Labourer who went inside hotel during Rotherham rioting jailed for three years

An unemployed labourer who was one of the first to enter a hotel housing more than 200 asylum seekers during rioting in Rotherham has been jailed for three years.

Video was shown at Sheffield Crown Court on Tuesday of Craden McKenzie, 26, climbing into the Holiday Inn Express, in Manvers, on August 4, and walking around the deserted lobby area, as staff took refuge in the kitchen.

The court heard this was after a mob had smashed in windows and a fire door but before attempts were made to set fire to the building with a burning bin.

Footage was also shown of McKenzie in a crowd which was attacking a group of outnumbered riot police with fire extinguishers and other weapons outside the building amid shouts of “burn it down”.

The Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC, was also shown body-worn camera footage from officers trying to push back the rioters with McKenzie at the front, hitting their shields.

Judge Richardson said unemployed labourer McKenzie was a “central participant in the most serious aspects” of the disorder, which left 64 police officers, three police horses and a police dog injured.

The judge heard how, after handing himself in, McKenzie told police he went into the hotel to see for himself the conditions in which the residents were living.

Stephanie Hollis, prosecuting, said McKenzie told the officers he went to the hotel to protest peacefully and the disorder broke out due to “miscommunication between police and the protesters”.

Although CCTV footage showed the defendant walking around an empty lobby, the judge heard how 22 staff members had taken refuge in the kitchen, terrified that, if they left, they would be attacked and, if they stayed, the hotel could be set on fire.

Judge Richardson said that for these staff and the 200 plus residents on the upper floors: “This was a truly terrifying episode”.

He said: “They had no idea how things would eventuate”.

Richard Adams, defending, said his client has no previous convictions and had effectively got involved due to peer pressure.

McKenzie, of Doncaster Road, Darfield, Barnsley, appeared by videolink from prison.

He admitted violent disorder at a previous hearing.