Kill the Bill Bristol: Four detained for rioting, one jailed for urinating on police

Four men have been handed custodial terms for rioting and another person has been jailed for urinating on police after Bristol's Kill the Bill protest.

Hundreds descended on Bridewell Police Station on 21 March, where windows were smashed and vehicles torched.

Kane Adamson, 21, Brandon Lloyd, 21, and Stuart Quinn, 46, of Bristol, and Kain Simmonds, 18, of Birmingham, were all sentenced to more than three years.

Yasmin Schneider, 25, of Bristol, was jailed for five months.

During Friday's sentencing at Bristol Crown Court, the hearing was told the largely peaceful protest against the government's Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill was hijacked by people who used it for criminal intent.

Schneider had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to two counts of outraging public decency for urinating on police officers' feet and was taken down to the cells in tears.

Adamson, Lloyd, Quinn and Simmonds all admitted one count of riot at earlier hearings.

Lloyd was jailed for three years and 11 months, while Adamson will serve three years and six months. Quinn and Simmonds were both sentenced to three years and three months, with Simmonds to serve his sentence in a young offenders' institution.

The incident "brought widespread shame on the city" and the scenes made headlines across the world, said Richard Posner, prosecuting.

The court was played footage from body-worn cameras and CCTV as "police found themselves to be the target of the riot".

Statements from police officers on duty included one describing "saying goodbye to her children" in her head and another saying felt he "wouldn't be going home tonight".

One officer, who was trapped in a police van, said he had to choose whether to stay in his burning vehicle or get out and face being dragged into the crowd, the court heard.

The court was also played footage of an officer having his helmet ripped off, being dragged to the floor and stamped on.

In total, 44 officers were assaulted and 39 injured, with the cost of the damage estimated to be just under £250,000, the court was told.

Judge James Patrick told the five offenders they had "dehumanised" police officers.

"Some thought they would die and some officers could not even speak about it to their families," he said.

"Officers were struck, spat on, kicked and punched, some whilst defenceless on the ground. It was fortunate some were not more seriously hurt."

It is believed these are the first riot convictions in the south west and the first nationally since the 2011 London riots.

Avon and Somerset Police said 75 people have now been arrested and a 14-year-old boy has attended a voluntary interview.

Ch Supt Carolyn Belafonte, head of investigations at the force, said: "I imagine all five may not have realised they were throwing part of their lives away and damaging their futures when they engaged in such behaviour.

"I hope the sentences they've received serve as a strong reminder that wanton violence will not be tolerated."

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