Rioter who took sledgehammer to cars at garage owned by foreign national jailed

A father-of-three who took a sledgehammer to cars at a garage belonging to a foreign national while the terrified owner cowered inside with his family during riots in Hull has been jailed for three years.

Stuart Randall, 55, danced in front of a police line while waving a riot shield and smashed the front windows of two shops during a day of “racist, hate-fuelled mob violence” in the city on August 3.

Randall also smashed the glass of a BMW that had contained three Romanian men who were forced out of their vehicle by an angry mob, although Hull Crown Court heard he was not directly involved in that incident.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of racially aggravated criminal damage, violent disorder, criminal damage to two shops, burglary of the O2 store and Lush, and possession of cannabis.

The court heard Randall had gone into the city centre to attend a vigil for the three children killed in the attack in Southport.

The defendant, who has an alcohol dependency, “accepted a can of cider” from someone and “that’s when things spiralled out of control,” a judge was told.

As police formed a protective line in front of a hotel known to house asylum seekers, Randall was seen “waving a police shield and behaving in an erratic manner”.

During an attack on a garage owned by a foreign national, Randall was seen smashing cars with a sledgehammer.

The owner, who was barricaded inside his own business with his children and six other people, could smell burning cars and hear threats to harm his family outside as he cowered in fear for his life, the court heard.

At one point he heard someone shout: “You bastard foreigner, come out,” prosecutor Jeremy Evans said.

Footage played in court showed Randall picking up a bar stool and using it to smash the front of a Specsavers shop, before doing the same with a fire extinguisher at Holland & Barrett. He was also seen on CCTV looting the O2 store and Lush.

In mitigation, the court heard Randall was “ashamed and disgusted by his behaviour” and “only knew what happened through watching CCTV at the police station”.

At the same court, a 64-year-old man who punched a police officer in the jaw and handed out eggs for people to throw during the Hull disorder was jailed for 18 months.

William Riley pleaded guilty to violent disorder and assaulting an emergency worker.

The court heard he was prominent at the front of a group who were confronting a police line, acting aggressively and throwing missiles.

He went on to punch an officer to the side of the jaw as he was trying to detain him.

The court heard the conviction was “a massive fall from grace” for Riley, who is involved with veterans’ charities who had attended the city centre that day to lay a wreath for the victims of the Southport stabbing.