Rioters could spend less time in jail due to prison overcrowding, government says

Rioters could spend less time behind bars amid efforts to cut prison overcrowding.

The government confirmed those involved in recent unrest will not be excluded from its plans to release some inmates from jail early, after serving 40% of their sentence.

However Keir Starmer repeatedly warned those involved in the violence will feel the ‘full force of the law’.

Conservative shadow justice secretary Edward Argar criticised the government and said those convicted after the disorder should face ‘tough sentences’ and it was ‘deeply concerning’ they could ‘benefit from less time spent behind bars’.

He called for the government to ‘urgently review’ its plans to release prisoners early.

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced plans to cut the proportion of the sentence inmates must serve behind bars from 50% to 40% last month.

This does not apply to those convicted of sex offences, terrorism, domestic abuse or some violent offences.

The government is on ‘high alert’ over the violent disorder that swept through parts of Britain.

Police had been braced for further riots but no widespread unrest arose after a large turnout of anti-racism protesters and warnings that those involved could face 10-year prison sentences.

But the government said it is ‘not complacent’ as ‘the work is not done’ in dealing with the fallout from the violence.

Starmer has cancelled a planned holiday to Europe in order to ‘ensure that we can respond to the disorder’, a spokeswoman said.

Meanwhile the government confirmed rioters could spend less time behind bars amid efforts to cut prison overcrowding.

Officials said those involved in unrest will not be excluded from its plans to release some inmates from jail early, after serving 40% of their sentence.

A man has admitted throwing a missile at a hotel housing asylum seekers in Manchester.

Lynden Parker, 26, pleaded guilty to violent disorder at Manchester Magistrates’ Court this afternoon.

Prosecutor Tess Kenyon said Parker ‘was seen to throw a missile towards the Holiday Inn’ during the disturbances on July 31.

District Judge Joanne Hirst said Parker’s ‘thuggish conduct’ had ‘inflamed the crowd and frightened people seeking refuge in this country’.

Parker was remanded into custody and will be sentenced at Manchester Crown Court on August 19.

Laurence Dunkerley, 37, of Old Road, Failsworth, pleaded not guilty to a charge of violent disorder from the July 31 disturbances.

Dunkerley was remanded into custody and will appear at Manchester Crown Court on September 2 for a plea and trial preparation hearing.

James Cooper, 34, also pleaded not guilty to a charge of violent disorder dating from the July 31 disorder.

Cooper, of Reedsdale Road, Manchester, was bailed and will appear at Manchester Crown Court for a plea and trial preparation hearing on September 2.

Criminal proceedings against the wife of a Conservative councillor accused of stirring up racial hatred have been adjourned for three weeks.

Lucy Connolly, the wife of West Northamptonshire councillor Raymond Connolly, spoke only to confirm her identity during an 11-minute hearing at Northampton Crown Court today.

Prosecutors allege the 41-year-old childminder intended to stir up racial hatred when she posted a message to X, on the day three girls were stabbed to death in Southport.

It read: ‘Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f****** hotels full of the bastards for all I care… If that makes me racist, so be it.’

Connolly, of Parkfield Avenue, Northampton, has yet to be asked to enter a formal plea to a charge of publishing threatening or abusive material intending to stir up racial hatred.

Applying for the case to be adjourned, Connolly’s barrister Liam Muir told Judge Adrienne Lucking KC that the ‘great public interest’ in the case was not lost on him.

The court heard he intends to seek a psychiatric report before the charge is put to Connolly to enter a plea.

Connolly, whose husband attended the hearing in the public gallery, was remanded in custody to reappear at the same court on September 2.

A rioter will miss the birth of his child after he was jailed for launching missiles at a police van during mob violence which broke out after a vigil in Southport.

Dylan Carey’s pregnant girlfriend burst into tears in the public gallery as he was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court to 18 months in prison after he earlier admitted violent disorder.

Carey, 26, from Hindley, Greater Manchester, travelled to Southport on July 30 with his girlfriend, Natasha Keenan, to lay flowers and light a candle.

Widespread disorder involving a group of about 1,000 people started after the vigil ended with the focus of violence aimed at a local mosque and fuelled by misinformation on social media, Liverpool Crown Court heard.

