UK riots latest: Thousands of extra police mobilised ahead of 30 far-right protests tonight - as inquests into Southport deaths begin (2024)

Daniel Drummond has been sentenced to three years in prison for violent disorder and assault of an emergency worker in Southport.

The 58-year-old,of Pool Street, Liverpool, did not react as he was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court byJudge Andrew Menary KC.

He said Drummond was part of a group involved in "deeply racist chants" about the Muslim community and "aggressive chants" at police officers.

He accepted that Drummond is deeply remorseful but said the CCTV footage of his behaviour on the night shows a "much darker and different side".

The judge said he can't be sure if Drummond was an "instigator", but that he was on the "front line".

More now from Liverpool Crown Court as we hear mitigation for 58-year-old Derek Drummond, who pleaded guilty to violent disorder and assault of an emergency worker.

Barrister Lionel Greig says that, in his own words, Drummond, who has lost his job after handing himself into police, said: "I'm absolutely ashamed of the way I have behaved.

"I have let Southport down, I have let the kids down, I have let my family down."

In mitigation forDeclan Geiran, who set fire to a police van, Brendan Carville, says he is "not a clever man" and has mental health issues.

"He doesn't understand what far left or far right means" and "simply went with the flow".

Back to Liverpool Crown Court, and the chief constable of Merseyside Police says 93 of its officers were injured during riots between 30 July and 3 August.

In a statement read out in court, the chief constable says that one officer suffered two fractured legs, while there was also a broken jaw and reports of several teeth knocked out during the "unprecedented" violence.

Some officers have been "waking up in the night with panic attacks", while others described the "fear they felt" of not returning safely home to their families.

They have "expressed disbelief officers haven't been killed as a result of the appalling scenes of violence".

Away from Liverpool Crown Court, and Met Police chief Mark Rowley has said it is right that terrorism charges are being considered for rioters.

Officers will "apply the full force of the law" to criminals, he said.

He was speaking ahead of a massive policing operation to deal with expected protests tonight.

He called the claim circulating online that there is a "two-tier policing" system "complete nonsense".

"The serious voices who echo those [views] are of more concern to me," he said.

"They are putting [police officers] at risk."

Explained: What does 'two-tier' policing mean?

In a message to people spreading misinformation online, he said "keyboard warriors abroad are not safe from the law".

Some of the more than 400 people arrested in recent days have been charged because of their online posts.

Two people in Cheshire were arrested after postingmisleading information suggesting a local hotel was housing asylum seekers.

Liam Riley is now in the dock at Liverpool Crown Court.

The 41-year-old, from Kirkdale, has pleaded guilty to violent disorder and a racially aggravated public order offence.

The court hears how Riley went to Liverpool city centre on Saturday night wearing a St George's flag draped around his neck and went drinking in four or five pubs.

He was part of a crowd of around 100 people who were throwing rocks and bricks, and had smashed a shop window.

Riley was "clearly drunk" when arrested and abusive towards the arresting officer, who he called a "traitor" and a "Muslim lover".

He called other officers "r*****s" and "made comments about Muslims and immigrants" and "expressed a view both were to blame for the tragic events in Southport".

He later said he "didn't like illegals coming over" but wasn't part of a political group.

More from Liverpool Crown Court as 29-year-old Declan Geiran, who has pleaded guilty to violent disorder and arson, is in the dock.

He denied any "negative feelings" about immigration when arrested for torching a police van.

Geiran was caught on CCTV using an implement to set the van on fire and was found with three lighters when arrested.

The court is shown a TikTok clip of Geiran setting fire to the van, which the prosecution says will cost the police force in excess of £32,000 to replace.

Further CCTV footage is shown of smoke coming from the van, with the prosecution saying Geiran can be seen sitting down and "casually" looking back at the vehicle he had just set on fire.

The prosecutor said the "motivation was to cause damage" by attacking the police van, against the background of "continuing violence in the city that day".

The fast-tracked sentencing of three men involved in riots in the past week has begun at Liverpool Crown Court.

Derek Drummond, 58, pleaded guilty to violent disorder and assault of an emergency worker.

The court has been shown footage showing Drummond assaulting an officer and heard he has 14 previous convictions for 19 offences ranging from 1988 to the mid-2000s.

The prosecution says these offences show a "history of violence".

The court hears that when Drummond was arrested, he told police he "was a fool and was holding his hands up".

He told officers he was "deeply sorry to the people he has let down" and that he believed his behaviour was "appalling".

ByBecky Johnson, communities correspondent

With immigration centres among a list of potential targets published by the far right, one immigration lawyer has told Sky News: "It's a really frightening time for many vulnerable asylum seekers and also immigration firms."

She has taken the decision to keep some staff at home. Now, only essential staff have to go into the office in the centre of the northern town where she works.

"It's making many people frightened…there are other groups wanting to coordinate, feeling they want to protect their assets.

"I'm really worried it will flare up," she said.

In Hull, police are still gathering CCTV from a mosque that was targeted during the riot in the city on Saturday.

Burnt-out and smashed-up cars remain on three streets behind the mosque as does the threat of further violence.

The mosque now has extra fencing to try to stop missiles getting into the grounds. Worshippers there say one man is still in hospital after being hit in the jaw as objects were pelted at the mosque during the disorder.

People from then Kurdish community are heeding the advice of police.

Amanj Jamil from the mosque said people "are not feeling 100% safe at all" ahead of more planned protests, and says they're being offered advice by the police.

"Women wearing hijabs are under risk, they are more vulnerable," he says.

"The advice to them for the time being, until things calm down, is try to come out less or don't come out or try not to go anywhere where crowds of people are gathering."

Frazer Maude, our north of England correspondent, is outside Liverpool Crown Court where the sentencing of three men involved in the riots has been fast-tracked to today.

He says the speedy sentencing of these cases and others is designed to be a "deterrent" to anyone "planning on taking part in any further violent disruptions".

All three men pleaded guilty at their hearings, and the family members of one of the men, Derek Drummond, were seen "weeping" in court on Monday, he says.

As well as extra police officers deployed to deal with tonight's expected violence, Maude says more prosecutors and CPS staff have been brought in to "fast-track future arrests".

There are also 500 extra prison spaces being made available, with authorities warning potential rioters they "may not end up in a jail that is anywhere near where they live", he adds.

The sentencing hearings are due to begin at around 10.45 this morning.

The inquests into the deaths of the three Southport stabbing victims have been opened and adjourned until "the criminal justice process has taken its course".

Bebe King, six, Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, were killed during last Monday's attack.

At Bootle Town Hall, senior coroner Julie Goulding said it was "impossible to adequately articulate the devastating lifelong effects of the truly tragic events".

She added: "The three young children were full of life and energy and will be missed beyond any description my woefully inadequate words will attempt to describe."

Ms Goulding then confirmed that two of the children, Elsie and Bebe, were identified at the scene by police officers by their clothing and recent photographs.

Alice was identified by her father and died in hospital in the early hours of Tuesday morning.