TWO men have received the longest jail sentences so far for their involvement in the recent widespread violent disorder across the country.
On Friday, prosecutors also charged another individual with rioting, signalling that more charges could be on the way.
David Wilkinson, 48, was sentenced to six years in prison for offences including racially aggravated criminal damage and violent disorder in Hull, northeast England, on August 3. Judge John Thackray noted that Wilkinson had a leading role in what he called "12 hours of racist, hate-fuelled mob violence," which involved attacking officers, spitting, and attempting to start a fire.
John Honey, 25, received a 56-month sentence for violent disorder and burglary. Honey was easily identifiable in video footage of the Hull riot due to his distinctive shirt with the England flag. The footage showed him looting shops and participating in an attack on a car carrying three Romanian men, where he, along with Wilkinson, tried to drag the occupants from the vehicle.
"You ... were intending to create a high risk of injury to persons because you were doing your best to assist others in exposing the occupants to the wrath of the baying mob," Thackray told them.
These sentences are the longest handed down since the riots, which involved violence, arson, looting, and racist attacks—the previous longest sentence being three years and four months.
On Friday, Britain's Crown Prosecution Service charged a 32-year-old man with the offence of rioting, following the charge of a 15-year-old boy with the same offence on Thursday. Riot charges are more serious than violent disorder and can result in up to 10 years in prison.
Gale Gilchrist, Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS North East, stated that the 32-year-old was "one of a number of individuals who we expect will be charged with riot."
Police and prosecutors are responding to the disorder that erupted following the murders of three young girls in Southport on July 29. The violence was spurred by online misinformation that wrongly blamed the killings on an Islamist migrant. The National Police Chiefs' Council reported on Friday that a total of 1,117 arrests have been made since the unrest began.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Some panic-stricken commuters reportedly considered jumping off the trains, but were eventually rescued safely (PTI photo)
