Man who flipped police car during disorder jailed

A man who helped flip a police car during rioting in Leeds has been jailed for more than two years.

Daniel Constantin, 29, was part of a group of people who surrounded the vehicle in Harehills on 18 July, before overturning it.

It was one of several incidents of "mob violence" which broke out when trouble flared after four children were taken into care by social services, Leeds Crown Court was told.

Constantin, of Nowell Mount, Leeds, was jailed for two years and two months after he pleaded guilty to a charge of violent disorder.

The court was told, Constantin, a Romanian national, was captured on CCTV as part of a large crowd, many of whom were throwing missiles at the police.

Officers had been despatched to the area after what was described in court as an "aggressive" and "unjustified" reaction to council staff who were following orders from a family court.

Although it was said that the father-of-five did not throw any missiles himself, the Recorder of Leeds Guy Kearl QC said "he did not seek to disassociate" himself from the violent disorder.

As officers retreated from the scene, social media footage played to the court showed Constantin helping to rock police car, which was parked on Luxor Street, until it tipped.

The court was told Constantin left the UK a short time after the incident, but was arrested by police on his return when he flew into Luton Airport on 24 September.

Judge Kearl told Constantin he had set "an appalling example to your children".

Passing sentence he said: "This is not an individual matter because you participated in group or mob violence on that evening.

"Businesses were closed. People were frightened in their houses.

"Police officers do not go to work in order to be attacked or have their equipment destroyed."

The judge praised members of the Harehills community, who he said had later helped to "calm" the situation and clear up the debris.

Constantin is the fifth person to have been jailed in connection with the disorder which lasted for several hours and cost the taxpayer nearly £300,000 in policing resources and clean-up operations.

Ch Supt Steve Dodds said Constantin had helped cause "significant damage" to the vehicle, which had to be take out of service as a result.

He said the force was continuing to investigate the disorder and urged anyone with information about the events to come forward.

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