Young offender sentenced after admitting role in Manvers disturbance

AN OFFENDER who took part in the violent clash with police at Manvers last August has been locked up - after gloating about his exploits on social media.

Rory Huggins, aged 20, pleaded guilty to violent disorder at a previous hearing, and was given 12 months in a young offenders institution when he appeared for sentencing on Tuesday.

He was recorded throwing a missile at officers who were protecting the occupants of the Holiday Inn Express hotel on Sunday August 4.

After the event, which left more than 60 officers injured, Huggins took to social media to share videos of the violent disorder – adding that if anyone was offended, they should ‘remove him’ from their feed.

Huggins, of Haythorne Way, Swinton, was identified by a member of the public following a media appeal.

When questioned by officers, Huggins claimed he was not responsible for the comments on social media, suggesting that it was a fake account but then went on to answer ‘no comment’ to any other questions put to him.

It is understood that Huggins has the mental age of a ten year old, explaining a sentence much lighter than many who have been through the courts.

Others who have been sentenced include two men each jailed for nine years after admitting arson with intent to endanger life as a result of their part in the events.

Many more have received jail terms of between two and three years, with most of those involved admitting violent disorder. Many are from the Dearne Valley and immediate vicinity, though some had travelled longer distances to take part in the trouble.

They became part of a large mob confronted officers who were trying to protect the hotel and staff and asylum seeker residents who were seeking sanctuary inside the building.

By the time the trouble was over, the building was so badly damaged that the occupants were rehoused elsewhere.

Residents in the Manvers area, which now has extensive housing after being reclaimed from former industrial land, had asked that the hotel should not be used for that purpose in future.

Rotherham Council had also asked the Home Office to avoid using it for asylum seeker accommodation in future and recently they confirmed that was the case.

The future of the building remains unknown.