Chants of ‘who the f*** is Allah?’ and ‘this is our f****** country’ were heard as police officers came under fire from missiles as they formed a cordon to prevent the group from reaching the mosque.

CCTV footage was played to the court which showed Carey, twice fly-kicking a police van and hurling a bottle and a tin of paint at the vehicle.

Prosecutor Nardeen Nemat said CCTV and mobile phone footage of the incident was shown ‘quite quickly’ online on X and other social media platforms.

A police officer at Southport railway station was shown the footage and stopped Carey about an hour later at 9.05pm when he walked past with his girlfriend and his father.

The defendant told the officer he was present at the disturbance but denied any involvement.

He was arrested at his home in Castle Hill Road, Hindley, on August 5 and when later interviewed he said was at the vigil when he saw a notice for a ‘peaceful’ protest about the stab attack.

He attended and the crowd became angry as missiles were launched, the court heard, and Carey also ‘grew angrier’ and threw items himself.

Colin Buckle, defending, asked the judge to consider a suspended jail sentence as he submitted that Carey’s first time in custody since his guilty plea last week had already served as a deterrent.

Judge Dennis Watson KC disagreed and told the defendant, who had no previous convictions: ‘You were an active and persistent participant. Those who choose to take part in mob violence can expect to receive significant sentences.

‘The violence which was directed at the mosque and its community was racially aggravated.

‘Violence was also directed at the police who were performing a difficult and dangerous task.

‘The appropriate sentence can only be achieved by immediate custody.’

A man admitted throwing a pint of cider towards police officers during far-right riots in Manchester on August 3.

Graham Brookes, 42, pleaded guilty to violent disorder at Manchester Magistrates’ Court this afternoon.

Prosecutor Tess Kenyon said Brookes was seen to ‘throw a plastic pint of liquid towards officers’ that ‘appeared to have been aimed at a group of Asian males’.

Ms Kenyon said Brookes later accepted the liquid was fruit cider.

District Judge Joanne Hirst said Brookes had admitted ‘provocative and quite shameful, racist actions’.

Brookes was remanded into custody and will be sentenced at Manchester Crown Court on August 19.

A rapper who told his social media followers that Tommy Robinson was telling people to attack mosques has appeared in court.

Omar Abdirizak, 30, is alleged to have made and posted a video in which he claimed the English Defence League founder had been ‘running his mouth, saying “we’re going to attack the mosques”‘.

He is is charged with conveying information which was known to be false, intending at the time of sending to cause non-trivial psychological or physical harm to a likely audience – an offence under Section 179 of the new Online Safety Act 2023.

Known by the stage name Twista Cheese, the Birmingham rapper pleaded not guilty in an appearance at the city’s Magistrates’ Court today, the PA news agency reported.

His solicitor claimed that Abdirizak had listened to a podcast which mentioned that Mr Robinson had made that claim and that he had “believed it to be a true fact”.

At the same hearing, Abdirizak pleaded guilty to possessing cannabis and racially aggravated harassment, alarm or distress.

District Judge David Wain bailed Abdirizak to appear at the magistrates’ court again on Friday, ordering him not to mention Mr Robinson or the EDL on social media without prior agreement of the court.

A 16-year-old boy has denied taking part in what a judge described as ‘mass civil unrest’ in Bolton earlier this month.

District Judge Joanne Hirst said the teenager was facing an ‘extremely serious’ charge of violent disorder.

On August 4, police separated two groups in Bolton town centre – one largely made up of Asian men, and the other waving Union flags – while projectiles were thrown.

The 16-year-old boy was bailed and will appear at Manchester Magistrates’ Court for a further hearing on August 28.

A library in Liverpool has raised nearly £250,000 to fix the damage left after rioters set it on fire.

Spellow Community Hub Library, in the north of the city, initially hoped to raise £500 to replace books that were burned.

Alex McCormick, who spearheaded the effort, has been interviewed for a video with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Sitting inside the fire-damaged building, she says: ‘I think seeing a library be damaged through the riots just really broke my heart.

‘I felt a little bit helpless, and I thought maybe we could fundraise a couple of hundred quid.’

She added: ‘I never expected it to get to the point that it’s at now.’

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy quote-tweeted the video, adding: ‘There is power in community.’

An 18-year-old rioter who yelled ‘I am a child’ at police while being arrested in Darlington has been jailed for 18 months.

