Three men jailed in first Crown Court sentences after riots following Southport attack
Three men have been jailed after they admitted to their roles in rioting in the wake of the killing of three young girls in Southport.
The sentences are the first at the Crown Court over the disorder after the cases were fast-tracked as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer promised quick punishment for those involved.
Derek Drummond, 58, from Southport, pleaded guilty to violent disorder and assault of an emergency worker in the Merseyside town last Tuesday.
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It was the day after Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, six-year-old Bebe King and seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe, were killed in an attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.
The court heard a group of up to 1,000 people were involved in the disorder outside a mosque in St Luke’s Road, which lasted for hours and saw more than 50 police officers injured.
The crowd chanted “this is our f***ing country” and “scumbag bastards” before Drummond shouted “shithouses, shithouses” and punched PC Thomas Ball in the face.
‘I have let the kids down’
When Drummond handed himself into police he admitted he “was a fool and was holding his hands up,” adding: “I’m absolutely ashamed of the way I have behaved. I have let Southport down, I have let the kids down, I have let my family down.”
He has 14 previous convictions for 19 offences from 1988, which prosecutors said show a “history of violence”.
Drummond was jailed for three years.
Liam Riley, 41, from Kirkdale, admitted violent disorder and a racially aggravated public order offence in Liverpool city centre on Saturday night.
The court heard he went to the city wearing a St George’s flag draped around his neck and had been in four or five pubs before becoming involved in a group of around 100 people who were aggressively chanting and throwing rocks and bottles.
‘Clearly drunk’
He was “clearly drunk” when arrested and became abusive towards the arresting officer, who he called a “traitor” and a “Muslim lover”, prosecutor Chris Taylor said.
Riley also “made comments about Muslims and immigrants” and “expressed a view both were to blame for the tragic events in Southport,” he said.
Riley, who has no previous convictions but two previous cautions, was jailed for 20 months.
Declan Geiran, 29, from Liverpool, admitted violent disorder and arson over rioting in Liverpool city centre on Saturday afternoon.
He was caught on CCTV setting a police van on fire before sitting down and looking “casually” back at what he had done and was found with lighters when arrested, the court heard.
Geiran denied having any “negative feelings” about immigration and the prosecutor said the “motivation was to cause damage” by attacking the police van, which has been written off and will cost more than £32,000 to replace.
He was jailed for two-and-a-half years.
He received 28 months for charges related to the riot – and a further two months for sending threatening messages to a woman, totalling 30 months.
Brendan Carville, defending Riley and Geiran, said neither were organisers and “they are not political”.
‘Appalled, horrified and deeply disturbed’
Judge Andrew Menary KC said “every decent member of the community affected by these events will have been appalled, horrified and deeply disturbed about what had taken place in their neighbourhoods”.
The judge said some saw the young girls’ deaths as “an opportunity to sow division and hatred” and spread false information about the nationality, ethnicity and supposed religion of the alleged attacker – who was later named as Axel Rudakubana – who was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents.
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The judge said “the genuine and collective grief of the residents of Southport was hijacked” and the three men had “disgraced and damaged the reputations” of the town and Liverpool.
“Quite simply, those who deliberately participate in such disorder, causing injury, damage and fear to communities will inevitably be punished with sentences designed to deter others from similar activity,” he added.
The prime minister has said he hopes this week’s sentences will send a “powerful message” to anyone involved in rioting as police prepare for further potential unrest across the country tonight.
Sentences are ‘tip of the iceberg’
Speaking outside court, senior district Crown prosecutor Jonathan Egan said: “Today, the first prison sentences have been handed down for offenders involved in the widespread and unacceptable disorder we saw in Southport and Liverpool last week.
“Drummond, Riley and Geiran’s actions would have caused panic, revulsion and chaos in their local communities.
“The three men sentenced today are the tip of the iceberg, and just the start of what will be a very painful process for many who foolishly chose to involve themselves in violent unrest. Many of those involved will be sent to prison for a long time.”
‘Unprecedented’ aggression towards police
Merseyside Police chief constable Serena Kennedy said in a statement read in court 93 officers had been injured, with one suffering fractures to both legs, while others have had teeth knocked out and sustained a broken jaw in an “unprecedented” level of aggression.
She said it was “shocking to hear” the impact, with some officers “waking up in the night with panic attacks” and others described the “fear they felt” of not returning safely home to their families.
They have “expressed disbelief officers haven’t been killed as a result of the appalling scenes of violence,” she said.