Arsonist caught on camera fuelling fire outside asylum seekers’ hotel in Rotherham

A 27-year-old arsonist who threw a wood panel onto a fire outside a hotel containing asylum seekers during last month’s riots has been sentenced to nine years in prison.

Thomas Birley, of Rotherham , had pleaded guilty to arson with intent to endanger life, violent disorder and possession of an offensive weapon.

Sheffield Crown Court was shown CCTV showing the defendant, identified wearing a black hooded coat and red mask, placing wood on top of a fire and pulling down his mask to shout abuse at police officers.

Describing the riot, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC told the court: “It was a desire to perpetrate mob rule and commit very serious criminal offences in the process.

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

He added: “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.”

He added there were hints of a “white supremacist mindset”.

The court heard how Paul Coulson, a maintenance manager, described how staff were ushered into a panic room and barricaded themselves behind fridges and freezers. They were “scared to death” as they smelled smoke, he said in a statement read to the court.

His defence barrister, Dermot Hughes, says former painter and decorator Birley was “appalled” and “expresses heartfelt remorse” over his crimes.

“He is ashamed,” he added.

More than 50 officers were injured in the widespread disorder after a mob pelted officers with bricks, fence panels, fireworks and bottles, with some forcing their way into the hotel and attempting to set it on fire with 200 asylum seekers inside.

Hundreds of people descended on the hotel for an arranged demonstration in the wake of false claims around the murder of three girls at a dance class in Southport and the demonstration turned violent.