Far-right thugs who brought chaos to Britain’s streets faced their moment of reckoning today, with one jailed for three years for punching a police officer outside a mosque and another weeping in the dock as he pleaded guilty to violent disorder.
Derek Drummond screamed ‘s***houses’ at officers as they tried to put on their protective gear during a riot in Southport last Tuesday before attacking one male PC as he tried to protect his colleagues.
The 58-year-old haulier, who called himself a ‘fool’ while handing himself in to police and has since lost his job, was sentenced at a fast-tracked hearing at Liverpool Crown Court alongside two other local men who took part in a riot in the city centre on Saturday.
Liam Riley, 40, was emotionless as he was sentenced to 20 months in prison after admitting violent disorder and racially aggravated behaviour, while Declan Geiran, 29, received 30 months for setting fire to a police van and sending a malicious communication.
The trio are the first to be jailed for violent disorder during the riots. James Nelson, 18, was jailed for two months yesterday after pleading guilty to causing criminal damage during unrest in Bolton on Sunday.
After the three men were jailed in Liverpool today, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: ‘This is the swift action we’re taking. If you provoke violent disorder on our streets or online, you will face the full force of the law.’
Elsewhere today, 28-year-old Liam Ryan shook and wept in court as he pleaded guilty to violent disorder after travelling from West Yorkshire to Manchester’s Piccadilly Gardens to ‘play an active role in the disorder’.
And Julie Sweeney, 53, was remanded in custody after appearing in court accused of sending a threatening message suggesting blowing up ‘a mosque with adults inside’.
A ‘standing army’ of nearly 6,000 public order officers have been drafted in amid fears of further riots tonight, after racist yobs shared a ‘target list’ of 39 locations, including immigration centres, refugee shelters and lawyers’ homes.
It comes as:
Derek Drummond has been jailed for three years after punching a police officer in the face during a riot in Southport on Tuesday
Liam Riley, 40, was sentenced to 20 months in prison after he admitted violent disorder and racially aggravated behaviour, while Declan Geiran, 29, (right) received 30 months for setting fire to a police van and sending a malicious communication
A police officer is pelted with objects by a crowd of thugs in Southport on Tuesday
A police officer is seen with blood pouring from a head wound amid a riot in Southport on Tuesday
Daniel McGuire (pictured), 45, pleaded guilty after ‘spitting on officers and shields’ despite being told to stop
Daniel McGuire is knocked to the ground by riot police in Pymouth. He was remanded in custody
Dozens more riot suspects will go through the courts in expedited hearings today, with 120 already charged and at least 428 arrested. The numbers are ‘expected to rise significantly day by day’, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said.
Drummond, Riley and Geiran were involved in riots near Southport Mosque last Tuesday following the vigil in the town for three girls who were fatally stabbed at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club.
Sentencing them, the Honorary Recorder of Liverpool, Judge Andrew Menary KC, said: ‘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.
‘The genuine and collective grief of the residents of Southport was effectively hijacked by this callous behaviour.’
Drummond said he attended the Southport vigil before getting caught up in riots and ‘letting his family down’
He accepted his behaviour was ‘appalling’ but could not give any explanation, telling detectives: ‘I’m absolutely ashamed of the way I acted. I’ve let Southport down, I’ve let the kids down. I’ve let my family down and I’m not here to deny anything.’
The court heard he had 14 previous convictions including offences of violence.
Drummond told officers he attended the vigil before hearing a disturbance. He admitted confronting police and punching officers holding shields.
Lionel Greig, defending Drummond, said he had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and had lost his job.
Judge Menary said: ‘You were seen to be there in a fairly early stage of the disorder, you were an active part of the crowd, you were demonstrating outside a mosque, punched an officer in face, you at least picked up a brick, even if you didn’t throw it.’
The maximum sentence for violent disorder is five years, Liverpool Crown Court heard, but each defendant’s early guilty pleas had to be taken into account.
Prosecutor Christopher Taylor said the incident outside Southport Mosque involved about 1,000 people and lasted a number of hours, with some 50 police officers injured.
