Prosecutor Kevin Wardlaw said the defendant tried to stand in front of a police car to stop it from moving, threw stones at officers protecting a local mosque and kicked out a riot shield before jumping up and down “imitating a boxer’s stance”.
A man who kicked out at police protecting a mosque and “whipped up” other young men to cause criminal damage during widespread disorder in Sunderland has been jailed for four years and eight months for riot.
The court heard Kirtley was a leading member of a group throwing beer barrels at police officers and was seen “whipping up” other young men and encouraging them to damage windows of buildings in the city’s Keel Square.
Mr Wardlaw said the defendant, who at one point covered his face with an England flag, was seen wandering around “telling police the Government is to blame for this”.
John Kirtley, 27, was initially charged with violent disorder for his role in the violence on August 2, but police later upgraded that to the more serious offence of riot.
