Holiday Inn Rotherham riot: Man whose truck was plundered for weapons admits violent disorder

Jake Turton, of Darfield, Barnsley, admitted violent disorder atSheffieldCrown Court on Thursday and will be sentenced at a later date.

The court has heard how Turton was filmed arriving at the scene of the rioting outside the Holiday Inn Express in Manvers, Rotherham, on August 4 in his Ford Ranger truck which had wood and other debris on the back.

Prosecutors have described at a previous hearing how a police helicopter captured people grabbing numerous items from the vehicle which were then used to throw at riot police and fuel fires which had been set around the hotel.

On Thursday, Abigail Langford, defending, told Judge Sarah Wright that the prosecution have not alleged that her client loaded the vehicle with the intention the items would be used to attack the police.

She said: “The Crown do not say that the defendant was arming people with the wood.

“It was on the back of the vehicle and people helped themselves to it. He was present at the scene but he did not actively participate.”

Judge Wright told Turton he faced an “inevitable custodial sentence”.

The defendant denied a second charge of taking a vehicle without consent and, after the prosecution offered no evidence, he was formally found not guilty of this charge.

Turton will be sentenced by Judge Wright on November 6.

More than 60 men have so far been jailed for their parts in the disorder outside the hotel, which left 64 police officers injured, as well as four dogs and a horse.

SheffieldCrown Court has heard how more than 200 asylum seekers were trapped in the upper floors as rioters smashed windows, set light to a bin pushed against a fire door and broke into the building.

Hotel staff have told the court how they barricaded themselves into a panic room during the rioting, fearing they would die.