Swansea rioters sentenced for turning housing estate into ‘war zone’

Two men identified as leading players in May 2021 disturbance are jailed for six years and three months

Rioters turned a housing estate in Swansea into a war zone" for the sake of mass entertainment", leaving families terrorised, police officers injured and a community scarred, a judge has said.

Sentencing 18 men who organised or took part in the disturbance in May 2021, the judge, Paul Thomas KC, said the plan had been to light up" the Mayhill estate, with ringleaders cynically hijacking" a vigil for a teenager who died suddenly to create a large-scale ruckus".