In numbers: People sentenced for offences linked to summer 2024 disorder

Yahoo

a day ago

Hundreds of people have been sentenced in the past 12 months for offences in connection with the disorder that broke out in parts of the country after the knife attack by Axel Rudakubana at a Southport dance studio on July 29 2024 that left three girls dead.
The PA news agency has tracked more than 500 individuals from charging to conviction and sentencing, to get as a full as picture as possible of how the criminal justice system dealt with those who took part in the disturbances.
– People sentenced
Some 544 people have been sentenced for offences linked to the disorder whose details have been recorded by PA.
The offences all took place in England and occurred in the days following the Southport attack, including the major outbreaks of violence in Southport itself on July 30, Liverpool and Stoke-on-Trent on August 3 and in Rotherham and Tamworth on August 4.
Of the 544 people, the most common location for an offence leading to conviction and sentencing was Rotherham (84 people), followed by Southport (73), Bristol (41), Liverpool (37), Hull (34), Manchester (32), Middlesbrough (28), Plymouth (22) and Stoke-on-Trent (19).
– Ages of people sentenced
The oldest of the 544 people to sentenced is Keith Edwards, 81, of Nottingham, who was given a 28-day jail sentence, suspended for two years, after pleading guilty to a charge of assault by beating during unrest in the city on August 3.
He was also told to pay £85 in costs and a £154 victim surcharge.
The oldest person to receive an immediate prison sentence is William Morgan, 69, of Walton in Merseyside, who was jailed for two years and eight months for violent disorder and possessing an offensive weapon, a cosh, during unrest in Liverpool on August 3, in which police were attacked and a library was set on fire.
The youngest is a 12-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, who threw stones at police after rioting erupted outside a mosque in Southport on July 30, and who was given a 12-month referral order plus a three-month curfew order. His father received a six-month parenting order.
Some 101 of the 544 people sentenced are under 21, or 19% of the total. This includes 43 under the age of 18.
A further 68 (13%) are aged 21 to 24, while 83 (15%) are aged 25 to 29.
This means 54% of those sentenced are under the age of 30.
Some 166 of the 544 sentenced, or just under a third of the total (31%), are aged 30 to 39, while 79 (15%) are aged 40 to 49, 32 (6%) are aged 50 to 59 and 15 (3%) are 60 and over.
– Offenders sentenced to jail
A total of 473 of the 544 people received immediate custodial sentences, including six under-18s.
Of the 71 others, 23 received suspended jail sentences; 35 (all aged under 18) received referral orders; five received community orders; four were fined; two were referred to a youth offender panel; one received a behaviour order and one was sentenced to 120 hours of unpaid work.
– Longest prison sentences
The longest jail sentences have been given to people who were part of the mob that besieged a Holiday Inn Express that housed more than 200 asylum seekers in Manvers near Rotherham on August 4.
Two of these people were given nine-year sentences.
One is Thomas Birley, 27, of Swinton in South Yorkshire, who pleaded guilty to arson with intent to endanger life, violent disorder and possession of an offensive weapon, and was part of a group who pushed a burning bin against the hotel and stoked the fire.
The second is Levi Fishlock, 31, of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, who pleaded guilty to violent disorder and arson with intent to endanger life, and who added planks of wood to the burning bin as well as building barricades that were set alight.
Two other people who were part of the mob were given eight-year jail sentences.
One is Arron Bailey, 28, of Darfield in Barnsley, who pleaded guilty to violent disorder and arson with intent to endanger life and who helped fuel the fire outside the Holiday Inn, besides spraying a fire extinguisher at police and pushing a shopping trolley at a line of officers.
The other is Morgan Heeley, 26, also of Darfield in Barnsley, was pleaded guilty to arson with intent to endanger life and violent disorder, and who tried to encourage the fire as well as shoving a female officer and smashing a hotel window.
Mason Lowe, 28, of Bolton-upon-Dearne in South Yorkshire, was given a seven-and-a-half year jail sentence for his involvement in the Holiday Inn mob in Manvers, after admitting arson with intent to endanger life and violent disorder.
The same length of sentence was handed to Andrew McIntyre, 39, of Rufford near Ormskirk in Lancashire, who pleaded guilty to encouraging violent disorder and criminal damage and possession of a knife, for his actions in spreading misinformation on social media that encouraged violence in the immediate aftermath of the July 29 attacks.
– Shortest prison sentences
The shortest jail sentence is four weeks, which was given to Shane Dennis, 30, of Knowle in Bristol, who pleaded guilty to a racially aggravated public order offence after shouting racist remarks during unrest in the city on August 3.
A slightly longer jail sentence of seven weeks was handed to Jake Grainger-Quinn, 29, who pleaded guilty to a public order offence in Whitehall in central London on July 31, when he was part of a crowd rushing at and pushing against a police cordon.
Lee Dunn, 51, of Egremont in Cumbria, was given an eight-week jail sentence after pleading guilty to sharing three grossly offensive messages on social media on or about July 31.
James Nelson, 19, of Horwich in Bolton, was handed a two-month jail term after pleading guilty to causing criminal damage during the disorder in Bolton on August 4.
The average length of jail sentences given to offenders is 26 months.
– Sentencings by police force
Four police forces together account for more than half of the 544 people sentenced: Merseyside (112 people, or 21% of the total), South Yorkshire (87 or 16%), Cleveland (46 or 8%) and Greater Manchester Police (45 or 8%).
The next highest forces are Avon & Somerset (42 or 8%); Humberside (34, 6%); Staffordshire (33, 6%) and Devon & Cornwall (22, 4%).
– Types of offence
The most common offence for which people have been sentenced is violent disorder.
Some 442 of the 544 people sentenced were found guilty of violent disorder, either by itself or in combination of other offences.
Other offences that have led to jail sentences include assaulting emergency workers, possession of a knife or sharp object in a public place, publishing written material to stir up racial hatred, riot and causing racially aggravated intentional harassment.