A man has been jailed for nine years for setting fire to a hotel containing asylum seekers last month following the riots which swept the UK.
Thomas Birley, 27, of Swinton, received the sentence today which is the highest prison sentence handed out by judges following widespread violence last month.
“It is clear as clear could be, you and many like you were intent on spreading a hateful message of violence and racism.
“You were well to the fore in all of this,” Judge Richardson told him, describing him as part of a “mob” who smashed windows on the lower floor of the hotel.
“The disorder was grotesque.”
“Those in the hotel were terrified by what was happening outside,”
“They were in peril of being killed or seriously injured. You intended to endanger the lives of them all.”