Engineer jailed for charging at riot police who were guarding hotel

A 20-year-old man who was caught on video repeatedly charging at a line of police with riot shields protecting a hotel housing asylum seekers has been jailed for three years.

Manufacturing engineer Liam Gray was one of number of men jailed on Tuesday at Sheffield Crown Court in relation to the rioting outside the Holiday Inn Express, in Manvers, Rotherham, which left 58 police officers, three police dogs and a police horse injured.

The disorder on Sunday August 4 also saw attempts to storm the hotel and set fire to the building.

Gray, of Randerson Drive, Kilnhurst, South Yorkshire, was filmed at the front of a large mob charging at least three times at the officers and trying to grab their shields.

He was also filmed among the crowd outside the hotel at a number of different points during the afternoon, as police attempted to disperse hundreds of people who had gathered.

Ed Moss, defending, said: “He’s made the biggest error of the 20 years he’s been on this planet and he’s now going to pay the price.”

Mr Moss said his client wanted to make it clear “there isn’t racist bone in his body”.

But the Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC, responded: “If that’s true, what on earth was he doing?”

Mr Moss said: “That is the imponderable question.”

He said Gray simply went to the scene because he was curious.

Judge Richardson said: “Almost every defendant who had appeared in this court, of which there have been many, has indicated curiosity as being the reason they went to this episode.”

He told Gray: “You have brought shame on yourself. You have brought shame on your mother and father. You have brought shame on the town in which you live.”

The same judge heard how Lee Crisp, 42, of Mount Road, Grimethorpe, Barnsley, shouted abuse at police guarding the hotel and this continued after his arrest, telling one officer: “You’re protecting the bastards who are raping our kids.”

Crisp was jailed for three years and four months.

Stephanie Hollis, prosecuting, said the defendant shouted at one officer: “Take your f****** uniform off, I’ll knock the f*** out of you” and “You f****** horrible little c***.”

And he shouted at someone recording the violence: “Sex offending bastards. BBC bastards.”

Ms Hollis said factory worker Crisp celebrated as the group he was with threw missiles at the officers.

When Crisp appeared at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court earlier this month, his solicitor told a district judge that his client was a victim of mistaken identity as he took his elderly mother for a Sunday lunch in the pub next to the hotel.

Crisp did not maintain this defence when he appeared at crown court on Tuesday.

Judge Richardson said the “high octane” abuse dished out by Crisp encouraged the crowd, adding: “You were leading the way in all of this, in four separate incidents.”

As Crisp was led from the dock, a woman shouted from the public gallery “absolute disgrace” and the judge ordered her to be thrown out of the court building.

David Chadwick, 36, of Furlong Road, Goldthorpe, Barnsley, was jailed for two years and eight months by Judge Richardson, who said he was part of a “violent mob” who attacked a “vastly outnumbered” group of police officers who were pinned to the wall of the Holiday Inn Express.

The judge heard how Chadwick threw a piece of wood at the officers and was also present during an incident in which a police van was violently rocked, with officers and a dog inside.

The court heard how Chadwick was filmed twice pouring the contents of a can through the van window on to the police driver, who was trying to move out of danger.

Chadwick said in a letter to the court: “I have let myself down, I have let my family-and-friends down, and I’ve let my whole community down.”

Judge Richardson heard how Chadwick had been drinking nearby and “decided to join in”.

Apprentice bricklayer Alfie Conway, 19, of Park Avenue, South Kirby, Pontefract, was jailed for two years and three months by Judge Richardson, who heard how he threw missiles at police protecting the hotel.

The court heard how Conway was arrested after one officer standing behind a riot shield outside the Holiday Inn Express recognised him and shouted that he would be going to prison.

Conway admitted violent disorder on Tuesday.

Judge Richardson heard how the defendant had a troubled past but had worked hard to secure an apprenticeship.

The judge said: “What on earth possessed him to truly throw all of that away to hurl whatever it was at police officers – one of whom knew exactly who he was?”

He told Conway: “You have been exceptionally foolish.”

The judge expressed sympathy for Conway’s grandparents, who were watching from the public gallery.

Levi Fishlock, 31, appeared in court on Tuesday accused of being part of a group which pushed a burning bin against the hotel housing asylum seekers and stoking the fire.

He is also accused of throwing missiles at police.

Fishlock, of Sheffield Road, Barnsley, is charged with violent disorder and arson with intent to endanger life but did not enter any pleas.

Judge Richardson fixed a trial date for December 2.

The judge said a block of court time between the beginning of December and Christmas has been allocated for a succession of expected trials of those accused of taking part in the disorder at the Manvers hotel.

Fishlock was remanded in custody until a case management hearing on October 25.

Jake Turton, 38, of Darfield, Barnsley, is accused of driving a Ford Ranger truck to the Holiday Inn Express from which those involved in the disorder took wood and other debris to use as weapons against the police.

Turton appeared on Tuesday but did not enter a plea to the charges of violent disorder, taking a vehicle without consent and having no insurance.

Judge Richardson remanded Turton in custody until a further hearing on October 25. He fixed a trial date for December 16.