Chants from the group included ‘this is our f****** country’, ‘England til I die’ and ‘Allah, Allah, who the f*** is Allah’, the court heard.
Drummond accepted chanting but could not remember what he said.
Bodyworn footage from PC Thomas Ball showed the thug approach the riot cordon line and say ‘s***houses, s***houses’.
Drummond was told to go back and he then punched PC Ball in the face.
About 30 minutes later Drummond fronted up to officers again and started to attempt to break through another cordon.
Following a public appeal the defendant handed himself into police and said he was ‘a fool’.
Geiran had 13 previous convictions for 18 offences between 2011 and this year with a ‘varied record’ involving criminal damage, burglary and supplying Class A and Class B drugs, together with a number of failures to follow court orders, Liverpool Crown Court heard.
Judge Andrew Menary KC said one such community order was imposed last September after he sent a threatening communication.
He said: ‘In fact, this is illuminating. Sending messages to a woman threatening to ‘get’ her and her children, and pretending you were travelling to the south of England in order to harm her.
‘That’s the sort of brave and principled man you are.
‘You did very little to comply with any of those community order requirements.’
He noted that ‘unbelievably’ he had told police he went to Pier Head in support of the bereaved families.
Brendan Carville, defending, told the court that Geiran had emotionally unstable personality disorder and was ‘not a clever man’.
He added: ‘He doesn’t understand what far right and far left means. He simply went along with the flow.’
Geiran was sentenced to 28 months in jail for violent disorder, handed a 12-month concurrent term for arson and given a consecutive two-month prison sentence for breaching his community order.
Sarah Hammond, Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS Mersey-Cheshire, said: ‘Today’s prison sentences show that the law is catching up with those who have brought violence to our local communities.
‘The disturbing images we have seen across the country, manipulated by agitators both in person and online, while local families still grieve the loss of loved ones, is an unforgivable and selfish act that each and every person sentenced today will have to live with.
‘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.
‘Riley, Drummond and Geiran mistakenly thought they would escape justice. They now face an extended period of time behind bars, and their criminal convictions will stay with them forever.’
It comes as dozens more protesters are hauled before the courts today as the legal recriminations continue against those alleged to have taken part in a week of disgraceful violence.
Julie Sweeney, 53, of Lawtongate Estate, Church Lawton, Cheshire, appeared before Warrington Magistrates’ Court charged with sending communication threatening death or serious harm.
Court papers allege that on Saturday, the defendant ‘sent a message that conveyed a threat of death or serious harm, namely, suggesting to ‘blow up a mosque with adults inside’, intending, or being reckless as to whether, an individual encountering the message would fear that the threat would be carried out’.
Sweeney has not entered a plea to the charge and has been remanded in custody until a hearing at Chester Crown Court on August 14.
James Nelson, 18, was jailed for two months yesterday after pleading guilty to causing criminal damage during unrest in Bolton on Sunday
Another man involved in the Bolton riot, 28-year-old Liam Powell, avoided jail as he was given a 12-month community order which will be in place until August 2025. Police said he admitted being in possession of cocaine
Drummond, who called himself a ‘fool’ while handing himself in to police, was sentenced at a fast-tracked hearing at Liverpool Crown Court
Andrew Phillips, David Green, Shaun Holt and Liam Ryan will appear in court today over alleged rioting offences
Aaron Johnson (pictured) admitted using racist language on a live stream he broadcast to ‘millions of people’ from outside a hotel in Stockport thought to contain asylum seekers
Aaron Johnson admitted using racist language on a live stream he broadcast to ‘millions of people’ from outside a hotel in Stockport thought to contain asylum seekers at Manchester Magistrates’ Court.
Prosecutor Laura Peers said Johnson ‘became aggressive to members of staff’ at the hotel, adding that he told them ‘he would smash their face in’.
Ms Peers added that ‘within the stream he repeatedly refers to migrants in a derogatory manner’ and used racist language.
Johnson was remanded into custody and will be sentenced at Minshull Street Crown Court on August 21.
Four other men are also accused of violent disorder following rioting in the Piccadilly Gardens area of the city centre on Saturday August 4.
