MAN WHO STOKED HOTEL FIRE JAILED FOR NINE YEARS
A man who stoked a fire outside a hotel housing dozens of asylum seekers during rioting in Rotherham has been jailed for nine years. - the longest sentence passed to date after the widespread violence which erupted across the UK last month.
Thomas Birley, 27, of Rowms Lane, Swinton, was seen piling chipboard onto a burning bin outside the Holiday Inn in Manvers, South Yorkshire, during the violent disorder on 4 August.
Sheffield Crown Court heard those inside feared they were "going to burn to death", while Judge Jeremy Richardson KC described it as "one of the worst of many cases which have been heard in this court".
Birley, of Rowms Lane, Swinton, was jailed after he admitted arson with intent to endanger life, violent disorder and possession of an offensive weapon, namely a police baton.
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2024-09-06T12:01:57Z dg43tfdfdgfd