Girl, 19, was 'in thick of it' at riot, court hears

A teenage girl said to have been "in the thick of it" at a riot outside a hotel housing asylum seekers has been told she could go to prison.

Elarna Abbey-Garner, 19, pleaded guilty to violent disorder at the Holiday Inn Express hotel in Manvers, Rotherham, on 4 August when she appeared at Sheffield Magistrates' Court earlier.

Abbey-Garner, of Station Road in Dunscroft, Doncaster, had been on bail for a separate offence at the time, the court heard.

Judge Marcus Waite said an immediate prison sentence would be an option when she was sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court.

Judge Waite told the court Abbey-Garner was "said to have been in the thick of it" at the riot, which saw more than 60 police officers injured by demonstrators trying to gain access to the hotel which was being used to house more than 200 asylum seekers.

At the time, the defendant was 18.

The court heard Abbey-Garner has no previous convictions and she was granted unconditional bail ahead of her next court appearance on 25 March.

Judge Waite told her: "Whilst I'm giving you bail for now, that's not an indication for what might happen at the crown court.

"This may be an immediate prison sentence. There may be alternatives, that's up to the crown court judge."

A South Yorkshire Police spokesperson said 104 people had been charged in connection with the riot, with 89 of them jailed.

Violence erupted across the country at the start of August following the deaths of three schoolgirls in a knife attack in Southport in Merseyside in July.