A total of 500 people will be spending Christmas in prison for their part in the summer riots, after a rioter who went viral in an “instant karma” video when he was hit in the groin with a brick became the latest to be sentenced.
Brian Spencer was seen on the clip taunting police and gyrating his hips, while he was at the centre of the riot in Southport on 30 July, which was triggered by the deaths of three girls in the seaside town.
In the clip, which attracted hundreds of thousands of views, the 40-year-old was hit in the head with a brick thrown by another person, stumbled towards the line of rioters and took another brick to the groin, in what commenters described as “instant karma” and “justice served”.
Others said the video appeared “straight out of a Monty Python skit” and that it “gets better every time”.
The painter and decorator pleaded guilty to violent disorder as well as racially/religiously aggravated harassment for an offence the following day, when he verbally abused a Polish man while waiting for treatment for his injuries in hospital.
Liverpool crown court heard how he had acted like a “general”, ordering other rioters around, before he was injured. He was then put in an ambulance by police.
On Monday, Judge Pierpoint sentenced Spencer to two years and six months, saying he had been “enjoying the chaos” and had “antagonised the police”.
“You were an enthusiastic and active participant, positioning yourself at the front of the mob. At times bouncing around, encouraging others and clearly enjoying the chaos and harm that you and other like-minded thugs were creating,” the judge said.
“You are able to be seen on the footage until it comes to an end. You antagonised the police, you were shouting, cheering and dancing around in the street.
“The reason why you were struck is because you were at the front of the mob. The mobile footage of you being struck has been widely spread.”