Liam Ryan, 28, cried in court as he pleaded guilty to the charge after he had travelled from West Yorkshire to take part in the violence.
Ms Peers said social media footage showed ‘a black male being confronted by a large group of white males’, adding that Ryan had ‘played an active role in the disorder’ and could be seen ‘aiming a punch towards the male involved’.
Shaun Holt, 42, was not required to enter a plea to the same charge following the Piccadilly Gardens disorder.
Prosecutors said David Green, 41, of Stalybridge, was identified in footage ‘kicking a black male while he was on the floor’, while Andrew Phillips, 27, of Stretford, allegedly stamped on him.
Neither gave any indication of plea as they appeared at Manchester Magistrates’ Court today and they were remanded in custody.
In Plymouth, five people have appeared in court charged with violent disorder following a protest in the port city on Monday night which saw police officers injured and two members of the public taken to hospital.
A 17-year-old boy admitted throwing a traffic cone and a rock towards a large group of protesters, Daniel McGuire, 45, pleaded guilty after ‘spitting on officers and shields’ despite being told to stop, and Michael Williams, 51, was seen kicking another man during the disorder.
Plymouth Magistrates’ Court heard a fourth man, Lucas Ormond Skeaping, 29, pushed a 17-year-old off his bike and was caught on his own GoPro camera throwing a full bottle of coke and a rock’ towards protesters as he also pleaded guilty to violent disorder.
A number of suspected rioters appeared before a district judge at Teesside Magistrates’ Court.
Charlie Bullock, 21, was described as ‘the main instigator’ of a large group pushing against a police line during riots in Middlesbrough, as he admitted throwing stones and rocks at officers.
Cole Stewart, 18, who was seen ‘celebrating’ after throwing an object which hit a police officer during riots in Darlington, Co Durham, also pleaded guilty to violent disorder at the same court.
Lucas Skeaping, 29, of Tavistock, Devon, admitted violent disorder over the riot in Plymouth
Matthew Wilson, 31, of Parrock Street, Lancashire, and Alex Fraser of Oldham Road, Manchester, who have been charged with racially aggravated assaults and public order offences following protests in Manchester at the weekend. Both were remanded in custody
A police dog bites a masked protester in Plymouth during clashes on Monday
A masked rioter runs in front of a bonfire in the middle of the road in Rotherham on Sunday
A hit-list of 39 places around England has emerged online ahead of more planned protests tonight
Heather Blair, prosecuting, said an officer ‘felt a sharp blow to his wrist’ from an object believed to be thrown by Stewart, who was then seen ‘celebrating with his arms in the air’.
Brandon Welch, 18, who is accused of using racist language and encouraging people to smash up property while live-streaming the Darlington riot on TikTok, did not enter a plea to a charge of violent disorder.
Elsewhere, a man has been charged with possessing a wooden stick as a weapon during a gathering in Birmingham.
TV coverage of the large gathering on Monday night led to claims on social media that someone was armed with a sword near a roundabout in the Bordesley Green area of Birmingham.
A number of counter-protesters gathered in the area after social media rumours of a far-right march being staged there.
Shehraz Sarwar from Birmingham was arrested and charged by West Midlands Police following the incident on Monday and was remanded in custody today.
Court documents released ahead of his appearance state that he is alleged to have possessed an offensive weapon – ‘namely a wooden stick with a cord wrapped around it’ – in the Belchers Lane area.
A 20-minute hearing at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court was told Sarwar, from Saltley, claims to have carried the stick in the area and neighbouring Alum Rock for the past 11 years.
District Judge David Murray was told Sarwar, who pleaded not guilty, was identified by neighbourhood officers as someone captured on Sky News’ coverage of the counter-protest.
Sarwar, who is not accused of involvement in violent disorder, said ‘I never done nothing, judge’ and ‘give me a chance’ as he was remanded until a second bail hearing on August 15. A trial date was set for September 23.
Also in the West Midlands, Davina O’Shaughnessy, from Sandwell, pleaded not guilty to one count of racially aggravated threatening behaviour and not guilty to two counts of threatening behaviour at Wolverhampton Magistrates’ Court.
