Rotherham man jailed for nine years in longest sentence yet over summer riots

Thomas Birley added fuel to bin fire and threw objects at police during unrest outside hotel housing asylum seekers

A Rotherham man has been handed the longest prison sentence so far over the rioting in early August as he was jailed for nine years for his role in violence outside a hotel housing hundreds of asylum seekers.

A judge told Thomas Birley, 27, that his case was unquestionably" one of the most serious of the dozens he had dealt with in the last month in relation to rioting outside the Holiday Inn Express in Manvers on 4 August.