Jailed hotel rioter has 'wrecked' life - judge

A man who pushed and kicked out at police officers outside a hotel housing asylum seekers has been jailed for three years.

John Webster, 41, pleaded guilty to violent disorder after participating in the rioting "mob" at the Holiday Inn Express in Manvers, Rotherham, on 4 August.

The Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC, told him he had "wrecked" his own life at a sentencing hearing at Sheffield Crown Court.

Webster, of Hague Avenue, Rotherham, has 21 previous convictions but had gained a job as a bus driver and had recently "turned his life around", the sentencing heard.

He is the 80th person to be sentenced for taking part in the disorder outside the hotel, South Yorkshire Police said.

Footage played to the court showed the defendant ignoring instructions from police to move, with Webster seen shouting at officers and filming the violence.

He was filmed pushing and kicking out at officers while they held shields up, the court heard.

"You could have put the unhappiness of many years behind you, and life would have been quite good," Judge Richardson said.

"You have wrecked your own life - there is no one else to blame, it is your responsibility."

Judge Richardson said the "ignorant and violent mob" was "extremely frightening" for those in the hotel.

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

The judge said Webster's actions "indirectly affected" the asylum seekers and staff in the hotel, who police were aiming to protect.

"You are not to be sentenced simply for what you did as an individual, you were part of the group and you bear responsibility as a consequence," he said.

"You are the author of your own misfortune."

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