UK riots latest news: Southport ‘ringleader’ and thug who attacked Black man in Manchester among those facing jail

The “ringleader” of the Southport riot as well as one of the thugs who attacked a Black man in Manchester are among those facing jail today.

Tom Neblett, 20, from Southport, is said to have played a leading role in the violence that broke out in the Merseyside town on 30 July.

The 20-year-old is set to be sentenced for violent disorder at Liverpool Crown Court on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Joseph Ley, 30, from Stockport, was among a large group of white males who attacked a Black man on the floor in Manchester city centre on 3 August.

The 30-year-old is being sentenced for violent disorder at Manchester Crown Court, along with two other rioters.

More than 1,100 people have now been arrested over the far-right riots that erupted across the UK after the Southport stabbings on 29 July.

On Thursday, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said 1,127 people have been arrested so far, with 648 charged, following the days of violence across England and Northern Ireland.

A further three people have been charged following disorder in Bristol earlier this month, Avon and Somerset Police said.

Lisa Bishop, 38, of Lawrence Weston, Bristol, Bradley McCarthy, 34, of Knowle, Bristol, and Elly-Jane Cox, 33, of Bishopsworth, Bristol, were all charged with violent disorder.

They are due to appear at Bristol Magistrates’ Court later on Thursday.

Two more men have been charged following disorder in Merseyside.

Daniel Carrigan, 41, of Preston Grove, Anfield, was charged with violent disorder and criminal damage in Southport, and Luke Moran, 38, of Leybourne Avenue, Birkdale, was charged with violent disorder, Merseyside Police said.

Both men will appear at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court later on Thursday.

Within 10 minutes it’s over. Another fate is sealed. The process is simple and already repetitive: the defendant, this time wiry apprentice electrician Declan Dickson, 22, wearing prison-issue grey tracksuit bottoms, is brought up from the cells to court number 7.

As the charges are read – unlawful violence, possession of cocaine – he bows his head. A weary defence lawyer makes a case for bail – Dickson, who pleaded guilty to all offences, would like, he says, to visit his mum in Wigan, to say goodbye.

Read our report on the sentencing of sevearl people over the storming of a hotel in Rotherham during the nationwide riots:

During the sentencing of three people involved in unrest in Bristol, Chief Inspector Vicks Hayward-Melen said people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds had been left in “fear and terror following the outpouring of racism” in recent weeks.

In a community impact statement, she said: “Some have been stocking up on food, children are not being allowed to go and play in the park.

“The children are scared and asking why they are being targeted.”

She said those in the Muslim community feared “mosques will become fortresses rather than open community centres”, with charities reporting that people are feeling vulnerable from the “visceral and blatant racism”.

Jess Phillips has admitted she made a “mistake” with how she phrased a social media post about masked men confronting a journalist during the riots last week.

Footage from Sky News showed one of the broadcaster’s reporters being approached by hooded and masked men in Ms Phillips’ Birmingham Yardley constituency during a period of disorder in the city.

At the time of the video being released, the Home Office minister responded to a post on X, formerly Twitter, by Reform UK MP Richard Tice which suggested what he called “pro Gaza masked folk” in the video were subject to a different standard of policing than the rioters.

“These people came to this location because it has been spread that racists were coming to attack them”, she replied.

“This misinformation was spread entirely to create this content. Don’t spread it Mr Tice!”

In the period since the unrest, Ms Phillips has faced criticism from shadow security minister Tom Tugendhat, and his rival for the Conservative leadership James Cleverly, a former home secretary.

Asked about her remarks on Wednesday, she is reported by broadcasters to have said: “I think I almost certainly could have phrased it better.”

Here’s the video showing Mark Bowen shouting at police before later leaving a small number of officers on bicycles in “genuine fear”.

Bowen confronted officers as they tried to keep the anti-immigration protesters from entering the Mercure Hotel, which is used to house asylum seekers.

Mark Bowen, 40, of no fixed address, has been jailed for 25 months at Bristol Crown Court after admitting violent disorder in the city on August 3.

Dominic Capaldi, 34, has been jailed for 34 months for violent disorder in Bristol on August 3.

Bristol Crown Court heard Capaldi was captured on police bodycam footage throwing objects towards officers in the city’s Castle Park, including while crowds chanted “send them back”.

The ground worker was also seen throwing objects at police who were trying to protect protesters from gaining entry to the Mercure Hotel, which is used to house asylum seekers.

Defending Capaldi, John Stokes told the court: “It is very sadly a case of ‘hindsight is a wonderful thing’, he recognises now with retrospect the foolishness of his actions on that day.”

Mr Stokes said Capaldi’s child was turning seven on the day of his sentencing, with the consequences of his client’s offending having a “significant” impact on his family.

Judge Martin Picton jailed Capaldi for 34 months, telling the court: “This was the first post-Southport protest in Bristol to turn violent, but it has to be seen in the context of co-ordinated action on the part of extremists to cause violence, and by so doing to generate fear on the part of the community as a whole.”