A man has been jailed for helping to set a mobile police station on fire during the Bristol riot. Alexander Papadopoulos, of Whitehall in Bristol, was jailed for six months at Bristol Crown Court yesterday (Monday, January 23), after admitting charges of arson and theft.
Footage from the investigation into the riot of Sunday, March 21, 2021, shows the 28-year-old helping to set the station alight. He can be seen pushing a chair into it to help accelerate the blaze.
Papadopoulos is also seen wearing a police helmet. This relates to the offence of theft.
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Judge Patrick sentenced him to six months in prison for the arson, as well as an additional seven days for the theft, to run concurrently. On sentencing, the judge said his actions had added to the fire which wrecked the mobile police station, and also said he’d taken the police helmet as “a trophy”.
A total of 27 people have now been jailed for offences committed during the riot. The offenders have received a combined prison sentence of 85 years and seven months.
Detective Superintendent James Riccio said: “The fire this defendant was involved in stoking and accelerating caused catastrophic damage to a community mobile police station and was one of the more significant criminal acts committed on that shameful night of violence.
“The weight of evidence, particularly visual evidence, gathered during this investigation has directly led to this admission of guilt and subsequent prison sentence, which we welcome.”
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