Men disgraced and damaged reputations of Liverpool and Southport, court told

Three men involved in widespread public disorder in Southport and Liverpool had “disgraced and damaged the reputations of that town and this city”, a judge said.

Derek Drummond, 58, punched a police officer in the face as he squared up to a riot cordon, set up in response to a 1,000-strong “utterly lawless mob” who gathered on the evening of a vigil to mourn three girls killed the day before at a holiday dance class in the Merseyside town.

On Wednesday, sentencing Drummond at Liverpool Crown Court to three years in jail, the judge told him: “This mob were using the most foul and racist abuse, uttering threats and insults directed towards the police and a nearby mosque.

“Over several hours, windows were smashed, walls were demolished and the recovered bricks were hurled time and again at the police who were protecting the community.

“This was large scale and very violent criminal activity made much worse by the fact that it was happening only a day after entirely different and utterly tragic events.

“The genuine and collective grief of the residents of Southport was hijacked by this callous behaviour.”

Drummond, of Pool Street, Southport, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to violent disorder and assaulting an emergency worker on July 30.

Chants from the “lawless” group included “this is our f****** country”, “England till I die” and “Allah, Allah, who the f*** is Allah”, the court heard.

Bodyworn footage from Pc Thomas Ball showed the defendant approach the riot cordon line saying “shithouses, shithouses”.

Drummond was told to go back and he then punched Pc Ball in the face.

About 30 minutes later, Drummond fronted up to officers again and started to attempt to break through another cordon.

He said he attended the vigil and heard the disturbance in St Luke’s Road and went there alone.

Drummond accepted his behaviour was “appalling” but could not give any explanation.

He also told detectives: “I’m absolutely ashamed of the way I acted. I’ve let Southport down, I’ve let the kids down, I’ve let my family down and I’m not here to deny anything.”

The court heard he had 14 previous convictions, including offences of violence.

Lionel Greig, defending Drummond, said: “The court is aware the defendant handed himself into police. When interviewed he made full and frank admissions, expressed remorse and apologised for his actions.”

He said Drummond had lost his employment since the incident and wished to further apologise to police for his conduct towards them.

Sentencing, Judge Andrew Menary said Drummond was seen at a “fairly early stage” of the disorder” and had also been seen to pick up a brick.

Declan Geiran, 29, set fire to a police van in Liverpool city centre days later on August 3, while Liam Riley, 40, refused to move back from a police cordon elsewhere in the city on the same day, as he shouted and threw his arms around before he called an officer a “traitor” and a “Muslim lover”.

Rival protesters had clashed earlier, with “dreadful scenes” of disorder, violence and destruction of property following, and more police officers injured, the court heard.

Prosecutor ChristopherTaylor said footage uploaded to TikTok showed Geiran at the open window on the driver’s side of the police van parked in William Brown Street, as he set the seatbelt alight and smoke billowed out.

Geiran remained at the scene and was seen sitting casually on the fountain outside the Walker Art Gallery, and then taking out his phone to film the van, he said.

He was tracked on CCTV footage and arrested a short time later, the court heard.

When interviewed he said attended the protest at Pier Head alone and wanted to “show his support” for the bereaved families of the three girls murdered in Southport.

Mr Taylor said: “He heard shouts of ‘burn the van, burn the van’ and stated he felt under pressure.

“He didn’t believe his actions had caused the damage.”

The Transit van was written off, said the prosecutor, and new replacement vans cost more than £32,000.

Geiran had 13 previous convictions for 18 offences between 2011 and this year, with a “varied record” involving criminal damage, burglary and supplying Class A and Class B drugs, with a number of failures to follow court orders.

Judge Menary said one such community order was imposed last September after he sent a threatening communication.

He said: “In fact this is illuminating. Sending messages to a woman threatening to ‘get’ her and her children, and pretending you were travelling to the south of England in order to harm her.

“That’s the sort of brave and principled man you are.

“You did very little to comply with any of those community order requirements.”

He noted that “unbelievably” he had told the police he went to Pier Head in support of the bereaved families.

Brendan Carville, defending, told the court that Geiran had emotionally unstable personality disorder and was “not a clever man”.

He added: “He doesn’t understand what far right and far left means. He simply went along with the flow.”

Geiran, of Kelso Road, Liverpool, was sentenced to 28 months in jail for violent disorder, handed a 12-month concurrent term for arson and given a consecutive two-month prison sentence for breaching his community order.

Liam Riley, 40, was ordered to move back by police who were pelted with missiles and rocks by an “aggressive, chanting” group of about 100 people in the early evening.

The police cordon at the junction of Whitechapel and Church Street was ordered forward in response, and many of the group retreated, but Riley stood up against officers, shouting and waving his arms around.

Prosecutor Christopher Taylor told Liverpool Crown Court that police noted Riley was “clearly drunk” and he was arrested after he verbally abused one officer as he called him a “traitor” and a “Muslim lover”.

En route to the police station he made a number of negative comments about immigrants and Muslims and said “both were to blame” for the tragic events in Southport, the court heard.

A poster with the words “this is our city” was recovered when he was searched at the custody desk.

Mr Taylor said Riley told officers he went to the Pier Head protest to “show solidary and support for the city and show support for the bereaved parents”.

The prosecutor went on: “He said he was not part of any political group. He said he just followed the ‘evolving situation’ and ‘didn’t like the illegals coming over’.

Mr Carville, defending, said Riley had no previous convictions and described him as a “loner”.

He said Riley went to a number of pubs and then “stupidly became involved” with disorder.

He added: “In many respects, he is a very foolish man.”

Riley, of Walton Road, Liverpool, was jailed for 20 months after he pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to violent disorder and racially aggravated threatening behaviour.

Judge Menary told the three: “Southport is a town where families live and work and take pride in the closeness of such a supportive community.

“Liverpool is a dynamic city full of wonderful people who have worked hard to develop a reputation for creativity and enterprise.

“Your actions have disgraced and damaged the reputations of that town and this city.”