Cole Stewart threw rocks at police who were protecting a mosque in the County Durham town on August 6.

When he hit one officer on the arm, he was seen ‘celebrating’.

Stewart was among a group of around 30 men who were chanting racist and far-right slogans, Judge Francis Laird KC said today.

He added: ‘Police officers were attacked. The Muslim community in Darlington was in fear for their own personal safety and the place in which they worship.

‘The public in Darlington and the wider community are rightly outraged.’

A twelve year old boy from Southport has become the second child to admit throwing missiles at police during right-wing riots in the UK.

The youngster, who cannot be named for legal reasons, sat at the back of the court with his mum and dad while wearing a grey prison-issue tracksuit.

Liverpool Crown Court, sitting as a youth court, heard he was charged with violent disorder after the riots in Southport on July 30, the day after three young girls were killed and several others were injured.

He confirmed his name, address and date of birth and entered a guilty plea to the offence.

Prosecutor Ms Jessica Pridding said: ‘Merseyside Police’s Operation PepperBerry is the force’s response to the disorder from July 30 onwards.

‘On July 30 the defendant is seen on footage amongst the crowd throwing something with his right hand towards a line of uniformed police officers wearing body armour and helmets. He then mounts a bicycle and then rides away from the officers.’

In mitigation, Ms Heather Toohey said because of his age and lack of previous convictions he can only be dealt with by a referral order.

Judge Paul Healey adjourned sentencing to September 17.

His parents thanked the judge as he was allowed to leave the courtroom.

A 12-year-old boy has admitted throwing a missile at a police van and taking part in two separate incidents of disorder in Manchester.

The boy pleaded guilty to two charges of violent disorder at Manchester Magistrates’ Court, sitting as a youth court, on Monday afternoon.

Prosecutor Tess Kenyon told the court the boy was part of a group that gathered on July 31 outside a Holiday Inn hotel housing asylum seekers.

Ms Kenyon said the boy was ‘seen in footage handing a rock to another youth during the disorder’ and was part of a group that attacked a bus.

The prosecutor added: ‘He kicks the bus at the side as it drove past him.’

During subsequent disorder in Manchester city centre on August 3, Ms Kenyon said the boy was “filmed by police kicking the front window of a vape shop’.

Ms Kenyon added: ‘He was also seen to throw a missile at a police van.’

Defending the boy, Natasha McGarr said he was ‘very sorry’ and ‘absolutely ashamed’ of his conduct.

District Judge Joanne Hirst said the case was ‘very serious’, adding it was the first she had dealt with of a person “attending both incidents” of disorder.

The judge added: ‘He’s more involved in the violence and disorder than any other defendant I’ve seen coming through these courts, adult or child.’

The boy was remanded to local authority accommodation and will be sentenced at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on September 2.

A Downing Street spokeswoman has confirmed that people convicted over the riots could be released early from prison.

As mentioned in our 9.53am post, the Labour government has spoken before about the challenge of tackling prisons that are close to capacity – and that was before the unrest broke out.

In response, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood introduced a scheme in which some prisoners would be released after serving 40% of their sentence if they were handed four years or less by a judge.

The spokeswoman said: ‘There’s no specific exclusion for the rioters, the scheme is as previously set out by the Justice Secretary.

‘Also, we’re very clear that those who are convicted of serious violence and serve sentences of four years and over, or a terrorism offence, will be excluded.’

Another 12-year-old is due to appear in court after being charged with violent disorder.

The Crown Prosecution Service said the youth will appear at Manchester City Magistrates’ Court.

Also due in court today is Lucy Connolly, the wife of West Northamptonshire councillor Raymond Connolly.

She’s alleged to have posted on X on the day three girls were stabbed to death in Southport, saying: ‘Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f hotels full of the bastards for all I care… If that makes me racist, so be it.’

A Holiday Inn housing asylum seekers in Rotherham was later almost set alight by a crowd of hundreds.

A 12-year-old boy from Southport was charged with violent disorder after riots broke out in the Merseyside town on July 30.

The child was remanded to appear in Merseyside Youth Court this morning.

