Five More Plead Guilty and are Jailed for Southampton Riots

Five men have plead guilt and been jailed for their roles in a significant outbreak of violent disorder that erupted in Southampton following a protest over the police handling of a student murder inquiry.

At Southampton Crown Court, Judge William Mousley KC imposed immediate custodial sentences on Daniel Frost, Reece Robinson, Andrew Summerhayes, Taylor Grundy, and Dillon Crawford after all five entered guilty pleas to offences arising from the disturbance on 2 June.

The court heard that approximately 1,000 individuals had gathered for a demonstration outside Southampton Central Police Station before large-scale violence subsequently broke out in the Portswood, Belmont Road, and St Denys Road areas of the city.

Twelve police officers sustained injuries during the incident, which also resulted in widespread damage to vehicles and property, alongside a mutual aid policing operation that cost approximately £443,000.

Passing sentence, Judge Mousley KC characterized the disturbance as a targeted attack on law enforcement officers, stating that the violence was a hate crime borne out of a hatred for police and in some part racist views.

Read more: Southampton Public Disorder: Dozens Face Charges After Henry Nowak Unrest

Andrew Summerhayes, 38, of Romsey, received the longest sentence of the five, being jailed for three years and two months after admitting violent disorder and two counts of possessing offensive weapons in a public place.

The prosecution established that Summerhayes stood directly in the path of officers attempting to withdraw from an increasingly hostile crowd, picked up a large wheelie bin, and ran towards retreating officers before later pursuing them with a traffic cone.

Judge Mousley KC noted that Summerhayes had been at the forefront of serious public disorder and that his actions had plainly encouraged and added to the threat faced by the police.

Dillon Crawford, 29, of Southampton, was sentenced to three years' imprisonment after admitting violent disorder.

Read more: Vickrum Digwa Jailed for Life Over Ceremonial Knife Murder of Student Henry Nowak

The court heard Crawford enthusiastically and aggressively pushed his way to the front of the crowd as police retreated along Belmont Road, throwing several projectiles, including a bin, a metal object, and a chair, towards officers. In a letter read to the court, Crawford expressed remorse, stating he was disgusted by his actions and had let both his family and the victim's family down.

Taylor Grundy, 22, of Gosport, was jailed for two years and six months after admitting violent disorder. The court heard Grundy threw a long plank of wood towards police officers and assisted others in pushing a large commercial bin, which had been set alight, towards a police cordon.

Daniel Frost, 44, of Southampton, was jailed for two years and four months after admitting violent disorder and possession of an offensive weapon. Frost was captured on police body-worn video wearing a camouflage face covering while throwing chairs into the road in front of advancing officers, before wrapping a dog lead around his arm and placing a metal carabiner clip over his hand to form a makeshift weapon.

Reece Robinson, 21, of Havant, was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment after admitting violent disorder. Robinson was captured on video footage standing close to a police cordon with a high-visibility vest wrapped around his face, bending down on two occasions to pick up stones or small bricks before throwing them towards officers.

Read more: Vickrum Digwa Sentencing: Southampton Crown Court

During the hearing, evidence was heard from officers on the scene, including British Transport Police Constable Ruby Stevenson, who stated she had never experienced such violence or hate towards police during her 12-year career, adding that she felt terrified and did not think she was going to make it out alive.

The five defendants are among 21 people charged in connection with the incident, with further sentencing hearings scheduled to take place at Southampton Crown Court over the coming days.

The court heard the initial protest followed public concern regarding the circumstances surrounding the murder of 18-year-old Henry Nowak, after it emerged in earlier proceedings that officers had handcuffed the dying teenager, despite his claims to have been stabbed and struggling to breathe. During a 999 call from the brother of Nowak’s killer, officers had previously been falsely told that Nowak had attacked Vikram Digwa in a drunken rage, no weapons had been involved, that he had fallen over, cutting his lip. Digwa was subsequently convicted of murder for fatally stabbing Nowak with a historic South/Central Asian dagger of the pesh-kabz type, designed for close-quarter thrusting and historically associated with armour penetration in military contexts. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.