A man thought to be the oldest person charged for taking part in the far-right-led riots, and two brothers who looted a library, were among those jailed on Thursday for their part in a crime “committed against the whole community”.
William Nelson Morgan, 69, was sentenced to 32 months in prison, having previously admitted violent disorder and carrying a cosh during a riot on County Road in Liverpool on Saturday.
Liverpool crown court was told he had been arrested when he refused to move as police pushed back a crowd of rioters. The court was shown body-worn-camera footage of Morgan being arrested. In it he says: “I’m English, I’m 70, all right – leave me alone!” He can also be seen to shout: “Get off me, I’m fucking 70, you pricks.”
The police officer attempting to arrest him replies: “Then why are you here? Why are you at a fucking riot, man?”
Three officers were needed to arrest Morgan, who apologised to them afterwards, saying: “I’m sorry, I appreciate what you’re doing.”
In court, his barrister, Paul Lewis, said Morgan’s behaviour had been “entirely out of character” and that prison would be “particularly hard to bear”. “He accepts that he acted in drink and was disinhibited by the presence of a large crowd,” Lewis added.
Morgan had no previous criminal convictions and his barrister described him as a man of good character – a retired welder who was a widower with three adult children.
Morgan blinked rapidly as he was addressed by the Honorary Recorder of Liverpool, Judge Menary KC, and looked down as details of the damage caused by the riot were described by the judge.
“It is very sad indeed to see someone of your age and character in the dock of a crown court,” Menary told him, sentencing him to 32 months for violent disorder and six months for possession of the cosh, to run concurrently.
He was sentenced alongside John O’Malley, 43, who received the same sentence for violent disorder at the Southport riot on Tuesday 30 July, the day after the killing of three children in the town.
O’Malley, from Southport, was seen by a police helicopter “participating enthusiastically” in the riot, Menary said, and “part of a crowd using obviously racist language”. He was pictured next to a van that was being attacked by rioters who were throwing missiles at the police. “You were at the front of what was essentially a baying mob,” said Menary.
Two brothers who looted a community hub that included a library and food bank during the Liverpool riot in the early hours of Sunday morning were sentenced to a combined 31 months in prison in a separate hearing.
Adam Wharton, 28, and Ellis Wharton, 22, were caught by police trying to steal a computer monitor from the Spellow Hub library on County Road, which had been torched by rioters a couple of hours earlier.
Adam, who has a lengthy criminal record, was the instigator, the court heard. Ellis, who appeared in the dock with two black eyes obtained during his arrest, claimed his brother had got him out of bed at 11pm on the night of the riot to “go looting”.
Aerial video footage captured by police appeared to show Adam keeping a lookout while Ellis went inside the library, where he was caught by a police officer with a monitor under his arm. He later told police: “I’m sorry, I’ve been blackmailed by my brother to do it. I made a stupid decision, I’m sorry.”
Adam was caught a short distance away, “profusely sweating” after abandoning his brother and fleeing the scene. Ellis, who his barrister said had “never put a foot wrong in his life” up to that point, also pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer, having struck him in the chest during his arrest.
Sentencing the pair for burglary, Judge Flewitt KC said he considered their actions “looting – a despicable crime in which the offender seeks to profit from others’ misery”.
He added: “Everyone involved [in the riots] acted deliberately and knew exactly what they were doing, and so must accept responsibility for their conduct.
“There is an obligation on the courts to do what they can to ensure the protection of the public. Consequently, those who deliberately participate in disturbances of the magnitude that have occurred recently must expect to receive severe sentences.”
Elsewhere, a couple who became involved in the riots after an afternoon bingo session were each given prison sentences of two years and two months at Teesside crown court on Thursday.
Steven Mailen, 54, a former post office operator and school governor, was described as “one of the main instigators” of a large-scale disturbance in Murray Street, Hartlepool, on 31 July.
His partner, Ryan Sheers, 29, of Powlett Road, Hartlepool, was bitten on the hip by a police dog during the incident.
A judge said Mailen and Sheers were “at the very forefront of the mob” and had tried to push their way through a police cordon, with Mailen taunting officers and encouraging others to use violence towards them.
Meanwhile, a man from Maryport has been jailed for posting racially aggravated, offensive online content on social media, Cumbria police said.
The force said Billy Thompson, 31, of Mill Street, Maryport, was arrested on Wednesday, charged on Thursday and appeared before North Cumbria magistrates court on the same day.
He admitted an offence under section 127 of the Communications Act and was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison.
