Man jailed for attacking police van will miss delivery of his little one

A ‘family man’ will miss the birth of his child after he was jailed for launching missiles at a police van during mob violence that broke out after a vigil in Southport.

Dylan Carey, 26, travelled to the Merseyside town from Greater Manchester with his pregnant girlfriend Natasha Keenan to lay flowers and light a candle on July 30, a day after three girls had been fatally stabbed. 

Today, she broke down in tears at Liverpool Crown Court as Carey, from Hindley, was put behind bars for 18 months after he earlier admitted a charge of violent disorder. 

CCTV footage showed Carey wearing black shorts, a grey t-shirt, and black cap, as he twice fly-kicked a police van and hurled a tin of paint and bottle at the vehicle. 

He had earlier wept during discussions with his barrister ahead of the hearing as he told how his time in custody was the most frightened he had been in his life. 

But Judge Dennis Watson KC dismissed his pleas to be spared jail, while adding a warning to others who had taken part in riots as he said: ‘Those who choose to take part in mob violence can expect to receive significant sentences.’ 

Prosecutor Nardeen Nemat said CCTV and mobile phone footage of the incident was shown ‘quite quickly’ online on X, formerly Twitter, and other social media platforms.

A police officer at Southport railway station was shown the footage and stopped Carey about an hour later at 9.05pm when he walked past with his girlfriend and his father.

The defendant told the officer he was present at the disturbance but denied any involvement.

He was arrested at his home in Castle Hill Road, Hindley, on August 5 and when later interviewed he said was at the vigil when he saw a notice for a ‘peaceful’ protest about the stab attack.

He attended and the crowd became angry as missiles were launched, the court heard, and Carey also ‘grew angrier’ and threw items himself.

Ms Nemat said: ‘He said he decided to go to his pregnant girlfriend and leave once a concrete slab had been thrown.’

Colin Buckle, defending, asked the judge to consider a suspended jail sentence as he submitted that Carey’s first time in custody since his guilty plea last week had already served as a deterrent.

He said: ‘This was wholly out of character and unexpected. His family and partner cannot understand why he acted in this way.

‘He said his intention was not to go to Southport with criminal intent. He became involved, he was not forced to be involved.

‘The mood began to change and others behaved in a disgraceful way. He joined in. Only he knows why he did that.

‘It has been his first time in custody. The defendant told me this morning through teary eyes that he has never been so frightened in his life.

‘He has been in three separate cells with three serving prisoners, all who clearly realise he is quite vulnerable.

‘For the defendant, the deterrent has worked because he has never been in this situation before.

‘He cannot believe he has gone from being a hardworking family man to sitting before the Crown Court. For the defendant and his family it is an unmitigated disaster.

‘If your honour returns him to custody he will miss the birth of his child.

‘His girlfriend desperately needs the support of the defendant. He has been a rock to her, although of course she has lost him by his own hand and behaviour.

‘I submit that the case can fall in the suspendable range.’

Judge Dennis Watson KC disagreed and told the defendant, who had no previous convictions: ‘You were an active and persistent participant. Those who choose to take part in mob violence can expect to receive significant sentences.

‘The violence which was directed at the mosque and its community was racially aggravated.

‘Violence was also directed at the police who were performing a difficult and dangerous task.

‘The appropriate sentence can only be achieved by immediate custody.’

Widespread disorder involving a group of about 1,000 people started after the vigil ended with the focus of violence aimed at a local mosque and fuelled by misinformation on social media, Liverpool Crown Court heard.

Chants of ‘who the f*** is Allah?’ and ‘this is our f****** country’ were heard as police officers came under fire from missiles as they formed a cordon to prevent the group from reaching the mosque.

Meanwhile, a 22-year-old who threw a vacuum cleaner through a house window and told a police officer ‘I hope your children get raped’ during the mindless riots has been put behind bars for 26 months. 

Thomas Rogers was said to have been ‘overwhelmed by distaste for what had happened in Southport’ as he launched bricks at police in Middlesbrough. 

