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A mother took her young child to a violent row outside a hotel housing asylum seekers, a court heard.
Nevey Smith, 21, who was pushing the child in a pram, took part in a protest outside the hotel in Newton Heath, Manchester, on July 31.
She walked to the front of the crowd and threw water at the police officers guarding the hotel.
Smith, of West Street, Oldham, pleaded guilty to violent disorder at Manchester Magistrates Court on Monday afternoon.
Tess Kenyon, the prosecutor, said: “Footage shows her throwing liquid from a bottle at police officers trying to maintain order.
“She had a child with her in a stroller.”
Robert Moussalli defended her, saying that Smith had “lost her temper” during the disturbance and “thrown some water.”
He added: “She was taking the child to her grandmother’s house when she saw her aunt standing with some people at the hotel and went to talk to her,” he said.
“Then people started screaming and she went to the front of the group and her aunt went to the back with the child. She wasn’t going to do anything.”
District Judge Joanne Hirst told Smith: “You are putting your own child at risk.”
The judge added that Smith “was not as closely involved in the demonstration as others” and that he “did not directly use racial violence”.
Smith was released on bail and will be sentenced at Manchester Crown Court on August 19.
The riot outside the hotel was part of a wave of violent demonstrations that have swept across the UK following the stabbings in Southport, in which three young girls were killed.
Man charged with violent disorder
Elsewhere in the UK, a 40-year-old man has been charged with violent disorder and assault on an emergency worker during a riot in Weymouth on August 4.
Kevin Searle, from Weymouth, is due to appear at Poole Crown Court on Wednesday,
He is the fourth man to be charged by Dorset Police with violent disorder during the protest.
Mark Callaghan, Assistant Chief Constable of the Police, said: “This latest arrest and charge demonstrates our continued commitment to taking action against those believed to have been involved in criminal activity during the recent protests.”
Habeeb Khan was charged at Birmingham Crown Court with possession of an imitation AK-47.
The court heard he was accused of using the fake weapon to ‘lead members of the EDL’ (English Defence League) to believe violence would be used against them.
The 49-year-old man from Sparkbrook, Birmingham, has pleaded not guilty.
He also denied sending a message between August 4 and 6 threatening death or serious injury in a video he uploaded to the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
Allegations of brawling and obstructing police
Two men have pleaded guilty at London’s Westminster Crown Court to their involvement in a violent demonstration in Whitehall on July 31, during which rioters clashed with police officers and threw bottles and cans at them.
Callum Flynn, 29, of Belgravia Gardens, Bromley, pleaded guilty in court on Saturday to violent disorder, while Russ Cooke, 66, of Myddelton Street, Islington, admitted three racist public order offences on Monday.
The Metropolitan Police have charged four more people over the disturbances, including a 14-year-old boy.
Steven Essex, 49, of Merebank Lane, Wallington, has been charged with affray and obstructing a police officer, and Philip Fahie, 41, has been charged with two public order offences, including one with a racial motive.
Both will appear before Croydon Magistrates Court on Friday.
Paul Stevenson, 46, of Pembury Avenue, Kingston Upon Thames, has been charged with breaching conditions imposed under section 14 of the Public Order Act. He will appear at Westminster Crown Court on Monday.
A 14-year-old boy charged with a public order offence will appear at Sevenoaks Magistrates Court on August 23.
Man pulls officer to ground
A 60-year-old man pulled a police officer to the ground as a “violent crowd” stormed a hotel housing asylum seekers, a court heard.
Glyn Guest was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison at Sheffield Crown Court on Wednesday after footage emerged of a riot outside the Holiday Inn Express in Manvers, Rotherham, on August 4.
Body camera footage showed him being repeatedly pushed back by a riot shield as he charged at a police line six times.
He then grabs an officer’s shield, causing him to fall to the ground, amid cheers from the large crowd.
The female officer whose bodycam footage was played said in a statement about the impact of the event: “I was terrified for my safety” as more than 50 officers were injured and attempts were made to storm the building and set it on fire.
The officer said it was “a horrific incident of mindless violence” and that in her five and a half years of service she had “never experienced anything like it”.
Sheffield registrar, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC, said the behaviour of the “mob” was “despicable towards the police officers”.
He told Guest: “You were part of a violent mob and you played your part fully.”
Guest, of Pearson Crescent, Wombwell, admitted violent disorder last week.
“I am guilty, ma’am”
A rioter who shouted “England, England, England – take it back” during disorder in Manchester city centre has been jailed for “encouraging violence”.
Warren Gilchrest, 52, of North Road, Manchester, pleaded guilty to violent disorder at Manchester Magistrates Court on Wednesday morning.
Jonathan Potter, the prosecutor, said a “large group of far-right protesters” had gathered in Piccadilly Gardens on August 3, where Gilchrest “filmed, incited the crowd and encouraged violence” and “actively encouraged others” to attack a man.
He told the court that Gilchrest had made “numerous racist or racially charged comments” and that he had been heard shouting: “England, England, England – take it back.”
After pleading guilty, Gilchrest told District Judge Joanne Hirst: “I’m guilty, ma’am, but I’m not sure what that means.”
The judge told Gilchrest that he had admitted being involved in “large-scale public disorder in Piccadilly Gardens, of which we are all ashamed”.
He has been remanded in custody and will appear in Manchester Crown Court on August 21.
Man kicks female officer
A man who kicked a policewoman to the ground and took part in an attack on a garage that damaged nine cars during riots in Hull has been jailed for three years.
Connor Whiteley, 26, pleaded guilty to violent disorder and assaulting an emergency worker after playing a “prominent role” in the “racist, hate-fuelled mob violence” that unfolded in the city on August 3.
He was jailed on Wednesday after the judge urged prosecutors to consider charging offenders who played a central role in the unrest with rioting, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years, double the sentence that could be imposed for convictions for violent disorder.
Hull Crown Court heard that Whiteley was at the front of a group confronting police who were trying to protect a hotel known to be housing asylum seekers and was seen charging towards officers.
The court heard he kicked a policewoman’s shield, forcing her to get up and causing a minor injury to her elbow and forearm.
Whiteley was also part of a group that attacked a garage, setting fire to cars and shouting threats at staff, who were forced to lock themselves inside.
Man denies attacking officer
A man has denied assaulting a police officer during riots in central London last month.
Danny Fournier, 41, is said to have “hit the female officer twice on the back of the head”.
“Fortunately” the officer was wearing a helmet, the Westminster Crown Court heard.
However, Fournier, from Lambeth, south London, admitted threatening behaviour by assaulting another officer during the anti-immigration demonstration, the court was told.
Police arrested 121 people following violent disorder outside Downing Street on Wednesday 31 July.
Fournier, who was wearing white trainers, blue jeans and a blue polo shirt when he appeared in court, was given conditional bail to appear at Southwark Crown Court on September 11.
Elsewhere, a man denied throwing a bottle at mounted police during disorder in Bolton.
Zakaria Sadiq, 21, of Bentinck Street, Bolton, pleaded not guilty to violent disorder at Manchester Magistrates Court on Wednesday afternoon.
Jonathan Potter, prosecuting, claimed CCTV footage showed Sadiq throwing “an object – identified as a bottle” at mounted police during disorder in Bolton town centre on August 4.
David Philpott defended himself and said Sadiq “does not accept that he threw anything during this incident”.
Sadiq has been remanded in custody and will appear in Bolton District Court on September 4 for a plea and pre-trial hearing.