Man who "shouted a tirade of racist and homophobic slurs" is jailed

Men jailed for ‘widespread orchestrated disorder’ in Plymouth.

Three men, including one from the South Hams, have today been jailed for a total of six years and six months for their roles in violent disorder in Plymouth city centre on Monday night, 5 August.

Michael Williams, 51, of Blacklands Close, Sparkwell, Daniel McGuire, 45, of Crescent Avenue, Plymouth, and 29-year-old Lucas Ormond Skeaping, of Warran Lane, Tavistock, all pleaded guilty to violent disorder at a court hearing on Wednesday.

L-R: Daniel McGuire, Michael Williams and Lucas Ormond Skeaping have been jailed - credit Devon & Cornwall Police 

At Plymouth Crown Court today, 8 August, the trio were jailed by His Honour Judge Linford who condemned their behaviour as “acts of deliberate violence”, adding that “the word goes out from this court - we don’t want you here behaving in this way.”

Williams was jailed for two years and eight months, McGuire for two years and two months and Ormond Skeaping for 18 months.

A total of 150 police officers were deployed to two protests on Royal Parade linked to violent disorder across UK cities and towns this week. As the evening progressed, violence began to break out.

The court heard that Williams was seen to assault another man by kicking him in the leg. When arrested he shouted a tirade of racist and homophobic slurs, and threats at officers. When he was searched they found a stone tucked under the cuff of his trousers.

McGuire had been given a Section 35 dispersal order and told not to return by officers after he displayed aggressive behaviour. He did return however, repeatedly spitting and swearing at police. He was warned on many occasions to stop and was pushed back by officers as he continued to approach the police line.

Judge Linford described the night’s events as "widespread orchestrated disorder" in which McGuire and Williams played their roles "willingly and enthusiastically". He told them: “Thugs like you descended on our city and ran amok.”

Ormond Skeaping involved himself in the violence by throwing a rock and a drink bottle that had landed in front of him. He filmed his actions on his own GoPro camera which officers recovered as evidence. He was later seen on CCTV to knock a teenager off his bike using a helmet.

The judge told him that he should have walked away from the violence instead of choosing to involve himself in the "ugly incident".

All the defendants showed remorse and the court heard that in police interview they admitted they were appalled by their own behaviour.

Following sentence, Assistant Chief Constable Nikki Leaper said: “We welcome the sentences that have been passed today for these serious crimes, which reinforce that violence will not be tolerated here.

“The actions that we saw on Monday do not represent our wider community and I’d like to thank the public for their ongoing support with intelligence, imagery and footage being shared with us daily.

“While we have no intelligence to suggest further disorder at this time, we are working around the clock to assess the credibility of reports coming in. Please be assured that we will share information with our communities as soon as possible if this changes.”