Five jailed over violence on streets of Stoke-on-Trent
Three of them threw bricks and objects at a local mosque
Five men have been jailed for their part in violence on the streets of Stoke-on-Trent following the Southport stabbings.
Stoke Crown Court has heard three of them threw bricks and other objects at a local mosque in Hanley.
James Watkins, 35, Andrew Townley, 45, Ashley Morris, 31, Lee Grocott, 48 and Jarrod Hollinshead, 26, each took part in a protest in the city on August 3, which was organised in response to a knife attack at a dance studio in Southport on July 29 that left three girls dead.
Morris, of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Grocott, of Stoke-on-Trent and Hollinshead, of no fixed address, were each caught on CCTV and police body-worn camera throwing missiles including stones and bricks at the Darul Falah mosque in Town Road, Hanley, Staffordshire.
Stoke Crown Court heard Grocott stood on a bench being "verbally abusive" towards a group of peaceful protesters near the town hall.
Prosecutor Dylan Wagg said he was "clapping and shouting 'paedos' towards those protesting".
Mr Wagg said Grocott told police when he was arrested at his home on September 9, that he had attended to "protest illegal immigration and the state of the country", and admitted shouting offensive anti-Islamic remarks but denied he said anything racist, and "likened it to football chanting".
Morris picked up a brick from the ground and threw it towards the mosque after heading into town "with a curiosity to see what was going on", after he finished work and tried to go to a shop that was closed because of the disorder, his barrister Stuart Muldoon told the court on Tuesday.
The father of three young sons was also the victim of a hammer attack at the protest, which left him with six stitches in his head and a broken nose.
Mr Muldoon said: "Ashley Morris does not hold right-wing views or beliefs. When he woke up on August 3 he had no intention of becoming involved in any protest. He admits he got caught up.
"He feels immense guilt and shame about the position he is in and the position he has put his family in, as they have also become victims of his offending."
Morris lost his job as a groundworker as a result of being held in custody after his arrest, the court was told.
He was also topless for parts of the protest, as he had taken his shirt off to use as a bandage for an injured woman, Mr Muldoon said.
Hollinshead, who has been homeless for more than a decade and does not own a phone or a computer, took part in the protest hours after leaving the city's magistrate's court over an unrelated offence.
Hollinshead was sentenced to 36 months imprisonment after he admitted affray at an earlier hearing, Townley, 45 was given a 34-month sentence after he previously admitted violent disorder and assault by beating of an emergency worker.
Meanwhile, Ashley Morris has been sentenced to 30 months in prison after he admitted violent disorder at an earlier hearing, Watkins, was given a 36-month sentence and Grocott, was sentenced to 32 months behind bars.