A DARFIELD man has been jailed for his part in the notorious Holiday Inn Express disturbance in August 2024.

Darren Ward, aged 55, was recorded aggressively pushing officers and displaying threatening behaviour as a demonstration outside the Manvers hotel escalated into serious violence.

During the incident, are than 60 police officers were injured as they worked to protect the hotel and those inside.

During the investigation which followed the disorder, thousands of hours' worth of camera footage was analysed to identify perpetrators of the violence.

From this footage, South Yorkshire Police released several media appeals containing images of those thought to be involved.

Exactly three months after the disorder, on November 4, Ward handed himself in at Barnsley Police Station after seeing himself in one of those appeals.

When interviewed by officers, Ward refused to provide a comment when questioned about his behaviour at the hotel.

Following his arrest, he was charged with violent disorder - to which he pleaded guilty to.

On March 9, at Sheffield Crown Court, Ward, of Norville Crescent, Darfield, Barnsley, was jailed for 20 months.

Following the 2024 incident, the hotel was left so badly damaged that residents had to be moved out and it remained closed for a substantial period.

It had been used to accommodate asylum-seekers, but the Home Office then decided to stop using it for that purpose.

Subsequently, it re-opened in its original guise.

The problems at Manvers led to Rotherham Council drawing up a four year Inclusion Strategy, which will run until 2030 to address issues raised by the disorder.