A judge has issued the longest sentence to date linked to recent anti-immigration riots in the United Kingdom, sending painter-decorator Thomas Birley to prison for nine years after he set fire to a small trash can outside a Holiday Inn Express hotel near Rotherham on August 4.
Judge Jeremy Richardson at Sheffield Crown Court described Birley’s case as among the most serious connected to the Rotherham riot. During the incident, Birley, 27, was recorded adding wood to a burning trash can that had been pushed against the hotel, which was housing illegal migrants and asylum seekers. He further contributed to the hazard by stacking another bin on top, resulting in a conviction for arson with intent to endanger life.
In addition to the arson charge, Birley threw objects at police officers. Staff at the hotel testified that they feared for their lives, believing they were in imminent danger of burning to death due to the small trash-can fire.
By comparison, an “asylum seeker” who already had a criminal record was sentenced to just six months for attempting to burn down a hotel in 2023. Another with a similar case received just three years. In 2021, 13 migrant men were released without charge after attempting to burn down an army barracks being used to house them.
The riots erupted across England and Northern Ireland following the fatal knifing of three girls in Southport, northwest England, on July 29. Hundreds of individuals have been charged in connection with the riots. The UK judiciary is expediting these cases, resulting in significant sentences for those directly involved in violent acts and for inciting violence online.
Just three weeks ago, Judge Richardson told another suspect he was handing down a longer prison sentence “because of the racialist backdrop, which was a major component of this public disorder.”
More than 200 people have been sentenced in connection with the disorder, ranging from a 13-year-old to a 69-year-old.
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