Two people were sentenced for their involvement in violent disorder outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Rotherham last year. 19-year-old Elarna Garner-Abbey, who is pregnant, received a sentence of 18 months in a youth detention centre, while 22-year-old Philip Wood was sentenced to two years behind bars.
00:00A pregnant woman will not be spared prison after the court ruled that her involvement in the manvers disorder that rocked communities in Rosarim last year was so severe that she must face immediate imprisonment.
00:1019-year-old Alana Garner-Abby appeared for sentencing at Sheffield Crown Court today after having previously pleaded guilty to the disorder.
00:18Judge Jeremy Richardson described the case as extremely complicated as he balanced issues relating to her age, maturity, mental health issues and indeed pregnancy.
00:27Defence argued that Miss Garner had built a new and more stable life since the riot outside the Holiday Inn Express in Rosarim last August and was in a relationship with a new partner in the West Midlands.
00:37Yet the severity of her actions, which included hurling missiles at police, led the court to decide that a suspended sentence was not an option.
00:44She has been sentenced to 18 months in a youth detention centre.
00:48Her ex-partner, 22-year-old Philip Wood, who she lived with in a tent near Med Hall at the time of the riot, was also sentenced for his involvement immediately after.
00:57Wood wore a face covering to the disorder, stoked a fire near to the hotel and threw missiles towards police, including some at a close range.
01:04He also pleaded guilty to violent disorder in a previous hearing.
01:08Defence informed the court that Wood has an IQ of only 51, putting him in the moderate learning disability range.
01:13He is also a care leaver, who in the words of Judge Richardson, was passed from pillar to post.
