Arsonist gets six years' prison over Manvers disturbance
AN ARSONIST who was caught on camera starting multiple fires during the unrest in Manvers this summer has been jailed for six years.
The sentence is much longer than most of those handed down to offenders involved in the trouble around the Holiday Inn Express, where asylum seekers were housed, and reflects the seriousness of Scott Greenwood’s offending.
He made himself identifiable by wearing a distinctive red and white hat, and he was recorded on video setting fire to wooden fencing panelling in the hotel’s car park on Sunday, August 4.
On the same day he was also filmed taking bunches of dried grass and adding them to a fire on the grassland which surrounds the hotel.
Greenwood was identified following one of several South Yorkshire Police media releases and he was arrested as a result/
Greenwood, aged 34, of Tingle Bridge Lane, Hemingfield, Barnsley, refused to answer questions when he was interviewed by investigators.
However, he was charged with arson with intent to endanger life and violent disorder and pleaded guilty to both charges when he appeared at Sheffield Crown Court more than a month ago.
He was sentenced on Tuesday to six years in prison, with an extended licence period of three years, meaning that he risks being sent back to jail, should he commit further offences in that time.
In total the investigation into the violent disorder at the Holiday Inn Express Hotel has resulted in 75 people being convicted and sentenced to a combined total of 167 years in jail.
Those convicted range from juveniles to grandparents.