Gardener who took truckload of ‘ammunition’ to riot jailed

A self-employed gardener who drove a truckload of debris to a hotel where rioters were attacking police has been jailed.
Jake Turton was filmed arriving at the scene – close to the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham – in a Ford Ranger with wood and other scrap items on the back.
Footage from a police helicopter showed the rioters throwing items from the truck at officers.
Some of the wood was used to fuel fires around the hotel, which was housing hundreds of asylum seekers.
Prosecutors said he had driven his truck to the scene deliberately to provide ammunition and weapons, but Turton’s defence barristers said the rioters “helped themselves” to the wood and the defendant did not actively participate in the violence.
Turton, 38, of Darfield, Barnsley, previously pleaded guilty to violent disorder over the incident on 4 August.
He was jailed for two years and three months at Sheffield Crown Court.
He was found not guilty of another charge of taking a vehicle without consent.
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