Role in hotel riot 'ruined my life' - arsonist

A rioter who helped fuel a fire outside a hotel housing asylum seekers believed his actions that day had "ruined" his life, a court has heard.

Arron Bailey, 28, also sprayed a fire extinguisher at police, pushed a shopping trolley at officers and threw a rock at a police van at the Holiday Inn Express in Manvers, Rotherham, on 4 August.

At Sheffield Crown Court on Wednesday, Bailey, who had pleaded guilty to violent disorder and arson with intent to endanger life, was jailed for eight years with an extended licence period of three years.

Meanwhile, a 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named due to his age, pleaded guilty at Sheffield Youth Court on Wednesday to violent disorder during the riot.

Before Bailey's sentencing, Sheffield Crown Court heard that the father-of-two with no previous convictions was seen "to the fore of many of the various pockets of disorder" on the day of the riot.

He was seen wearing a camouflage balaclava in much of the footage taken at the scene.

Clips played in court showed the former construction worker adding large planks and cardboard boxes to a bin that had been set on fire outside the doors of the hotel.

A judge heard Bailey was part of a group chanting "Yorkshire, Yorkshire" as they descended on a police van, and he was seen arming himself with a large rock and throwing it at the vehicle.

Bailey was also seen commandeering a shopping trolley from a nearby Aldi supermarket and pushing it at the police line.

In the footage shown to the court, he was seen at one point spraying a fire extinguisher at the police line, forcing officers to retreat, before he threw the empty device at officers.

In mitigation, the court heard Bailey had struggled to get work after the Covid lockdown, and had told a probation officer he had "ruined his life through this one day".

A judge heard 14 references for Bailey had been submitted by family members and friends who "struggle to come to terms with exactly what he has done".

The court heard that before the day of the riot, he was "essentially a family man who had a good relationship with family and friends".

The Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC, said that despite the number of rioters he had now sentenced, "it never ceases to amaze me that young men such as yourself have, in consequence of what they did that day, ruined their lives and ruined the lives of their families".

At Sheffield Youth Court on Wednesday, a teenage boy pleaded guilty to violent disorder at Manvers on 4 August.

District Judge Tim Spruce was told the 17-year-old was seen breaking up a slab of concrete to then throw at police, while on another occasion he was seen pulling off fence panels from residential properties which he then used to throw at officers.

Kaidee Brown, representing the boy, said he had gone to the protest with friends because they were "intrigued" by social media posts and wanted to "have a nosy".

She said the boy, who was 16 at the time, did not go with the intention of using violence or causing distress, but when he arrived at the scene, he went "along with everyone else".

Ms Brown said the teen described himself as "a class clown" who held police in high regard and did not have any racist views.

Judge Spruce told the boy he would be sentenced at the same court on 26 March.

Additional reporting by PA Media

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