Disorder Factory worker jailed for role in riot at hotel

A man who shouted abuse at police guarding a hotel housing asylum seekers and celebrated as missiles were thrown at officers has been jailed for three years and four months, as more people were sentenced yesterday for their part in the riots.

- Hannah Al-Othman

Sheffield crown court heard that Lee Crisp, a 42-year-old factory worker from Barnsley, was part of a group that gathered outside the Holiday Inn Express at Manvers in Wath-upon-Dearne, near Rotherham.

The Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC, said the "high octane" abuse dished out by Crisp encouraged the crowd, adding: "You were leading the way in all of this, in four separate incidents."

Several other people alleged to have been involved have been remanded in custody charged with offences linked to the disorder.

Jake Turton, 38, is due to face trial in December. Turton, of Darfield, Barnsley, is accused of driving a pickup truck to rioting outside the hotel. He is alleged to have driven the Ford Ranger truck to the Holiday Inn Express on 4 August, from which protesters took wood and other debris to use as weapons against the police.

Turton did not enter a plea to the charges of violent disorder, taking a vehicle without consent and having no insurance.

He was remanded in custody and a trial date was set for 16 December.