Rioter 'involved in almost every arena of racist criminal conduct that day' jailed after attack on hotel

A thug who tried to set fire to hotel housing asylum seekers during this summer's far right riots has been jailed for nine years.

It joint longest sentence passed down so far in relation to the disorder that flared up following the deaths of three young girls in Southport. Levi Fishlock was a prominent figure in the disorder outside the Holiday Inn Express at Manvers, Rotherham, with a judge saying he 'played a part in almost every aspect of the racist mob violence on that terrible day in August'.

Sheffield Crown Court heard the 31-year-old was 'very identifiable' by his distinctive purple England football shirt with 'Bellingham' written on the back. Fishlock, of Sheffield Road, Barnsley, pleaded guilty to violent disorder and arson with intent to endanger life.

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Recorder of Sheffield Judge Jeremy Richardson KC said the case was one of the most serious he had dealt with and jailed him for nine years, with an extended five-year licence period. It is the joint highest sentence given for the summer's riots, with Thomas Birley, 27, also jailed for nine years in September.

Judge Richardson said the defendant was 'involved in almost every arena of racist criminal conduct that day'. He was part of a group shouting abuse and racial slurs, at one point tapping the England badge on his shirt.

As the violence escalated Fishlock was seen adding planks of wood to a large burning wheelie bin that was pushed up against the hotel, 'intending to endanger the lives of many people trapped in the hotel', the judge said.

Fishlock also helped build barricades that were then set on fire and made threatening gestures with a sharp object towards people who