Blackpool.

Haywood pleaded guilty to violent public disorder and two counts of assault on an emergency medical worker and was sentenced to two and a half years in prison at Preston Crown Court.

According to Lancashire Police, Haywood verbally abused police officers and assaulted a member of the security team at Hounds Hill shopping centre after attempting to break the shutters of a closed shop.

Judge Robert Altham said Haywood had waved to rioters in Blackpool to break through the police cordon and that his drunkenness that day was an “aggravating circumstance”.

Later, Haywood was visibly “too drunk” to figure out how to speak to the crowd using a megaphone, the judge added.

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

The court heard he had gone into the city centre to get a takeaway but found himself on the “front line” of an “orgy of senseless destruction, violence and disorder”.

His defense attorney said he had no political opinion on immigration and “had no idea what led to this incident.”

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

Meanwhile, 29-year-old Stevie Mulryne was sentenced to 16 months in prison and 22-year-old Charles Smith to 23 weeks in prison for their role in causing riots near Downing Street on July 31.

Westminster Magistrates Court heard that Mulryne made a stabbing gesture towards police and chanted abusive words, while Smith “assumed a fighting stance” and shouted “scum” at the officers.

The first adult charged with rioting, a more serious offense carrying a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, has appeared in court.

Kieran Usher, 32, pleaded no guilty at South Tyneside Magistrates' Court after being charged in connection with disturbances in Sunderland city centre on August 2.

On Thursday, a 15-year-old boy became the first person in England to be charged with rioting for his role in the riots in Sunderland.

Meanwhile, 33-year-old Ashkan Kareem was sentenced to 12 months in prison after taking part in clashes in Darlington on August 5.

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

The presiding judge said Kareem was part of a group that gathered against men who were “chanting racist and far-right slogans”, but that it was “abundantly clear that this would lead to violence, and it did”.

Further convictions for violent disorder were handed down on Friday in Bristol, Sheffield, Sunderland, Blackpool, Liverpool and Plymouth.