First man charged with riot after summer disorder jailed for more than four years

The first man to be charged with riot following the disorder which swept the UK this summer was jailed for four years and four months on Friday.

Kieran Usher, 32, of Sunderland, pleaded guilty after being filmed with a group "raining missiles on police" in the city's Keel Square at the height of the troubles last month.

He handed himself in at a police station and admitted his role in abusing a line of riot cops, raising his arm to urge others to move forward. Footage shown Newcastle crown court showed him draped in the Union flag, trying to cover his face.

Prosecutor Michael Bunch said that Usher had been identified early on in police body cam footage and CCTV from August 2. He was seen filming the disorder on his phone, with a can of lager in his hand. Later, he was in the front line of a mob involved in a standoff with officers as shops, businesses, a police station and police vehicles were targeted across the city.

Mr Bunch said: "The officers were attacked and verbally abused, four required hospital treatment and were not fit to return to duty and police vehicles were also targeted.

"A police hub was set on fire, businesses were targeted and shops looted. Hundreds of people moved across the city centre. The defendant was captured in a series of places in the footage.

"He was in a blue T-shirt and could be seen with his phone in one hand and a can of lager in the other, and the Union Flag around his shoulders.

"He repeatedly beckoned others towards the officers. Shortly after 7.30pm, he was seen recording events when officers were being targeted by missile throwing, and shortly afterwards he was seen picking up objects and throwing them towards the police lines."

In footage played to the court, a red smoke bomb is seen going off in front of the police line as Usher urges others to move forward from the crowd towards them.

In an impact statement, Vanessa Jordan, Northumbria Police Chief Constable, told how the families of serving officers were left worrying about their loved ones at home as footage emerged of them being attacked with scaffolding poles, and paving slabs.

Usher was said to have previous convictions for damage to property, taking a car without consent, possession of a bladed article and drink driving, the last offence in January of this year.

His attempt to hide his face, the consumption of alcohol and encouraging others to get involved in the violence increased his culpability, the court heard.

Sophie Allinson-Howells, for Usher, said that he had a learning disorder, and wearing the Union flag was 'just to fit in' and was not because he was part of a right-wing movement.

Judge Tim Gittins said that his actions had brought "shame on the city of Sunderland and shame on the union flag he was wearing".

He jailed him for four years and four months, telling him: "These were serious acts of violence involving people and property, it was persistent and sustained and involved large numbers of people.

"The police officers who were subjected to those levels of violence and abuse, pelted with missiles and injured, undoubtedly suffered psychological harm.

"The cost of the damage is put at hundreds of thousands, if not millions of pounds. Each individual act encourages others....the punishment has to deter others."

Usher, of Hendon, Sunderland, admitted the offence of riot last month, the first adult to do so in the UK. Speaking after his guilty plea, Christopher Atkinson, Head of the Complex Casework Unit for CPS North East, said: "It is clear from the evidence that Usher played an active role in the mob violence that unfolded on the streets of Sunderland."