Man jailed for role in Rotherham hotel riot

South Yorkshire Police officers were attacked during the violent disorder in Manvers

A man who a court was told had “joined the mob” of rioters who descended on a hotel housing asylum seekers in South Yorkshire has been jailed for his part in the violent disorder.

Nathan Annables, 25, threw missiles at police and entered the Manvers Holiday Inn Express on 4 August to arm himself with a chair which he then used to "repeatedly" hit a hotel window before throwing it, Sheffield Crown Court heard.

He also tried to kick a police van when it was driven through the crowd, and he joined in with chanting aimed at asylum seekers in the hotel.

On Wednesday, Annables, of Manor Drive, Goldthorpe, in Barnsley, who had earlier pleaded guilty to violent disorder, was jailed for three years.

Sentencing Annables, the judge, Her Honour Sarah Wright, told the court that he had "joined in" what was a “terrifying” ordeal for the asylum seekers and staff in the hotel.

People inside the building were “crying and panicked” by what they could see unfolding outside and on social media, and they could smell fires burning, Judge Wright said.

About 200 asylum seekers were housed in the Holiday Inn Express when it was attacked

Prosecutor Stephanie Hollis had earlier said that four police dogs and a horse were physically hurt during the violence at the hotel.

People in the surrounding area were left worried by what they had seen happen in the "protracted attack on police and occupants of the hotel", with local residents scared the violence would spread and fearing for their lives, she said.

Ms Hollis told the court that tensions had mounted outside the hotel “well before physical violence broke out”.

Annables was seen on police bodycam footage arriving before midday drinking a bottle of alcohol and he was still there “hours later”, she said.

Ms Hollis said Annables was seen on video footage ripping wooden planks from a nearby perimeter fence to throw at police.

He also picked up a "rock or lump of concrete" and threw it at officers before attempting to kick a police van.

The court was told that Annables then went inside the hotel to arm himself with a chair to smash a window before throwing it, and he joined in with chants of "Yorkshire, Yorkshire".

Ms Hollis said that in his first police interview, Annables told officers he had not joined in the disorder, however he later pleaded guilty to his role in the violence.

The judge told Annables she was sentencing him to three years because of the part he played in the violent disorder, “perpetrated by a mob of which you were part”.

Annables was sentenced to three years in jail at Sheffield Crown Court on Wednesday

Meanwhile, at Sheffield Youth Court on Wednesday, a 17-year-old boy was handed a 12-month referral order and ordered to pay £400 in compensation to South Yorkshire Police for his role in the violence at the Holiday Inn Express in Manvers.

The judge said he had given that sentence because the boy had had a difficult background, however he added that the teenager had been at the "forefront" of the violence that day.

The 17-year-old had joined in with the crowd, throwing missiles and kicking out at police, the judge said.

The boy told the court he would "just like to say I'm sorry for what I've done", adding that he regretted his actions.

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