A concerned officer had asked him if he was okay after noticing blood on his shirt, but the thug replied he cut it throwing bricks at police and ‘would do it again’.

He then launched into a vile verbal assault at the officer, saying: ‘I hope your kids get raped, I hate the police.’ 

Rogers, of Wicklow Street, Middlesbrough, admitted charges of violent disorder and possession of an offensive weapon. 

A statement from a student, who lives in the shared house where Rogers was filmed throwing a vacuum cleaner through the window, said he and his partner had been left ‘feeling differently about the town they called home and the people they lived amongst’.

The landlord of the property said: ‘I feel angry and disappointed with the thugs, especially the idiot with the hoover.’

In mitigation, the court heard Rogers was a ‘complex and vulnerable young man’ who had grown up in care.

Tabitha Buck, defending, said the attack in Southport ‘had a significant effect on him’ and he was ‘overwhelmed by distaste at what had occurred and his distaste at what he felt was a lack of reaction by the police’.

She told the court there was ‘indirect racism at play there’.

Haulage business boss Ricky Hardman, 41, has been jailed for two years and eight months at Sheffield Crown Court for his part in the rioting outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Rotherham.

Hardman was arrested after a picture of him brandishing a piece of wood during the disorder on Sunday August 4 was published in a national newspaper, a judge was told.

Video was also shown in court on Monday showing the defendant was part of a group attacking a police dog van during the violence outside the Holiday Inn Express in Manvers.

Recorder of Sheffield Judge Jeremy Richardson KC told Hardman: ‘The incident was part of wider national civic unrest fostered by some form of malignancy in society spread by malevolent users of social media.

‘There’s no question the disorder was racist in character and extremely frightening for anyone who was there.’

Hardman, of Norfolk Road, Barnsley, admitted violent disorder last week.

He sat in the dock with one security guard wearing a black t-shirt and green trousers with his family watching from the public gallery.

Guy Sullivan, 43, grabbed and stole a police officer’s baton before running off with it, leaving the cop defenceless during the riots in Plymouth last week. 

He admitted a charge of violent disorder relating to the incident during protests in the Devon city on August 5. 

Judge Linford told Sullivan: ‘You ran up behind Pc Hannaford, who was doing what he could to try to keep the mob, because that’s what they were, at bay.

‘You took his baton and made off with it. As a direct consequence of that, Pc Hannaford, who has been a police officer for a very long period of time, was taken to the ground and beaten.

‘He curled himself into a ball while these people set upon him.

‘He must have been terrified, not withstanding his years of experience. He says so close to his retirement this incident has left a sour taste.

‘You played your part in that mob violence. The courts are going to come down hard on people who are part of that widespread disorder.’

The officer suffered head injuries during the beating but was not seriously hurt. 

Prosecuting, Lewis Aldous said the police baton was later recovered from the home of another defendant charged in relation to the protest.

Representing Sullivan, Christopher Cuddihee said his client had ‘blundered into the situation’ and did not look back to see the officer being attacked.

‘He was drunk that evening, stumbling around, and stumbled into this disorder,’ Mr Cuddihee said.

‘He has never been political in his life. Unfortunately, he has inserted himself into this very serious incident in a very unhelpful and potentially dangerous way.’

A letter written by Sullivan, apologising to the police, was read to the court.

The defendant has 37 previous convictions for 108 offences.

He wrote: ‘To all the officers that this concerns, I would like to start by saying how sorry I am for the stupid act I did on the day in question.’

Sullivan wrote that he had previously suffered with drug addiction but had passed all drug tests since being released from prison and was now the father of a ‘beautiful’ baby who is five months old.

‘I am going to miss my son’s first Christmas,’ he said.

‘I am sorry from the bottom of my heart. I can’t believe how stupid I have been, letting everyone down including you.’

As he was led to the cells, Sullivan told the court: ‘Sorry once again officer, I do apologise.’

Elsewhere 40-year-old grandfather Ryan Wheatley, the only individual arrested during the protests in Southampton last Wednesday, was today jailed for a year for ‘barrelling into’ a police officer. 

