Man jailed after shouting racist insults at police

Jordan Rawlings was among more than 700 people who gathered for a protest opposite Downing Street

A man has been jailed after chanting racist insults at police during a protest.

Jordan Rawlings, from Bearpark, near Durham, was among more than 700 people who gathered for a protest opposite Downing Street on 31 July as part of a wave of disorder which spread across the country following the Southport stabbings.

Teesside Crown Court was shown a video of people, including Rawlings, making gestures to the police and shouting "you're not English any more", among other insults.

The 25-year-old was sentenced to 24 weeks in prison for racially aggravated harassment.

Rawlings was initially arrest at the scene, de-arrested when the situation was under control, then re-arrested at Darlington railway station when he was trying to travel to London on 8 August, following further CCTV analysis.

At his first appearance before magistrates, Rawlings, who has no previous convictions, admitted causing harassment, alarm or distress that was racially aggravated.

Rawlings was part of the crowd which shouted racist insults at police

Judge Francis Laird KC told Rawlings his behaviour was set against a backdrop of "acts of civil disobedience that were developing nationwide".

The judge said: "You chose to be part of an organised and largescale act of civil unrest.

"In the course of that you were part of a group that was aggressive towards police officers and chanting racist insults."

The judge said a suspended sentence was inappropriate.

Three people from Hartlepool have been jailed for violent disorder

Meanwhile, three more people were jailed after admitting their part in riots in Hartlepool on 31 July and Middlesbrough on 4 August.

Dylan Willis, 18, John Barton, 33, and Natalie Wood, 39, all from Hartlepool, have been jailed for violent disorder at Teesside Crown Court.

Barton and Wood were sentenced to 27 months in prison for the Hartlepool disorder, while Willis will spend 14 months in a young offenders institution for participating in the Middlesbrough riot.

Cleveland Police has now arrested more than 110 people following the unrest across Teesside a month ago.

Supt Marc Anderson, who was Silver Commander during the Middlesbrough disorder, said he had never "seen anything like" it in his 30 years of service.