Rioter had cardiac arrest during hotel violence

A man who was part of a rioting mob outside an asylum seeker hotel suffered a cardiac arrest shortly after adding fuel to a fire burning at the disorder.

William Bartholomew was filmed adding branches and twigs to the pyre near the Holiday Inn Express in Manvers, Rotherham, on 4 August before collapsing on a grass verge.

Bartholomew, of Wilson Avenue, Clowne, later told officers he had started to feel chest pains "due to the stress of everything".

He admitted violent disorder and was jailed for two years at Sheffield Crown Court earlier.

Prosecutor Neil Coxon said as well as adding branches and wood to the already-lit fire, Bartholomew was filmed gesticulating aggressively at police officers and throwing missiles at them.

The 41-year-old collapsed on a grass verge a short time later, the court heard, and was taken to Barnsley General Hospital.

During a subsequent police interview, Bartholomew admitted his involvement but maintained he had no intention of being violent prior to attending the hotel.

He said he had been "full of anger at the time", had not been taking his prescribed medication and was hearing voices.

Francis Edusei, mitigating, said a report found his client was vulnerable to making repeated errors and generally failed to learn from mistakes.

Bartholomew had undeveloped social cognition, Mr Edusei said, poor social judgement and suffered from autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

The Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC, said what took place in Rotherham that day "had nothing to do with legitimate public protest".

"It has been my misfortune as well as my duty to have sentenced most of the cases arising from the major public disorder in Rotherham," he said.

"In consequence I am extremely familiar with the events and all the CCTV footage.

"The venom of racism and racially-motivated violence suffused the events from first to last."

The judge accepted Bartholomew did not start the fire but added: "It is not simply a case of what you did as an individual that matters for the purpose of sentencing you, it is the scenario as a whole which is important."

In addition to his two-year jail sentence, he was also handed a criminal behaviour order for a period of 10 years.

Bartholomew had previous convictions, including assisting or encouraging self harm in relation to encouraging his partner to take her own life.

Mr Coxon told the court Bartholomew received an 18-month community order for the offence.

Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North