Kill the Bill: Protester who tried to torch police vans jailed

A protester who set fire to police vehicles during a riot that followed a Kill the Bill demonstration in Bristol has been jailed for 14 years.

Ryan Roberts, 25, from Easton in the city was part of a protest outside Bridewell police station on 21 March.

He was convicted of attempted arson with intent to endanger life for trying to set a police van alight.

Roberts told Bristol Crown Court that he got "carried away" fighting for freedom of speech.

Roberts was "not your average criminal", the court heard

The protest was against the Government's Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.

Roberts was also found guilty of attempted arson being reckless as to whether life was endangered, for trying to set a second police van alight with seven officers inside.

As the protest turned violent, Roberts threw cans, bottles and placards at officers, and verbally abused them.

He was caught on film pushing pieces of flaming cardboard beneath two police vans and placing industrial bins around an already partially burnt-out police car and setting them alight.

He told an officer inside one of the vans he would "go bang".

Roberts threw cans, bottles and placards at officers during the disorder in March

The 25-year-old who had taken cocaine and had been drinking, also smashed the windows of the police station.

Police said damage totalling more than £200,000 was caused during the rioting.

Roberts said the mood of the protest had changed when police donned riot gear and officers started "pushing, shoving and hitting" the crowd with shields and batons.

"I was fighting for a cause I felt strongly about," he said.

More than 40 officers were injured in the riot, which died down in the early hours of 22 March.

Two officers, who had served in the armed forces, described the night as the "most frightening incident in their careers".

Another described the rioting as "ferocious, prolonged and determined violence".

The Kill the Bill protest in Bristol started peacefully before descending into violence later in the evening

Nicholas Lewin, defending, said Roberts had recently been diagnosed with ADHD, was taking proscribed medication and was not a "sophisticated criminal".

"The issue of impulsive behaviour becomes more acute for someone who suffers from that condition.

"He is someone on the fringes of society who is perhaps not equipped to be fully integrated within it - I am trying not to be politically incorrect.

"He is not your average criminal."

Jailing Roberts, Judge James Patrick said: "You were actively involved in committing violence over a period of five hours.

"You were actively encouraging the crowd from an early stage and your actions encouraged the violence against police officers.

"You carried out a leading role in the encouraging of others in the setting of other fires."