A total of seven men have now been sentenced to prison for their roles in the violent protests that broke out in Southampton last week in the wake of the killing of Henry Nowak.
Earlier this month, footage was released by the Hampshire Constabulary documenting some of the final moments in the life of 18-year-old Henry Nowak, who was murdered with a traditional Sikh blade by 23-year-old Vikrum Digwa.
The footage, which was published in the wake of the murder trial, showed Nowak on the ground, meekly telling police officers that he could not breathe and that he had been stabbed. Incredulous after hearing false accusations that Nowak had been racially abusive towards Digwa, an officer infamously replied, “I don’t think you have, mate”, to Nowak’s insistence that he had been stabbed. Nowak lost consciousness and died moments later.
The incident confirmed what many in Britain believe to be a system of “two-tier” justice in which ethnic and religious minorities are given preferential treatment over their native white counterparts and sparked outrage locally in Southampton.
The following day after the footage was released, hundreds gathered outside the Southampton Central Police Station to protest the alleged role the police played in the death of the local student. As the evening wore on, clashes broke out between demonstrators and officers in riot gear deployed to the scene, who came under assault with bricks, bins, and other makeshift missiles.
Following a string of hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Southampton Crown Court, seven men were sentenced to prison over their role in the riots, the BBC reported.
Those jailed included Andrew Summerhayes for three years and two months, Leon O’Leary for three years and one month, Dillon Crawford for three years, Connor Bishop for two years and eight months, Taylor Grundy for two-and-a-half years, Daniel Frost for two years and four months, and Reece Robinson for two years.
While a further three men have had their cases adjourned, 11 others have also been charged with offences by the Hampshire Police, meaning that the number of those jailed may increase in the coming days.
Some of those jailed have a history of criminality, including Daniel Frost, who already had 25 previous convictions on 55 offences, including a conviction that led to a six year sentence for armed robbery and causing bodily harm.
However, others claimed to have been swept up in the action of the mob, including father of two Dillon Crawford, who told the court: “I am disgusted at my actions… My emotions took over. I have let my family down and Henry’s [Nowak] family down.”
A defence barrister for Taylor Grundy said that his client was “not a shepherd, he’s a sheep… He got swept up on the tide of anger and emotion and when others were behaving so despicably, he joined in.”
Summerhayes, who received the longest sentence, was said to have been “at the forefront of serious public disorder” and had “plainly encouraged and added to the threat” against the police. In addition to a conviction for violent disorder, he was also convicted of using a bin and traffic cone as offensive weapons.
Sentencing, Judge William Mousley KC said of the riots: “This violence was a hate crime borne out of a hatred for police and in some part racist views… The impact on the community was profound, local residents were subjected to fear, distress and genuine sense of danger.”
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