Oli Constable
Reporting from Sheffield Crown Court

Birley has been jailed for nine years for taking part in a riot in Rotherham on 4 August – the highest prison sentence handed out by judges following widespread violence and rioting.

He was part of a group which helped smash windows at the Holiday Inn Express in Manvers and added wood to a fire against the building, which housed asylum seekers.

Birley, 27, of Swinton, Rotherham, previously pleaded guilty to a charge of arson with intent to endanger life, violent disorder, and possessing an offensive weapon.

At Sheffield Crown Court, the Recorder of Sheffield Judge Jeremy Richardson KC said: “You are unquestionably a dangerous offender.”

His sentence is nine years in prison, with a five-year extension on licence.

Oli Constable
Reporting from Sheffield Crown Court

Birley has highly relevant previous convictions, including criminal damage, attacking emergency workers, and racially aggravated harassment, the court hears.

The 27-year-old, of Swinton, had previously been sentenced for some of those offences, the court is told.

A pre-sentence report had views which “raised alarm” with a probation officer, the judge says.

There were hints of a “white supremacist mindset”, Judge Richardson adds.

Oli Constable
Reporting from Sheffield Crown Court

Birley threw a large bin at riot police, we hear in court.

It happened after he had picked up a police baton and “took a fighting stance” at the police line.

A photo from a journalist on the day shows Birley, at the front of the violence, holding the black baton.

“You were at the front of the crowd when you waved the item towards officers in a very threatening way," Judge Richardson says.

Oli Constable
Reporting from Sheffield Crown Court

"I have now watched much recorded CCTV and recorded footage of events,” Judge Richardson tells Birley.

He is listening to the sentencing alongside a dock officer, which his hands placed on his knees, looking straight forward.

“It is clear as clear could be, you and many like you were intent on spreading a hateful message of violence and racism.

“You were well to the fore in all of this,” Judge Richardson adds.

We hear how Birley was part of a “mob” who smashed windows on the lower floor of the hotel.

“The disorder was grotesque.”

Oli Constable
Reporting from Sheffield Crown Court

During the violence, 64 police officers were injured, including a number of animals used by police forces at the scene, we are told by the judge.

“Each one of those officers was doing his or her duty to maintain order in very difficult circumstances,” he adds, praising the work of the police.

“Those in the hotel were terrified by what was happening outside,” Judge Richardson says.

“They were in peril of being killed or seriously injured. You intended to endanger the lives of them all.”

Oli Constable
Reporting from Sheffield Crown Court

“This case is unquestionably one of the worst of the many cases which have come before this court that have concerned the events of the Holiday Inn Express hotel in Rotherham on Sunday 4 August 2024,” Judge Jeremy Richardson KC tells the court.

After starting peacefully, the protests soon turned into violence with chants directed towards the asylum seekers living in the hotel at the time.

“It was a desire to perpetrate mob rule and commit very serious criminal offences in the process,” the judge adds.

“From first to last, the venom of racism infected the entirety of what occurred.”

Oli Constable
Reporting from Sheffield Crown Court

The Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC, has returned to the court room here in Sheffield.

Thomas Birley, sat in the dock, is about to hear his sentence, for taking part in violence outside a hotel in Rotherham last month. He has already admitted arson with intent to endanger life, the first count on the charge sheet.

“You must listen with great care to what I am about to say,” Judge Richardson says.

“The maximum sentence for the first count is life imprisonment.”

While we wait for a sentence to be handed down in Sheffield, let's take a look at where the unrest spread across across England, and Northern Ireland, after the fatal stabbing of three young girls in Southport in July.

Crowds attacked mosques and accommodation housing asylum seekers, cars and buildings were set on fire, and shops looted. The Police Federation estimated more than 100 officers were injured.

The disorder was fuelled by misinformation online, the far-right and anti-immigration sentiment.

Counter-demonstrators responded with a series of rallies, which you can read more about here.

Oli Constable
Reporting from Sheffield Crown Court

“He is ashamed,” says Birley's defence barrister Dermot Hughes, as he finishes his mitigation.

Birley has already admitted being part of the violent disorder at the Holiday Inn Express in Manvers, Rotherham, on 4 August.

He also pleaded guilty to arson with intent to endanger life and possessing an offensive weapon, namely a police baton.

The Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC, said this is “an exceptionally serious case”, one he must consider “with great care”.

Sentencing is due to start in less than 30 minutes.

Oli Constable
Reporting from Sheffield Crown Court

Image source, Getty Images

This is Thomas Birley, wielding a police baton.

He has already admitted having it, taking part in violent disorder, and committing arson with intent to endanger life, following large-scale violence at the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham.

His defence barrister, Dermot Hughes, claims former painter and decorator Birley was “appalled” by his actions on 4 August.

This included putting items on top of a bin fire, which was pushed against a fire door.

“He expresses heartfelt remorse,” Hughes tells the court.

The judge is continuing to listen to the mitigation, which includes how Birley is a “loner” and has a learning disorder and mental disability.

