More rioters jailed across country including Hartlepool bingo couple

Steven Mailen and Ryan Sheers were both handed a prison sentence of two years and two months.

A police car burns as officers are deployed on the streets of Hartlepool (Owen Humphreys/PA) (PA Wire)

More rioters are being jailed across the country – including a couple who became involved in disorder after an afternoon bingo session.

Former postmaster and school governor Steven Mailen, 54, and his partner Ryan Sheers, 29, were each handed a prison sentence of two years and two months at Teesside Crown Court on Thursday.

Mailen, of Arch Court, Hartlepool, was described as “one of the main instigators” of a large-scale disturbance in Murray Street in Hartlepool on July 31.

Sheers, of Powlett Road, Hartlepool, was bitten on the hip by a police dog during the incident.

A judge said Mailen and Sheers were “at the very forefront of the mob”, and tried to push their way through a police cordon, with Mailen taunting officers and encouraging others to use violence towards them.

At the same court, Bobby Shirbon was detained for 20 months after joining riots in Hartlepool while out celebrating his 18th birthday.

He pleaded guilty to violent disorder after he was seen smashing windows during violent scenes on July 31 – the day he turned 18 – while part of a group that was throwing bricks and bottles at police.

Kieron Gatenby, 19, was sentenced to 16 months’ detention in a young offender institution after he was found to be part of a group throwing missiles at police and smashing the windows of houses, cars and shops while chanting racial slurs.

Elsewhere, two men were jailed in Liverpool for two years and eight months after admitting violent disorder.

John O’Malley, 43, was identified from footage of the violence in St Luke’s Road in Southport on July 30, with the sentencing judge telling him: “There’s very clear footage showing the developing disorder and you were at the front of what was essentially a baying mob.”

William Morgan, 69, of Walton, Liverpool, was jailed for his part in unrest in which police were attacked and a library was set on fire.

He admitted violent disorder and possessing an offensive weapon – a cosh – in County Road in Liverpool on Saturday night, and Judge Andrew Menary KC said: “Your advancing years plainly did not prevent you from playing an active part in a disturbance on County Road.”

Two brothers who looted the library community hub set ablaze by rioters were also jailed at the same court.

Adam Wharton, 28, and Ellis Wharton, 22, targeted the burned-out site in County Road but the latter was caught by an officer in the act of removing a large computer monitor while his older brother acted as a lookout.

Both pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to burglary with intent to steal while Ellis Wharton changed his plea on Thursday to admit assaulting an emergency worker.

Serial criminal Adam Wharton was handed 20 months in jail and Ellis Wharton, who has no previous convictions, was given 11 months.

In Manchester, a man pleaded guilty to violent disorder after admitting throwing bricks at police during disturbances outside a hotel in the city which was being used to house asylum seekers.

Paul Smith, 21, pleaded guilty at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on Thursday morning and was remanded in custody after he was seen throwing “what appeared to be a glass beer bottle” during disorder outside the Holiday Inn hotel on July 31.

Another man, Oliver Chapman, 23, admitted violent disorder after carrying out a “spinning karate kick” against a shop window during disorder in Manchester on Saturday.

Joseph Ley, 30, also admitted violent disorder after punching and kicking a man in the face during the Manchester unrest.

Steven Miller, 38, who is also charged with violent disorder in connection with the same incident, gave no indication of plea.

Three men are also due to be sentenced at Plymouth Crown Court for violent disorder in the Devon city.

One of the trio, Michael Williams, 51, was jailed for 32 months and another, Daniel McGuire, 45, was jailed for 26 months after they admitted the charge.

A third man, Lucas Ormond Skeaping, 29, was jailed for 18 months after he knocked a 17-year-old off his bike and was caught on his own GoPro camera throwing a full 500ml bottle of Coca Cola and a rock that had first been thrown from elsewhere.

McGuire was “seen to repeatedly spit at the police” while Williams was spotted “fighting and kicking another male” and was found with a stone in his jogging bottoms when he was arrested.

Victoria Cook, chief crown prosecutor for CPS South West, said: “The substantial sentences handed down today should send a chilling message to those arrested, those sat in cells ahead of their court hearing and those still waiting for a knock from the police.”

At Sheffield Magistrates’ Court, an 18-year-old man has admitted being part of a group who violently rocked a police van during rioting in Rotherham.

Kenzie Roughley, of Barnsley Road, Pontefract, West Yorkshire, was filmed punching and kicking a South Yorkshire Police CCTV van as hundreds of people battled with officers outside a hotel housing asylum seekers.

A 31-year-old man, Levi Fishlock, denied violent disorder and arson with intent to endanger life at the same court after he was accused of putting wood into a bin which was already burning and helping to push it against the building, as well as throwing missiles at police.

Alfie Conway, 19, also denied violent disorder but a 16-year-old boy admitted the same charge.

At South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court, 19-year-old Riley Adey admitted violent disorder after standing on top of a burning car during riots in Sunderland, alongside 31-year-old Reece Greenwood, who also pleaded guilty to the same charge.

One man accused of violent disorder after alleged participation at two different protests was remanded into custody at Leeds Magistrates’ Court.

Christopher Clayton, 66, is accused of participating in violent disorder in both Liverpool and Rotherham as well as possession of an offensive weapon in a private place – namely swords and knuckle dusters, a court official said.

The CPS said Tyler Kay, 26, of Northampton, became the latest person to be charged with publishing written material to stir up racial hatred and is due to appear at Northampton Magistrates’ Court.

A man has also been charged following an investigation into the alleged posting of content online encouraging violence against police officers and promoting public disorder, Cumbria Police said.

Stuart Burns, 41, of Carlisle, has been charged with two counts of an offence under Section 127 of the Communications Act and is due to appear at North Cumbria Magistrates’ Court.

Billy Thompson, 31, of Mill Street, Maryport, was jailed for 12 weeks for posting racially aggravated, offensive online content on social media, Cumbria Police said.

The force said he was arrested on Wednesday, charged on Thursday and appeared before North Cumbria Magistrates’ Court on the same day, where he admitted an offence under section 127 of the Communications Act.

The court heard how, on Wednesday, he posted a racially aggravated and threatening comment on a Facebook social media post informing the public of a dispersal order being imposed in Carlisle relating to potential planned disorder, the police said.