Man caught on camera attacking police van in riot jailed

Luke Moran repeatedly punched a police vehicle and tried to rip off a wing mirror

A man who attacked a police van with a piece of concrete leaving an officer "fearing for his life" is among the latest people to have been jailed following rioting in Southport.

Luke Moran was captured on police body-worn camera footage as he repeatedly punched the vehicle and tried to rip off a wing mirror.

The 38-year-old roofer, of Leybourne Avenue in Birkdale, Merseyside, was jailed for three years after admitting violent disorder.

Sentencing him at Liverpool Crown Court, Judge Neil Flewitt said it was "as bad a case as I have seen so far".

PC James Hayes said in a statement the men who attacked his vehicle appeared "whipped into a frenzy", the court heard.

The court heard how the footage captured Moran's angered face during the attack, as the driver was heard saying "we’re going to have to bail".

Escaped and fled

The driver then escaped out of the rear of the van covered and sheltered by other officers as he fled.

The court heard Moran had lost his job with a roofing firm after his image was published.

Widespread disturbances broke out in towns and cities across England following the Southport knife attack that killed three young girls.

Moran’s friend Nicholas Sinclair was also sentenced to two years four months for his involvement in the rioting, although it was not suggested their actions were the result of collusion.

The 38-year-old manager of a scaffolding firm, of Bury Road, Birkdale, admitted throwing bricks and also pleaded guilty to violent disorder.

Judge Flewitt said their actions were "neither thoughtless nor mindless, it was deliberate".

Two other men sentenced at the same time were 41-year-old Daniel Carrigan, who threw two items at the window of the police van.

Carrigan, of Preston Grove, Anfield, was handed a jail term of two years and eight months after admitting violent disorder and criminal damage.

In his defence he claimed he was struggling with cocaine addiction and had been on the drug at the time.

The disorder in Southport took place the evening after the Southport knife attack

The court heard he had been convicted of a racially aggravated common assault in 2016 after telling a traffic warden he should "return back to his own country".

Thomas Whitehead, 53, of Pool Street, Southport, who works as a gardener, was sentenced to a year and eight months for throwing an object.

The court heard appeals that he "does not know what took hold of him when he threw that one missile from the back of the group".

Jake Lowther, 20 from Banks, near Southport, who admitted throwing concrete in riots in the town was sentenced to 18 months in a young offender institution.

His actions were captured on CCTV and he was told he would spend half of his sentence in custody and half in the community.

It was accepted in sentencing his actions were out of character and his defence conceded their client "did something extremely foolish".