Three men jailed over bus fire during Leeds mob violence

Double decker bus set alight and police car overturned during disorder in Harehills over summer

Iustin Dobre (left) Mark Mitchell (centre) and Milan Zamostny (right) all from Leeds, were jailed for violent disorder and arson (West Yorkshire Police)

Three men involved in a bus fire during mob violence in Leeds over the summer have been jailed.

A double decker bus was set alight and a police car was overturned during the disorder in Harehills on 18 July, which broke out after four children from a Roma family were taken into care.

On Tuesday, Iustin Dobre, 37, and Mark Mitchell, 34, were each jailed for six years, and Milan Zamostny, 30, was jailed for five years and four months after all pleading guilty to aggravated arson and violent disorder, with Dobre even filmed holding a lighter to the seats.

Celan Palaghia, 21, was also jailed for three years after pleading guilty to arson and violent disorder over setting fire to items during the unrest, although not the bus.

Prosecutor Richard Holland told Leeds Crown Court that police were called to assist social services at around 5pm when a group gathered outside a house in Luxor Street and started “shouting and growing disorderly”.

Fires burn during unrest in Harehills, Leeds, on 18 July (Ò@robin_singhÓ via REUTERS)

He said officers were soon forced to withdraw after becoming outnumbered by the growing crowd and targeted by missiles before a police vehicle was flipped onto its side.

Attempts were made to enlist the help of a Roma councillor to quell the rising tension, but by 6.30pm between 300 and 400 people were on the street, with the mob moving into Harehills Lane, the court heard.

A double decker bus was stopped by the crowd and the driver and passengers were forced to flee as the vehicle “succumbed to the growing mob surrounding it”, Mr Holland said.

The bus was then set on fire, with three of the defendants – Zamostny, Mitchell and Dobre, all from Leeds – involved at various points.

The court heard the cost of the damage to the bus was around half a million pounds and the driver has been out of the business since the “traumatic” incident with mental health concerns.

People overturn a police vehicle during unrest in Harehills, Leeds, on 18 July (Reuters)

None of the four defendants, who appeared via videolink from prison, were involved in the initial incident but joined in the violence that ensued.

Dobre was part of the mob who overturned a police car and was also filmed holding a lighter next to the fabric of the bus seats. He was also seen holding a construction barrier and feeding it into a separate fire, and throwing missiles at police and a moving police van.

In footage played to the court, Zamostny was seen throwing items including a table at the burning bus, getting rubbish out of a bin and feeding it into the fire and collecting broken breezeblocks to throw at police.

Mitchell was filmed lighting pieces of cardboard and throwing them into the bus to feed the flames.

Palaghia was part of a mob who stopped a van before pulling items from it and setting them on fire. He later became directly involved in violence against the police, using a brick from a broken wall to throw at them. He also led people to the bus and was one of a group that attempted to turn it over.

Celan Palaghia, 21, was also jailed for three years after pleading guilty to arson and violent disorder over setting fire to items during the unrest, although not the bus (West Yorkshire Police)

Statements from residents spoke of serious concern on the night about the bus exploding, while one person described “seeing women and children outside the mosque wailing with fear in their eyes”.

The headteacher of a local primary school said parents kept their children off school for fear of further incidents, and staff contacted her with concerns about increased racial tensions.

The court heard the financial impact to the police and fire service was more than £300,000 “for one night of wanton violence and criminality”.

Assistant Chief Constable Pat Twiggs, of West Yorkshire Police, said: “The social and cultural wounds that developed that night will take months if not longer to repair.”

Judge Tom Bayliss KC told the defendants: “What happened that summer evening serves as a chilling example of how a violent, anarchic mob can, with astonishing ease, achieve a situation of complete lawlessness. It also offers a dystopian vision of what can happen when the rule of law is subverted by mob violence.

“Those who involve themselves in such events can expect deterrent sentences to be imposed.”