A couple who joined a protest outside a hotel in the wake of the Southport stabbings because they were “unhappy their taxes were being spent on housing asylum seekers” have both been jailed for 21 months. Colin Stonehouse, 36, and David Kirkbride, 28, turned up at the Holiday Inn Express in Tamworth on August 4 wearing matching football shirts with their initials on, and joined a crowd of hundreds of protesters who caused nearly £100,000 worth of damage to the hotel.
The pair spent around an hour at the scene, where others were throwing missiles including fireworks, a petrol bomb, bricks, chunks of concrete and lampposts at Staffordshire Police officers who were trying to protect staff and residents inside the hotel.
Prosecutor Daniel Moore told Stafford Crown Court on Thursday that the couple arrived at the hotel at around 6.30pm and were caught on CCTV and police body-worn camera footage in the crowd. Stonehouse was seen shouting abuse at police and raising his arms while Kirkbride held him back.
Mr Moore said the pair were “actively encouraging people to move forward” towards the police and Kirkbride was seen laughing when a firework exploded, chanting and asking police about his taxes being spent on those in the hotel. Stonehouse also shouted “we ain’t paying for them dickheads in there”.
