Heart-stopping footage from inside a hotel which was attacked by a baying mob outside during the recent UK riots has been shared for the first time.
The video shows rioters trying to tip over a police van, while balaclava clad thugs stormed their way inside a Holiday Inn in Rotherham during violence on August 4.
In one shocking scene a man wearing a balaclava can be seen pointing at the cameraman, who was one of a number of asylum seekers staying at the venue, and making a gesture slitting his throat.
And the person who filmed the video has revealed the terrifying moment masked men gathered outside the door to his room threatening to attack him before being chased away by police.
It comes as yet more people were locked up today for their part in the disorder that spread across English cities earlier this month in the aftermath of the Southport stabbings.
A balaclava-clad man makes a slit throat gesture at an asylum seeker during a riot outside the Holiday Inn in Rotherham on August 4
Rioters were also seen trying to tip over a police van during the violence two weeks ago
Violent thugs tried to set a hotel reported to be housing asylum seekers on fire and blocked the emergency exits in Rotherham on August 4
A police dog handler during the far-right demonstration outside the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham
During the incident in Rotherham at least one guest in the hotel was physically attacked and repeatedly punched until police were able to clear the floor, it is claimed.
The man who filmed footage from inside the hotel, an Iraqi Kurd called Abdullah, told the BBC that he was left fearing he was about to be killed during the disturbing outbreak of violence.
He told the broadcaster that those inside the building, which included members of staff, were left stranded and ‘scared’.
He said: ‘All the time, all the people saying [outside were saying]: ‘Come outside. We will kill you if you come outside’.
Abdullah, who claims to have arrived in Britain four months ago in a small boat from France, that the windows in his room were smashed and as objects were set on fire by the rioters he was left unable to breathe.
He said: ‘We think ‘today, we will die’. Outside of my room, I saw five people with masks, black masks.’
He said that one of the men shouted ‘come to me’ before a police officer came and moved them away, adding he is ‘still scared’ to go outside weeks after the riot.
Police in Rotherham have released new images of 14 men they wish to speak to in connection with a riot in Rotherham that saw a Holiday Inn Express being used to house asylum seekers stormed by thugs.
South Yorkshire Police says its investigation into the disturbance on August 4, which saw the hotel stormed, its windows smashed and fires set as looters went hunting for immigrants to attack.
Disturbing videos from the scene showed masked men shouting and threatening to slit asylum seekers’ throats, while other images appeared to show thugs setting fires before blocking emergency exits, terrifying residents and staff.
More than 50 police officers were left injured as a result of the riot, which saw windows smashed in and asylum seekers fearing for their lives as the mob, whipped up by far-right rhetoric online, sought to storm the hotel.
South Yorkshire Police is hunting suspects in the Rotherham riots that saw thugs attempt to storm a hotel
Hundreds of people were involved in the disturbance, which targeted a hotel housing around 200 asylum seekers
At least one guest in the hotel was physically attacked and repeatedly punched until police were able to clear the floor
A number of convictions have already been secured following earlier appeals by South Yorkshire Police after the August 4 incident
South Yorkshire Police has said its investigation continues ‘at pace’. It has vowed to find all of those involved in violent disorder or rioting
More than 50 police officers were left injured as a result of the riot, which saw windows smashed in and asylum seekers fearing for their lives
Some of the images in the appeal have been derived from CCTV. Others appear to have been extracted directly from police officers’ bodyworn cameras
Some scrawled aggressive graffiti on its walls, writing ‘scum’ and ‘get out England’ while others set bins alight and hurled them at hotel windows.
Several people have already been convicted in connection with the deeply disturbing incident, which prompted Sir Keir Starmer to label the incident and others like it in the wake of the Southport stabbings ‘far-right thuggery’.
The riots were stoked as misinformation about the Southport stabbing suspect circulated online – claiming, falsely, that he was a Muslim asylum seeker and giving a fake name.
It was shared by a number of high-profile far right figures online and a Russian-affiliated ‘news’ website.
Combined with long-driven rhetoric that blamed asylum seekers for the problems facing many Brits – from the cost of living to the struggle to find a house – it was the spark that lit a years-old powder keg.
Axel Rudakubana, an 18-year-old born in Cardiff and living in Banks, Lancashire, has been charged with murdering Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine.
He has also been charged with 10 counts of attempted murder and possession of an offensive weapon.
Prosecutors have been swift in acting on rioters who have terrified locals in towns and cities across the country in the wake of the July 29 stabbings, with 460 people having appeared in court over the riots and at least 99 already sentenced.
More than 300 people have appeared in court since last week, according to Ministry of Justice figures.
Convictions continue to pour in as many of those involved in the widespread disorder made guilty pleas at the earliest opportunity, ensuring sentencing would be swift.
Some, however, have entered not guilty pleas meaning their cases will proceed to a full trial.
Today a yob who was pictured looting a branch of cosmetics chain Lush while wearing a ‘distinctive’ England flag T-shirt during riots in Hull was jailed for 56 months.
John Honey has been jailed for more than four and a half years after admitting looting shops in Hull including an O2 phone store
He was also seen raiding a branch of beauty shop Lush – carrying bath bomb gift sets and even a selection of other goods in a carrier bag
He was also seen trying to wrench open the door of the BMW as it was attacked by other rioters
John Honey, 25, helped attack a BMW carrying three Romanian men alongside David Wilkinson, 48, another member of the ‘baying mob’ who has been jailed for six years.
