Man, 64, stole from Lush and O2 during riot

A 64-year-old man who admitted stealing from two shops during the Hull riots has been jailed for 16 months.

Shaun Adams was seen on CCTV with a walking stick climbing in through the broken doors of the Lush cosmetics shop and the O2 phone store on 3 August.

Hull Crown Court was told that it was not clear what he had taken and the value of the stolen items.

Adams, of Russell Street, Hull, pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary at the city's magistrates' court in November.

Prosecutor Billy Torbett said the offending took place during the large-scale public disorder in Hull city centre after rioting broke out following an anti-immigration demonstration.

Mr Torbett said the damage and loss to both shops from the rioting and looting was in excess of £30,000 each.

Adams' barrister Oliver Shipley said that his client had "a crippling drug addiction for many years" and he was also undergoing treatment for cancer.

Passing sentence, Judge Mark Bury said he accepted that Adams was not the person who had initially broken into the shops but was "part of an enterprise that involved a significant loss of property".

"It is depressing watching the people going into the shops and helping themselves to other people's property," the judge added.

Judge Bury warned the defendant that he had to address his addiction while in prison "or you won't make old bones if you go back to drugs".

As well as the 16-month jail term, an 18-week suspended sentence for a previous burglary was activated.

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