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Man whose teenage son was first to be sentenced for Rotherham riot also jailed





A man whose teenage son has already been jailed for disorder and a father-of-two who took his toddler to a riot are among the latest people to be locked up over mob violence at a hotel housing asylum seekers in Rotherham.

Stephen Roughley, 44, was jailed for two years and eight months – more than a month after his son Kenzie Roughley, 18, became the first person to be sentenced for the violent disorder on August 4 outside the Holiday Inn Express in Manvers, South Yorkshire.

Sheffield Crown Court heard Roughley, from Pontefract, initiated chants of “get them out” and made “disparaging remarks of a sexual nature to police officers” before throwing a missile at a police van.

Kenzie Roughley was sentenced last month to two years and four months in a young offender institution after being filmed punching and kicking a South Yorkshire Police CCTV van.

Stephen Roughley, 44 (South Yorkshire Police/PA)
Stephen Roughley, 44 (South Yorkshire Police/PA)

A father-of-two who was identified for his role in the disorder by the fact that he was wearing odd shoes and carrying a toddler in his arms was jailed for three years.

Mason Reddy, 24, was seen throwing bricks and rocks at the hotel, apparently aiming at the windows, while shouting threats.

He was also witnessed throwing missiles at officers, hitting out at riot shields and cheering rioters who were lighting a fire.

A journalist also said they saw Reddy shouting a racial slur while carrying a boy of around two years old in his arms.

Five police officers identified Reddy, from Barnsley, by his “distinctive clothing,” odd shoes and the fact that he had a child and pram with him.

In mitigation, the court heard Reddy, who has no previous convictions, had taken his son with him as he was intending to protest peacefully.

Mason Reddy, 24 (South Yorkshire Police/PA)
Mason Reddy, 24 (South Yorkshire Police/PA)

A man who grabbed and pushed riot shields while at the front of a mob was jailed for two years.

The court heard Regan Urruty Dever, 22, of Doncaster, was only there for 20 minutes and had been to Tesco and for a katsu curry beforehand.

Daniel Dicks, 33, of Goldthorpe, who pushed a shopping trolley into the path of a police van, ripped up fence posts to be used as missiles and was part of a crowd chanting racist remarks was jailed for two years and eight months.

All four defendants pleaded guilty to violent disorder.

The riot in Rotherham left 64 officers, three police dogs and a horse injured. There were 240 asylum seekers in the hotel, which protesters tried to set on fire, and courts have heard how staff barricaded themselves in the kitchen with freezers, fearing they would die.

About 50 men have so far been jailed for their parts in the Rotherham disorder.


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