The 45-year-old is due to appear for trial at Walsall Magistrates’ Court on September 13.
A 16-year-old boy, of no registered address, will appear in Newcastle-under-Lyme Magistrates’ Court in Stoke-on-Trent charged with violent disorder and assaulting an emergency worker.
An estate agent in North Finchley was also boarded up today before a possible demonstration tonight
Towns and cities across England – from Aldershot to Wigan – have been named as targets for demonstrations, with organisers saying ‘they won’t stop coming until you tell them…’
One vile message – posted to the group’s 15,000 members – said: ‘The n*****s will try to abuse the unrest to steal. It’s in their blood to do so’
The CPS said Steven Hall, 60, faces a racially aggravated harassment charge at Chester Magistrates’ Court in connection with the widespread disorder.
Two teenagers are due to appear in youth court in Sheffield in connection with riots outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Rotherham.
They follow the case of self-employed builder Joshua Simpson, who became the first person to be convicted following rioting outside the hotel after he admitted assaulting a police officer.
Also in Sheffield, Jake Turton, 38, of Barnsley, will appear in the city’s magistrates’ court charged with violent disorder and driving a motor vehicle without its owner’s consent.
The court appearances come as police remain braced for planned unrest by ‘hateful and divisive groups’.
In Hartlepool, a man who was allegedly seen ‘milling around’ and watching a boy set a police car on fire during riots appeared in court.
Anthony Calvert, 29, of Sandbanks Drive, Hartlepool, denied a charge of violent disorder during the hearing at Teesside Magistrates Court.
He said he told the boy he was going to ‘get himself in trouble for that’, the court heard. He was remanded in custody until his next court appearance on August 28.
Police are preparing for more than 100 planned protests and 30 further counter-demonstrations today as far-Right thugs use social media and encrypted messaging apps to plan violence across the UK.
Nearly 6,000 police officers have been drafted in after a list of 39 locations where the yobs could wreak havoc – including immigration centres, refugee shelters and lawyers’ homes – emerged late last night.
Leaked messages from what appear to be far-Right Telegram channels show those involved threatening the lives of anti-racism campaigners, using sick slurs and exchanging tips on how to ‘hood up’ as they prepare for fresh demonstrations today.
Gatherings are now anticipated in 41 of the 43 police force areas in England and Wales. A police source said: ‘Today is probably going to be the busiest day of the week, into the evening. Tonight, we think it’s looking like a credible picture. We are preparing for activity across 41 forces.’
Resources are being shared around the country as forces respond to intelligence, with the Metropolitan Police understood to be sending some officers to Manchester while others in the south east are also travelling to support colleagues in north east and north west forces.
According to police sources, immigration centres and lawyers’ offices are anticipated to be the main focus for the gatherings but officers could also be deployed to hotels housing asylum seekers if intelligence establishes they face credible threats.
The chaos which has engulfed Britain’s streets since the Southport stabbings last week has brought parts of the country to a halt, with medical appointments cancelled as staff are too scared to go to work.
Meanwhile an office worker in the City of London said he and his colleagues have been told to leave their office near Liverpool Street due to ‘planned riots’ in the area. He said that employees have been advised to work from home for the remainder of the week and not to attend the London office.
Police in in the upmarket city of Bath have also put out an urgent warning to shops and pubs of a planned violent riot, due to kick-off at 4pm.
Avon and Somerset Police say they have had information that a large organised group of rioters plan to descend on the city centre from Manchester by train.
A consortium of venue owners in the south-west city received this message from local police officer Gemma Prior working out of Bath police station at 12.47 this afternoon: ‘Hi team, I know this isn’t the right forum but I am working from Bath Police Station today and there is a protest due in Bath around 4pm onwards and restaurants and buildings are going to be trashed.
The message added: ‘Police have been made aware that a large group of people from Manchester are heading to Bath. Any signs of trouble call 999 and quote the reference number. Stay safe. ‘
One venue owner who did not wish to be named said: ‘We are all bracing ourselves. It’s pretty frightening considering what has been happening in different parts of the country recently.’
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