Wheatley was arrested in Southampton as he took part in an anti-immigration protest, which was outnumbered by up to 400 people who gathered and chanted ‘racists go home’. 

At Southampton Crown Court, a judge told him he was to be locked up after he was detained by officers who succeeded in keeping anti-fascist protestors and a far right group of demonstrators.

Wheatley was arrested in Southampton as he took part in an anti-immigration protest, which was outnumbered by up to 400 people who gathered and chanted ‘racists go home.’

Wheatley, of Malvern Close, Fair Oak, Hants., admitted a charge of assault by beating at a hearing last Friday and was today jailed by a judge at Southampton Crown Court.

Passing sentence Judge Christopher Parker said it was clear Wheatlet intended to cause or threaten violence.

The defendant had attended the protest wearing a mask and a hooded top with an England flag draped over his shoulders.

The court was shown video footage from Sergeant Rob Perry’s body-worn camera showing Wheatley approaching the opposing protesters before charging at the officer.

An incapacitant spray was used on him before he was detained by another officer.

In a victim impact statement, read out in court, Sgt. Perry said he had not been physically injured but had to relive the incident and what could have been.

Defence counsel Keely Harvey said custody had come as shock to Wheatley who had previously received a six-month community order for possessing a bladed article in a public place and shoplifting in 2008.

‘He’s had time to reflect,’ Ms Harvey said.

‘Whilst we have a right to protest that comes with responsibility and he has not used responsibility wisely.’

She said he had apologised to Sgt. Perry, saying it ‘wasn’t a deliberate attack.’

Meanwhile, a teenager seen ‘celebrating’ after throwing a rock which hit a police officer during riots in Darlington has been detained for 18 months.

Cole Stewart, 18, was one of about 30 people who gathered outside a mosque in the North East town on August 5. 

Teesside Crown Court heard the group was chanting racist and far right slogans.

Police formed a line separating the protesters from a group of about 60 Asian men who had gathered outside the mosque to protect it.

Stewart, of Victoria Road, Darlington, was seen breaking a large boulder into smaller rocks and throwing them towards officers.

When one rock hit an officer on the arm Stewart was seen ‘celebrating with his arms in the air’.

A judge said that earlier that day social media posts had encouraged people to gather on Gladstone Street for a ‘protest’ with the intention of approaching a mosque.

In mitigation, the court heard Stewart had a ‘very difficult background’ and denied using any racist language himself during the incident.

Sentencing him to 18 months’ detention in a young offenders’ institution, Judge Francis Laird KC said: ‘You chose to take part in an organised act of public disorder, indeed you were at the forefront of it.’  

Amjad Ali, 19, was sentenced to 14 months’ detention at Northampton Crown Court after pleading guilty to affray at a protest in the town last Wednesday which saw three arrests.

Judge Adrienne Lucking KC was told Ali attended the protest dressed in all-black including a balaclava, punched an unknown male in the face, and aimed a ‘ferocious’ kick at another victim’s head.

The court heard the convicted drug dealer, of Alcombe Road, Northampton, was arrested following disorder involving several men of ‘paramilitary-style appearance’ witnessed by passing motorists and pedestrians in Kettering Road shortly after 7pm.

The judge also ordered Ali to consecutively serve a year of a previous suspended sentence imposed for dealing heroin and crack cocaine and possession of ammonia in a public place.

Judge Lucking told Ali: ‘Your offending must be seen in the context of the widespread and extensively reported scenes of disorder, violence and criminal damage which has taken place around the country. This conduct will always attract immediate and substantial punishment.’

Jason Barry Francis, 38, was jailed for two years after pleading guilty to violent disorder and assault of an emergency worker at Bournemouth Crown Court on Monday, Dorset Police said.

Francis, of Meadow View Road in Weymouth, was seen in local council CCTV footage and in videos posted on social media moving towards a police line, pushing and kicking out at police before punching an officer in the face and backing away into the crowd during the disorder on Weymouth Esplanade on Sunday August 4, the force added.

He was identified following reviews of the footage and enquiries by detectives and arrested at his home address on August 8 then subsequently charged, police said.