Middlesbrough rioters jailed for their role in the disorder

Paul Smith was caught on CCTV trying to set fire to bins during a standoff with police while Akheel Khan was arrested after he was spotted chasing people while brandishing a hammer.

Both rioters found themselves in court as a result of the rioting which spread through the town on August 4.

CCTV footage of both incidents was played at Teesside Crown Court as the pair were sentenced separately.

The footage of Smith showed the 24-year-old wheeling the rubbish bin towards the police line in Middlesbrough town centre while attempting but failing to ignite the contents.

While the footage of 24-year-old engineering graduate showed a group of Asian men running through the streets while carrying weapons before he was arrested when the car he was trying to escape in crashed.

Akheel Khan getting arrested following rioting in Middlesbrough (Image: Cleveland Police)

Michael Bunch, prosecuting, said: “He was in possession of a hammer while two other males were also carrying weapons. Police attended the area after reports of a large group of Asian men in the Belk Street area who were fighting.

“The defendant ran from officers and was seen to discard the hammer before getting into a vehicle with another male. That male drove the vehicle before almost immediately crashing it into a parked car.”

Khan, of Wheatley Close, Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty to violent disorder.

Michele Turner, mitigating, said her client had a first-class degree in engineering and had been studying for a master’s degree at the time of the incident.

She said Khan had reacted badly after discovering his vehicle had been smashed up during the rioting.

“It’s quite clear that this was a response to that targeting,” she said. “It didn’t last long and when confronted by the police, he not only fled but he was compliant with officers.”

Akheel Khan (Image: Cleveland Police)

Judge Richard Bennett sentenced Khan to 15 months in custody for arming himself with the hammer and chasing people through the street.

He said: “You were all clearly looking for trouble, it was not clear who your intended target was but your intention was clear. I am satisfied that your intended target was not a police officer that was not the reason you armed yourself.”

Earlier in the day, Smith, of St Catherine’s Court, Middlesbrough, was jailed for 22 months for his ‘opportunistic’ role in the disorder after he didn’t attempt to mask his identity.

Paul Smith pushing a bin towards the police line (Image: Cleveland Police)

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Paul Smith (Image: Cleveland Police)

The judge heard how the 24-year-old ‘saw events as an opportunistic rebellion against the police’ when the violent disorder erupted in the town centre and he dragged the bin into the street.

Judge Bennett said: “The purpose of doing that was to create a mobile weapon which you could deploy against the police line.

“You then started to set fire to the contents with a lighter, your accomplices attempted to do the same. That heavy bin was then pushed to the police line and then through it.

“You were then seen next to a household bin which was alight, you moved to another person to encourage them to light that bin too but it does not appear to have been set fire to.”