Teenage arsonist at Rotherham asylum seeker hotel riot sentenced

BBC News

25-06-2025

Two 16-year-old boys have been sentenced after participating in "disgraceful" violent disorder outside a South Yorkshire hotel housing asylum seekers.Both defendants, who cannot be named due to their age, admitted violent disorder, with one admitting a further charge of arson reckless as to whether life is endangered.People inside the Holiday Inn Express in Manvers, Rotherham, "thought they were going to die at the hands of the violent, racist mob" on 4 August, Sheffield Youth Court heard.The teenagers, who were both told by a judge they would have been jailed had they been adults, were given year-long referral orders.
The first defendant was captured on CCTV adding wood to a fire which was burning against the hotel.Footage played to the court showed him hurl a fire extinguisher at police officers and push a metal bin towards a police line.Clare Ford, defending, told the judge: "He wants me to assure you he isn't racist - he happened upon the incident without knowing what it was."He got carried away, swept up in it, and was being encouraged by adults present."
When district judge Tim Spruce questioned why he initially told police he wasn't there, the boy said: "I didn't admit to it because I was scared. Sorry."Judge Spruce said the boy's actions could have resulted in "catastrophic harm and loss of life"."One adult charged with similar offences to you received a term of nine years," he told the boy."Make no mistake, if you were an adult you would be going to jail right now."Further CCTV showed the second boy pushing a burning bin towards the hotel.He was part of a crowd which "violently" rocked a police van "to the point it became completely unstable", the judge said.
'Won't happen again'
He told the boy he would have faced three to five years in prison had he been older."You were fully engaged, chanting, making violent gestures," the judge added.The boy's mother took him to a police station after seeing an appeal for suspects shared on social media.Kevin Walker, defending, said: "He was helping his mum with the shopping before he got involved – that shows what he ordinarily does behave like."He didn't appreciate [the racial element] at the time – that was not his motivation."The teenager told the judge: "I would like to say I am very sorry for what I've done."It's not the real me, what happened on that day, and it won't ever happen again."
Judge Spruce said many of the 58 police officers who were injured had not returned to work due to the "anxiety and distress" caused by the incident.He said: "Within that hotel there were families of migrants who had already fled trauma in their own countries, once again placed in fear, along with staff at the hotel."Disorder of this nature was extremely frightening for anyone close by and for people watching on the television."He added: "It was shameful and disgraceful, leaving communities terrified and intimidated."He said he accepted neither boy had overt racist views or negative views towards asylum seekers and their actions had been "isolated behaviour in a highly unique set of events".Referral orders can include courses about hate crime, fire safety and victim awareness, the court heard.
Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North