A rioter who tried to set fire to a hotel housing asylum seekers has been jailed for nine years – the joint highest sentence passed down so far for the nationwide disorder over the summer.
A judge told Levi Fishlock that he “played a part in almost every aspect of the racist mob violence on that terrible day in August”, calling him a prominent figure in the disorder outside the Holiday Inn Express at Manvers, Rotherham, on 4 August.
Sheffield crown court heard the 31-year-old was “very identifiable” by his distinctive purple England football shirt with “Bellingham” written on the back.
Fishlock, of Barnsley, pleaded guilty to violent disorder and arson with intent to endanger life.
Judge Jeremy Richardson said the case was one of the most serious he had dealt with and jailed him for nine years, with an extended five-year licence period.
The court heard that Fishlock was part of a group shouting abuse and racial slurs, and as the violence escalated he was seen adding planks of wood to a large burning wheelie-bin that was pushed up against the hotel, “intending to endanger the lives of many people trapped in the hotel”, the judge said.
Fishlock also helped build barricades that were then set on fire and made threatening gestures with a sharp object towards people who were inside the hotel looking out through the windows.
He was also seen breaking the hotel windows by throwing bricks and paving slabs at them, destroying fencing around the building and smashing up an air conditioning unit.
The court heard later in the day he was part of a group who attacked police vehicles with rocks. At one point he threw a missile towards a police officer’s legs, aiming for the area that was not protected by a riot shield, it was said.
After he was arrested in the days following the riot, Fishlock told officers driving him to the station that he knew why he had been arrested and that it was “for a good cause”.
Fishlock became the second person to be sentenced for arson with intent to endanger life after the 12 hours of violence in Manvers that left 64 police officers, three horses and a dog injured.
In September, Thomas Birley, 27, a painter and decorator, was jailed for nine years after pleading guilty to arson with intent to endanger life, violent disorder and possession of an offensive weapon.
More than 60 men have so far been jailed for their parts in the disorder outside the hotel.
The court was told that more than 200 asylum seekers were trapped in the upper floors as rioters smashed windows and set light to the bin, which was pushed against a fire door.
Hotel staff have told the court how they barricaded themselves into a panic room during the rioting, fearing they would die as they smelled the smoke.
Judge Richardson said: “It has been my misfortune, as well as my duty, to have sentenced most of the cases arising from the public disorder in Rotherham. This is unquestionably one of the worst of the many cases that have come before this court concerning the events in Rotherham.
“You were involved in almost every arena of racist criminal conduct that day. Your conduct, and the conduct of that mob, has cast a dark and ugly stain across the reputation of Rotherham and South Yorkshire.”
He went on to say: “You did not start the fire but you added to it and helped fuel the flames. That is as serious as starting it.”
