Three Teens Locked Up For Rioting
17-year-olds will serve time in training and detention centres
Last updated 20th Dec 2022
Three teenage boys have been locked up for the part they played in last year's Mayhill Riots.
The 17-year-olds join eighteen people who were sentenced yesterday, and they will serve their time in detention and training centres.
All three, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were charged with riot, and one was also charged with arson being reckless as to whether life was in danger.
One was sentenced to a two-year detention and training order, another was given 14 months and the third was given an eight-month order.
It's after violent disorder broke out in the city last May, with cars torched, homes vandalised and police attacked.
A total of 27 people aged between 15 and 44 were charged with offences relating to the riot – an incident which made headlines around the UK.
All pleaded guilty accept for Kye Dennis, 25, of Fforestfach, Swansea, who was found not guilty following a jury trial.
Judge Paul Thomas described the incident as “disgraceful” and “the worst outbreak of mass violence” that had occurred in Swansea during his lifetime.
He said the sentences he had imposed would send a “clear message to reassure the residents of this city that such behaviour will not be tolerated”.
Senior investigating officer Detective Inspector Gareth Jones said: “This was violence of an extreme nature and was a calculated defiance of the law and a deliberate attack on the police that attended.
“The numbers involved caused real fear to the local residents who witnessed the events or whose property was damaged during the course of the disorder.
“Several factors have contributed to the success of this investigation and prosecution. Members of the public made witness statements and many more sent us mobile phone or door cam footage.
"The investigation that followed was thorough and meticulous and resulted in the evidence being presented in a way that compelled the court to convict these individuals.
“The sentences handed out to these individuals reflect the severity of what they did last May. They joined together, armed with weapons, sticks and bricks and spared no thought for residents or the potentially fatal consequences that could have occurred.
“I am pleased to say that justice has been served and I hope the sentences issued today will give those who were intent on being part of the disorder plenty of time to reflect on what they did.”