And 45-year-old Paul Williams has been jailed for 26 months after threatening riot police while hurling metal fencing and hurling a can of beer at them.
The tougher sentences come after a second person was charged with the tougher charge of rioting rather than violent disorder – a more serious offence for which sentences of up to 10 years can be imposed.
Honey – labelled ‘Britain’s most shameless rioter’ for the way he gormlessly looted a beauty shop – also admitted targeting a garage, leaving nine vehicles damaged, and pushing bins at police lines during the disorder on August 3.
Honey pleaded guilty to violent disorder and three charges of burglary at Lush, an O2 store and Shoezone.
He also admitted racially aggravated criminal damage over the BMW incident, and damaging nine other cars during an attack on a garage.
The court previously heard that Honey boasted to one shop employee he was ‘famous and all over social media’, as images of his looting spree went viral.
He was described in a letter written by the officer to a judge as ‘over-confident’ and someone who ‘presented with no remorse’.
Footage of the BMW incident showed Honey pulling the passenger door open as a man inside tried to close it to protect himself.
Three Romanian occupants of the car got out with their hands raised in a gesture of surrender and fled to a nearby hotel, the court heard.
The driver said he feared for his life after more than 100 ‘angry’ men attempted to drag him from the car, punched him in the head and attempted to strike him with a metal bar.
At a previous hearing, the court was played footage of Honey looting soap store Lush, where he could be seen taking one of its branded bags and walking around the shop filling it with products.
A victim impact statement from the manager of the Lush store said the incident had ‘massively impacted’ the staff, some of whom ‘cannot bring themselves to come back to the store as they are frightened it will happen again’.
The probation officer also detailed how Honey had described how he ‘went into Greggs to have a drink as the pepper spray made him thirsty’.
A sentencing hearing earlier in the week was adjourned after a prison probation officer said Honey had asked him ‘if he wanted his autograph because he was famous’.
The court was told that his moment of bravado could have undermined Honey’s claim of being ‘genuinely remorseful’.
But after hearing that Honey had developmental issues due to his ‘difficult start in life’, Judge John Thackray KC said his alleged comment ‘does not have the significance it would otherwise have’.
The judge told Honey: ‘I’m not going to hear any evidence about comments which you may or may not have made in the prison setting.
‘I’m not going to give them any relevance. If your defence say that there is now genuine remorse, I’ll accept that submission.’
John Honey’s (left) and David Wilkinson’s (right) mugshots after they were snared by Humberside Police
Paul Williams, 45, was jailed for two years and two months after threatening riot police during what a judge called an ‘orgy of mindless destruction, violence and disorder’
Newcastle Crown Court was told Williams had only nipped into the city centre for a takeaway
Wilkinson was jailed for six years – the toughest sentence yet – after admitting he played a ‘prominent role’ in the violence and disorder in Hull.
At other points during the day of disorder, Wilkinson spat, threw missiles and pushed wheelie bins at a police line protecting a hotel known to house asylum seekers.
He appeared to be holding nunchucks – a martial arts weapon – at one point, it was said.
Meanwhile, lawyers for shirtless riot yob Paul Williams A 45-year-old man who was at the ‘forefront’ of an ‘orgy of mindless destruction, violence and disorder’ in Sunderland had only popped into the city centre to collect a takeaway, a court has heard.
Paul Williams, 45, was jailed for two years and two months on Friday by a judge who heard how he threw metal fencing and a can of beer at police after goading officers during the rioting in the city on August 2.
Newcastle Crown Court was shown video of Williams, of Esdale, Sunderland, acting aggressively towards lines of police during the widespread disorder.
The court heard how Williams shouted ‘put your shields down and let’s go, let’s f****** go’ and took his shirt off as he squared up to police, running at the line of riot shields.
Sophie Allinson, defending, said her client had not been aware of any protest and had gone into Sunderland city centre to collect takeaway food after a spot of gardening in the sun.
Ms Allinson said her client’s ‘moment of madness’ was down to having drunk eight cans of lager and pointed out that, earlier in the afternoon, he had been chatting with police officers, sharing his disgust at the mayhem which was escalating.
She said it was ‘utterly bizarre’ that he then ‘changed his behaviour in the most disgraceful fashion’, becoming the ‘front-runner’ of the mob.
The barrister said her client, who admitted violent disorder, has no political opinions around immigration and was ‘entirely unaware of the basis of what started this’.
Judge Paul Sloan KC said Williams was part of ‘an orgy of mindless destruction, violence and disorder’.
Firefighters tackle a fire in Sunderland after a Citizens Advice office was torched by thugs
A Shoezone store was also devastated by rioters – who had originally taken to the streets under the pretence of protecting children in the wake of the Southport stabbings
A car burns in Sunderland town centre following the riots. Many arrests have been made in the days since the shameful disorder
He noted that the defendant’s behaviour appeared to spur on the rest of the mob, saying it was ‘clearly inflaming the situation the square’, especially after he removed his shirt.
The judge rejected Ms Allinson’s submissions that her client’s prison sentenced should be suspended due to the caring responsibilities he has for his son.
The tough sentences came as a second riot charge was brought by police – leaving violent disorder suspects across the country awaiting news on whether they will be accused of the more serious offence.
Judge John Thackray KC said prosecutors should look at charging people with riot instead of violent disorder – which carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison rather than five.
He said during a sentencing hearing at Hull Crown Court this week: ‘The prosecution do need to look, for those who are playing front and central roles, at the alternative charge of riot rather than violent disorder.’
