Two more men arrested after violence flared in Merseyside
Two more men have been arrested after violent disorder flared in Merseyside. It comes after violent scenes broke out in Southport, Walton and the city centre at the end of July and start of August.
In an update today, Thursday, October 24, a 33-year-old man and a 19-year-old man, both from Kirkdale, were arrested for violent disorder on County Road and released on bail. This brings the total arrests made so far to 138, with 94 people charged and 74 people sentenced to a total of 158 years and two months.
Last week, Shannon and Ben Gibson, aged 58 and 32, claimed they had driven 20 miles from Wigan to Southport to pay their respects following the deaths of three young girls - Bebe King, Alice Da Silva Aguiar and Elsie Dot Stancombe - in a mass stabbing on July 29 this year.
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But Merseyside's most senior judge, The Honorary Recorder of Liverpool, Andrew Menary KC, told the two men's counsel James Lefroy that he doubted their explanations after they joined a mob of over 1,000 people who gathered outside a mosque on St Luke's and Sussex Road on July 30. The court was played footage of the riot which showed offenders attacking a line of police officers around the mosque while chanting "Allah, Allah who the f*** is Allah".
Ben Gibson, of Almond Brook Road, Standish, had no previous convictions while his dad, of Beech Hill Avenue, Wigan, had three convictions for five offences, including two counts of assaulting a police officer. Both men previously appeared at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court the day after their arrests where they each pleaded guilty to one count of violent disorder.
The younger Gibson was sentenced to 32 months’ imprisonment. His dad Shannon was sentenced to 28 months’ imprisonment. The men, who were supported by a number of their family in court, did not react as they were led to the cells.