Man ‘too drunk to remember throwing object at riot police outside hotel’

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

A 30-year-old man who claimed he was too drunk to remember throwing an object at riot police outside a hotel housing more than 200 asylum seekers has been jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Charlie Eames, of High Street, Sheffield, is the latest person to be jailed for being part of the mob which besieged the Holiday Inn Express, in Manvers, Rotherham, on August 4.

Police body-worn camera footage was shown at Sheffield Crown Court on Thursday which showed Eames at the front of the crowd with no shirt, but wearing a padded gillet and with a bottle of alcohol pushed down his waistband.

When prosecutor Neil Coxon suggested this was a bottle of beer, Eames corrected him over the prison videolink, stating it was a bottle of Stones Ginger Wine.

The footage showed Eames throwing an unknown object at the line of riot shields and then encouraging another man in a mask to throw a large piece of wood at officers.

Rebecca Tanner, defending, told the court her client was an alcoholic, had drunk a substantial amount before the incident captured on video, and could not remember throwing the object, which the court heard could have been a branch.

She said Eames, who admitted violent disorder, had seen the protest happening outside the hotel on TikTok before it turned violent and decided go along, believing it to be “peaceful”.

Ms Tanner told the court: “He readily accepts he was highly intoxicated.”

She added: “When the mood shifted, he became a willing participant.”

More than 80 people have now been charged, and more than 30 jailed, following the violence involving around 400 people who targeted the hotel, which was housing 240 asylum seekers.

Some of the mob broke into the building and tried to set it on fire as 64 police officers, three police horses and a police dog were injured.

Judge Sarah Wright also jailed 29-year-old Morgan Hardy for his role in the disorder outside the hotel.

Hardy, of Melton High Street, Rotherham, was sent to prison for three years after the judge heard how he threw fence panels, a fire extinguisher and a chair at the line of officers.

The court heard that he was part of a group shouting “we want our country back” and could be seen on footage at the front of the crowd, taunting officers with his arms outstretched.

The judge was told that, after his arrest, he asked police if the “immigrants” had all gone from the hotel.

When told that they had been moved, he said: “Good. No more women and children will be hurt.”

Ms Tanner, this time defending Hardy, said he was a hard-working family man who only went to the hotel to be nosey but ended up doing something he admitted was “deplorable”.

She said: “He has brought shame on himself and shame on his family.”

Also on Thursday, father-of-five Cameron Callear, 30, of Orchard Way, Thurnscoe, was jailed for two years and 10 months for his part in the Manvers disorder.

Footage shown in court showed Callear kicking out at police riot shields and then breaking the leg off a chair which had been brought out of the hotel.

The defendant was then seen to throw the leg at police lines as another man launched the remains of the chair at officers.

All three men admitted violent disorder at previous hearings.