17 hours ago
Sunderland riot burglar spared jail after seeking help to counter his 'harmful' far-right thinking
A dad who took part in a burglary during a riot which left a vape store £83,000 out of pocket has been spared prison after seeking help to counter his 'harmful' far-right thinking. Wayne Robinson admitted he was "engaging with far-right ideology" at the time of the mass disorder which brought shame on Sunderland last August.
Robinson, described in court as vulnerable, carried as many vapes as he could carry from a city centre store which was targeted by a number of people. He also took part in the wider violent disorder which erupted in the city, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
A judge said that, unlike many involved that day who claimed they just happened to be present, Robinson, 34 of The Avenue, Durham, has admitted he was "curious" about far-right ideology. However he has since sought help to address those thoughts, including by engaging voluntarily with a counter-terrorism programme.
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The court heard it was around 4pm on August 2 last year that a planned protest took place in Sunderland city centre but it quickly turned into widespread violent disorder involving hundreds of people. Omar Ahmad, prosecuting, said: "It was not safe for ordinary members of the public to be in the city centre at that time."
Robinson's involvement in what happened was caught on CCTV. He was one of a number of people who broke into a vape store on Market Square, Sunderland.
The owner accessed CCTV that night and Mr Ahmad said: "He could see multiple people kicking the glass at the front of the premises. He contacted the police, who said they would be there as soon as possible.
"He then saw people entering the premises through the broken glass and stealing items from the display and stock room. The offenders had smashed glass in the cabinets, damaging counter tops."
Robinson stole as many boxes as he could from the shop before leaving. The court heard the total cost to the company, in terms of lost stock, repairs, replacements and extra security, was £83,717.
Other footage showed Robinson gesturing to police, kicking windows, carrying a flag with the words "Lest we forget" on it near a mosque and he was also seen filming the protest while others threw items at the police, including beer kegs, chairs and wheelie bins.
Robinson, a dad-of-two who has 24 previous convictions, pleaded guilty to violent disorder and burglary. He was sentenced to 22 months suspended for two years, with 200 hours of unpaid work and a six-month drug rehabilitation requirement.
Recorder Tom Moran said those involved in the disorder had "brought shame on the city of Sunderland for no justifiable reason at all". He added that the actions of each of those involved, however small individually, encouraged others to behaviour in a similar way and had to be viewed as part of the overall picture.
He said Robinson's behaviour was directed at property rather than the police or other people and said while he kicked windows, it wasn't him who broke them. He added: "You have expressed remorse and you were unusually honest in indicating you were curious about extreme ideology, rather than claiming, as so many did, that you were just there and got caught up in what happened.
"You present as a vulnerable man with a mild learning difficult who can be easily influenced and exploited by others." Recorder Moran said while almost every case of someone being involved in such offences would result in immediate custody, there was "exceptional mitigation" in Robinson's case which allowed him to suspend the sentence.
Sophie Allinson-Howells, defending, said: "The defendant has undertaken meaningful work to challenge the attitude he had at the time. Most people in this court try to distance themselves from any far-right ideology and say they were just there and got caught up in it.
"To his credit, he told the author of the pre-sentence report that he had previously engaged with far-right ideology. Well before, this, he had been seeking help and explaining to primary care teams that he was struggling with this narrative and had sought help from the organisations he is now engaging with, but received very little help.
"He has been working with organisations which counter far-right ideology, a counter-terrorism team and the Prevent organisation, to undo the ideas he had formed in recent years.
"He has shown insight and has been engaging, not only with the counter-terrorism organisations but the mental health services. He has done everything he could to try to unpick these harmful thoughts he had formed.
"He was not present at recent protests. A year ago, he would have been present.
"He is rightly described as vulnerable. He has a learning disability, he has traits of an emotionally unstable personality disorder and he has been sectioned twice within the last decade or so. He has also struggled with substance misuse.
