A rioter who set fire to a hotel full of asylum seekers during a riot in Rotherham was handed the longest prison sentence of any rioter to date.
Thomas Birley, 27, pleaded guilty to arson with intent to endanger life after starting a fire in a bin at a Holiday Inn Express on August 4.
Riots broke out across the country following the fatal stabbing of three young girls in Southport after misinformation about the suspect in the attack went viral online.
During the incident, staff at the hotel were reportedly so panicked that they barricaded themselves in a panic room and left those inside the hotel fearing for their lives.
POLL: Is a 9-year jail sentence too harsh for rioter who set fire to an asylum seeker hotel? YOUR VERDICT
GB News
Birley was sentenced to nine years in prison at Sheffield Crown Court by Judge Jeremy Richardson, who branded Birley's actions “suffused with racism from beginning to end”.
Addressing Birley, the judge said: “I have now watched much recorded CCTV and recorded footage of events.
“It is clear as clear could be, you and many like you were intent on spreading a hateful message of violence and racism.
“You were well to the fore in all of this. The disorder was grotesque.”
In the exclusive poll for GB News membership readers, an overwhelming majority (75 per cent) of the 1,127 voters thought a 9-year jail sentence was too harsh, while just 22 per cent thought it wasn't. Three per cent said they did not know.
