Six men guilty of rioting in Ely after e-bike deaths

Six men have been convicted of riot over the disorder that broke out in Ely in May 2023

Six men have been found guilty of rioting in Ely, Cardiff, two years ago.

Lee Robinson, 38, Zayne Farrugia, 25, Jaydan Baston, 21, and Luke Williams, 31, all from Caerau; Jordan Bratcher, 27 and Connor O'Sullivan, 26, both from Ely, were all found guilty of a charge of riot.

McKenzie Danks, 22, from Caerau, was found not guilty of the same charge, but had already admitted two counts of assaulting a police officer.

The violence was sparked by the deaths of two teenagers, Kyrees Sullivan, 16, and Harvey Evans, 15, who died in an e-bike crash in Ely on 22 May 2023.

Cars were targeted as trouble flared in Ely, Cardiff, in May 2023

At Newport Crown Court, the jury of seven men and five women took a total of six and a quarter hours to reach their verdicts.

All of the defendants were granted bail.

Robinson, Bratcher and O'Sullivan were given conditional bail requiring them to wear electronic tags and remain at their home addresses between 09:00 BST and 18:00.

Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke told the six defendants that they would be sentenced at a later date, and warned that any sentence was likely to be "significant" and involve immediate custody.

McKenzie Danks was told he will be sentenced for the offences he admitted on 26 November.

McKenzie Danks, 22, from Caerau, was found not guilty of rioting, but had already admitted two counts of assaulting a police officer

During the first trial, which has been split into two because of the number of defendants, the court was told there were about 200 hours of police body-worn video from the night of the riot.

Trouble flared when rumours spread quickly on social media that the two boys killed in the crash were being followed by police at the time.

Disorder then broke out, with 100 to 150 people gathering.

Soon afterwards, Belinda Sullivan, the mother of Kyrees, posted on Facebook to appeal for calm, adding that her son's body was still on the side of the road.

Between 03:00 and 03:30 on 23 May, the crowds were dispersed.

Kyrees Sullivan (left), 16, and Harvey Evans, 15, died in an e-bike crash in Ely in May 2023 which led to the riots

The former South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner, Alun Michael, initially insisted that the two teenagers were not being followed by police before they died.

But CCTV footage analysed by BBC Verify later showed police were following the boys just minutes before the crash.

An inquest opening into the deaths of Harvey and Kyrees in June 2023 found the provisional cause of death for Kyrees was "blunt injury to the head", while Harvey died as a result of "blunt injury to the head and trunk".

The coroner said their deaths were "violent or unnatural", but the full inquest was adjourned for the ongoing police investigation to be concluded.

In total, more than 40 people have been charged in connection with the disorder.

A second trial is due to take place at a later date.