Man who drove truckload of rubbish to migrant hotel protest which was used to fuel fires and thrown at police by rioters faces jail

A man who drove a lorry full of rubbish which was then thrown at police during a disturbance that broke out outside a hotel housing asylum seekers is facing jail.

Jake Turton, from Darfield, Barnsley, was filmed arriving at the scene of the disturbance outside the Holiday Inn Express in Manvers, Rotherham, on August 4 in his Ford Ranger lorry.

The truck was carrying a variety of wood and other debris that was later looted by the rioters to throw police and fuel fires that had been set in the vicinity of the hotel.

The 38-year-old admitted violent disorder at Sheffield Crown Court on Thursday and will be sentenced by a judge on November 6.

Turton is one of more than 60 men who have been jailed so far for their parts in the disorder outside the hotel, which left 64 police officers injured, as well as four dogs and a horse.

Objects are thrown at police during an anti-immigration protest outside the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham in August

Anti-immigration protesters attempt to enter the Holiday Inn Express hotel that houses asylum seekers on August 4.

A rioter is seen throwing debris at police officers outside the Holiday Inn Express in Manvers, which was being used as an asylum hotel.

Prosecutors have described in an earlier hearing how a police helicopter captured people taking numerous items from Turton’s Ford Ranger which were then used to throw riot police and fuel fires around the hotel.

On Thursday, Abigail Langford, defending, told Judge Sarah Wright that the prosecution had not alleged her client loaded the vehicle with the intention of the items being used to attack police.

She said: “The Crown is not saying the accused was arming people with the wood.

“He was in the back of the vehicle and people were helping him. He was present at the scene but did not actively participate.”

Judge Wright told Turton he faced an “unavoidable prison sentence”.

The defendant denied a second charge of taking a vehicle without consent and, after the prosecution offered no evidence, was formally found not guilty of that charge.

Sheffield Crown Court has heard how more than 200 asylum seekers were trapped on the upper floors as rioters smashed windows, set fire to a container pushed against a fire door and burst into the building.

Hotel staff have told the court how they barricaded themselves in a panic room during the riots, fearing they would die.

The August 4 riots saw clashes with police and a video emerged of some protesters appearing to threaten to cut the throats of hotel residents.

Far-right protesters outside the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham on August 4 this year

A thug grabs a bin before throwing it at police officers amid the violence

Police faced hours of disruption after far-right mobs attacked the hotel and threw missiles at officers.

Earlier this month, worker Craden Mckenzie, 26, was jailed for three years after footage showed him storming the Holiday Express during the disorder.

In a video shown at Sheffield Crown Court, Mckenzie can be seen going up to the Holiday Inn Express earlier wandering around the deserted lobby area while the staff took refuge in the kitchen.

The court heard that this was after a mob had smashed windows and a fire door, but before that an attempt had been made to set fire to the building with a burning bin.

Footage was also shown of McKenzie in a crowd attacking a group of riot police with fire extinguishers and other weapons outside the building amid shouts of “burn it”.

Two days later, Thomas Birley, 27, pleaded guilty to arson with intent to endanger life after setting fire to a trash can at the entrance to the Holiday Inn.

The actions of Birley – who previously posted on social media “I can’t be racist because my wife has two black eyes” – and his fellow rioters left those inside the hotel fearing for their lives, according to the court.

The self-described “god’s gift to decorating” has previous convictions including criminal damage, assaulting emergency workers and racially aggravated harassment.

Birley, who had also pleaded guilty to violent disorder and possessing an offensive weapon, was jailed for nine years at Sheffield Crown Court by Judge Jeremy Richardson, who said Birley’s actions were “imbued with of racism from beginning to end.”

Craden Mckenzie (pictured) was jailed for three years after he raided a hotel housing migrants during far-right riots.

Thomas Birley (pictured), 27, pleaded guilty to arson with intent to endanger life after setting fire to a dumpster next to an entrance to the Holiday Inn Express near of Rotherham on 4th August.

Birley, pictured with a red face covered, threatened officers with a police baton in “grotesque” violence that left staff at the Rotherham hotel fearing for their lives, the court heard.

The hotel was the target of Birley and around 400 others during days of rioting involving violence, arson and looting, as well as racist attacks, which followed the murder of three girls in the northern city of Southport on July 29.

The Southport attack was initially attributed to an Islamist migrant, false claims based on online misinformation. An 18-year-old, Axel Rudakubana, who was born in Cardiff to Christian parents, has been charged with three counts of murder and multiple counts of attempted murder.

A protest in Southport the day after the killings turned violent and riots spread across the country in unrest not seen in the UK since 2011, when the fatal shooting of a black man by of the police unleashed several days of street violence.

Police and prosecutors have responded quickly, with around 1,300 people arrested and around 200 jailed, one for up to six years for violent disorder.