Harvey Gabbott, 21, and Paul Dryhurst, 33, have also been charged with violent disorder and were remanded to appear at Liverpool Magistrates Court today

Violence erupted on the streets of Liverpool and Southport the day after three children were fatally stabbed at a dance class, with police vehicles set on fire.

It was the earliest example of unrest that was to spread to cities across England and Northern Ireland over the following two weeks.

The total number of people charged in connection with the disorder on that day is now 30.

The Crown Prosecution Service has given the green light to three charges relating to online activity.

South Wales Police has been authorised to charge two men over Facebook posts that allegedly intended to stir up racial or religious hatred.

Geraint Boyce, 43, and Jamie Michael, 45, are accused of publishing threatening material on a Facebook account, contrary to Section 29C(1) of the Public Order Act 1986.

And Northumbria Police was authorised to charge a man with distributing a recording intending to stir up racial hatred.

James Aspin, 34, is accused of an offence contrary to Section 29E of the Public Order Act 1986.

The CPS said the charge relates to an alleged video published on TikTok on or before August 8, 2024.

Meanwhile, a man has admitted throwing a missile at police during ‘shameful disorder’ in Bolton town centre on August 4.

Niall Charnock, 31, of Edward Street, Bolton, pleaded guilty to violent disorder at Manchester Magistrates’ Court this morning.

Prosecutor Tess Kenyon said Charnock was ‘actively involved’ in the disturbances and social media footage had shown him breaking through a police barricade.

Ms Kenyon added: ‘He was captured on further footage throwing a missile at an officer.’

Charnock has been remanded in custody ahead of sentencing at Bolton Crown Court on August 19.

A personal safety alarm provider has reported a 10% upsurge in demand for the products over the past two weeks.

Peoplesafe said the jump resulted from fears over the rioting and violence that spread around the UK in the aftermath of the Southport stabbings.

The company’s CEO Naz Dossa said: ‘Terrible events like this bring to the fore concerns for personal safety.

‘We have seen in research that this is not just down to isolated events – it is always there.’

In a recent YouGov poll, 71% of people said they do not think the police have had sufficient resources to deal with the riots.

Three men will appear in court in Northern Ireland today, facing charges connected with recent rioting in Belfast.

A 26-year-old man has been charged with a number of offences, including riot, arson, conspiracy to commit arson, three counts of possession of an offensive weapon with intent, and two of criminal damage.

And a 58-year-old man has been charged with possessing written material intended or likely to stir up hatred or arouse fear.

Both men will appear at Belfast Magistrates’ Court.

Meanwhile, a 30-year-old man has been charged with intentionally encouraging or assisting riot, publishing written material intended to stir up hatred, sending menacing messages through a public electronic communications network, and possession of fireworks without a licence.

He will appear at Downpatrick Magistrates’ Court.

Yvette Cooper has criticised the ‘shameful behaviour’ of politicians and pundits who took aim at the police in the past two weeks.

Some figures in the media have amplified suggestions that police treated anti-immigration protests more harshly than previous ones – such as the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020.

This has led to accusations of ‘two-tier’ policing in the country, concerning demonstrations by left-wing activists versus right-wing activists.

But the Home Secretary wrote in the Telegraph yesterday that officers around the country had her full support.

She said: ‘We will work with the police, rather than just blaming them from afar, to tackle problems and raise standards.

‘And we won’t engage in the kind of shameful behaviour we have seen from some senior politicians and pundits who sought to undermine the legitimacy and authority of the police, just at the time they needed our full backing to restore order to the streets.’

Government ministers reportedly believe the large-scale riots seen across the UK in the past two weeks have fizzled out.

There has been a considerable drop in the level of group violence over the past few days in England, although tensions continue to simmer in Northern Ireland.

That’s despite fears continued hot weather and the beginning of the English football season might reignite unrest.

The i newspaper quoted a source close to the Prime Minister and Government who believes the worst of the rioting is now over.

Yesterday, the National Police Chiefs’ Council public order chief BJ Harrington said: ‘Policing continues to stand strong and unified, with hard work and dedication from all of our workforce in the face of daily challenges.

‘The situation in England, Scotland and Wales has somewhat stabilised over the last few days, but our colleagues in Northern Ireland have overnight experienced awful violence with significant injuries experienced by officers on the front line and we are doing all we can to support them.’

We’ll have more on events in Northern Ireland in the next post.