Man who started fires during Rotherham riot jailed for six years

A man who started and stoked multiple fires during rioting at a hotel housing asylum seekers has been jailed.

Scott Greenwood, of Tingle Bridge Lane, Hemingfield, Barnsley, was filmed setting fire to wood fence panelling in the car park of the Holiday Inn Express in Manvers, Rotherham, during unrest on 4 August.

The 34-year-old was also recorded taking bunches of dried grass and adding them to a fire on the grassland surrounding the hotel.

He pleaded guilty to violent disorder and arson with intent to endanger life at Sheffield Crown Court and was jailed for six years, with an extended licence period of three years.

Greenwood was among hundreds of people who gathered outside the hotel, where around 200 asylum seekers were staying, in one of a series of anti-immigration protests after the murders of three girls in Southport.

The hotel had its windows smashed and missiles including wood, glass bottles and beer cans were thrown at police.

Officers were forced to retreat before a group of rioters got into the hotel. A bin was pushed against the building and set alight.

South Yorkshire Police said 75 people have been convicted and sentenced to a combined total of 167 years in jail following the incident in Rotherham.

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