Oli Constable
Reporting from Sheffield Crown Court

We’re hearing how staff at the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham were left thinking they were going to die, as rioters set fire to part of the hotel.

Paul Coulson, a maintenance manager, said staff were ushered into a panic room and barricaded themselves behind fridges and freezers.

They were “scared to death” as they could smell smoke, he said in a statement read to the court.

Staff watched videos from outside the hotel, which was housing about 200 asylum seekers, as violence flared with police outside. Thomas Birley is accused of being part of that violence, the court hears.

“He describes how they thought they were going to burn to death,” prosecutor Alisha Kaye says.

Oli Constable
Reporting from Sheffield Crown Court

Over in Sheffield Crown Court, Thomas Birley now sits in the dock, dressed in a black and grey zipped sweatshirt.

He’s hearing how he was part of large-scale disorder, with the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham being badly damaged by rocks being thrown and fires being started.

CCTV has been played to the court, showing the defendant, identified wearing a black hooded coat and red mask, placing wood on top of a fire.

This fire had been started when a bin was set alight, in front of an external fire door of the hotel.

He pulls down his mask to shout abuse at police.

The video goes on to show him manoeuvring a large piece of chipboard onto the fire, which takes hold quickly.

Frances Read
Reporting from Snaresbrook Crown Court

Image source, Dartford Labour

Ricky Jones has pleaded not guilty to the charge of encouraging violent disorder in connection with comments at a London protest.

The suspended Labour Dartford Borough councillor appeared at Snaresbrook Crown Court via video link from Wormwood Scrubs this morning.

He sat during the hearing, listening intently, and wearing a T-shirt.

Image source, Getty Images

Many of those who have been previously sentenced in relation to the unrest have been charged with violent disorder.

It it an offence under section 2 of the Public Order Act 1986, and the sentence can vary from a community order to a maximum of five years in custody depending on the circumstances.

In order for the defendant to be found guilty, the prosecution has to prove that three or more people, present together, use or threaten unlawful violence against a person or property, and that the group's behaviour would cause a reasonable person to fear for their safety.

Oli Constable
Reporting from Sheffield Crown Court

At Sheffield Crown Court, the only people in the room so far are half a dozen journalists and the clerk.

It’s expected to be an important day, with Thomas Birley, of Swinton, appearing having previously pleaded guilty to a charge of violent disorder and one of arson with intent to endanger life.

The latter carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The sentencing for the 27-year-old is set to start in the next few minutes, and following a BBC request to have a camera in the court, the remarks from the judge will be filmed.

Image source, South Yorkshire Police/Dartford Labour

Ricky Jones, a former Labour councillor will appear at Snaresbrook Crown Court via video link charged with inciting violent disorder.

It is alleged that the 57-year-old addressed an anti-fascist protest in Walthamstow and used a microphone to say “we need to cut their throats and get rid of them” when speaking about “disgusting Nazi fascists”.

Jones has not yet entered a plea and is due to appear at Crown Court later today.

Thomas Birley, 27, of Rowms Lane, Swinton, Rotherham, is due to be sentenced after he admitted to arson with intent to endanger life, violent disorder and possession of an offensive weapon.

He was accused of stoking the fire in the bin that was pushed against an exit at a hotel housing asylum seekers in Manvers, Rotherham, on 4 August.

Keith Edwards, 81, of Kinglake Place, The Meadows, Nottingham, is charged with using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent to cause fear of or provoke unlawful violence.

The accusation relates to an incident at a protest in Nottingham city centre on 3 August.

Image source, Handout

Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, were killed in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga event in July. Eight more children and two adults were injured.

Later that day, police said they had arrested a 17-year-old from a village nearby and that they were not treating the incident as terror-related.

Almost immediately after the attack, social media posts falsely speculated that the suspect was an asylum seeker who arrived in the UK on a boat in 2023, with an incorrect name being widely circulated. There were also unfounded rumours that he was Muslim.

In fact, the suspect was born in Wales to Rwandan parents.

The following evening, more than a thousand people attended a vigil for the victims in Southport. Later on, violence broke out in the town and developed into a riot.

The day after, violent protests in London, Hartlepool and Manchester broke out, which police linked to Southport. More then took place throughout the week – with many targeting mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers.

• Read more about how the violence spread

Welcome to our live coverage as more sentencings take place today related to riots which broke out in parts of the UK last month.

The disorder followed the stabbing of three young girls at a dance class in Southport in July.

Among those being sentenced is Thomas Birley, 27, of of Rowms Lane, Swinton, who is accused of taking part in violent riots outside a hotel used to house asylum seekers in Rotherham.

A judge has previously described his case as "unquestionably" the most serious to come before him in relation to the incident.

Birley, who has admitted violent disorder, possessing an offensive weapon and arson with intent to endanger life, will be sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court later.

We'll also be following the case of former Labour councillor Ricky Jones, who is in court accused of inciting violent disorder at a protest in Walthamstow, east London, among others. Stay with us for more.