The pair were at the forefront of the disorder in Rotherham last August following the Southport attack
Scott McGuire (in bright orange t-shirt) as a woman and a man take cover as objects are thrown during an anti-immigration protest outside the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham, South Yorkshire.(Image: Danny Lawson/PA Wire)
Two brothers have each been jailed for three years for their part in rioting outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in the days following the Southport attack.
Scott and Jason McGuire, both of Schofield Street, Mexborough, were at the forefront of “the mob” which engulfed the Holiday Inn Express, near Rotherham, on August 4 2024, Sheffield Crown Court heard on Monday.
The siblings were jailed along with two other men – Keethan Reeve-Lawson and Daniel Kazemi – after all four admitted violent disorder.
The riots in the South Yorkshire town were a reaction to the brutal knife attack which took place at a dance school in Southport on July 29 last year.
Axel Rudakubana killed six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and nine-year-old Alice da Silva Aguia when he unleashed a stabbing spree at the Taylor Swift-themed event.
Ten others were injured in the horrific attack.
The riots which followed in Rotherham six days after those events manifested in a hotel housing asylum seekers becoming besieged for around 12 hours.
Police officers and the hotel itself were pelted with missiles as more than 200 people were trapped inside.
At one point, the rioters smashed their way into the building and a burning wheelie-bin was pushed against a fire door.
A total of 64 officers were injured in the violence along with police horses and a dog.
In court on Monday, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC said it was his “misfortune” to have sentenced most of those arrested after the disorder and said he was very familiar with video footage of the violence.
Scott McGuire. (Image: South Yorkshire Police/PA Wire )
He described how Scott McGuire was captured arriving at the scene with what appeared to be his partner and a child in a pushchair.
He was later pictured in the mob at various times during the disorder and is seen dismantling safety barriers in front of the riot police as well as kicking items which were then thrown at the officers by others.
The judge said: “You were involved in fierce attacks on police officers close to the hotel.
“You were well to the fore and your participation was of a high order.”
Jason McGuire. (Image: South Yorkshire Police/PA Wire )
Judge Richardson said Jason McGuire was filmed throwing missiles at officers and a police van as well as at the hotel building, while wearing a mask.
He was also filmed tearing down fencing which was used by others to throw at the police lines and fuel the fire which was set outside the building.
The judge said: “Your involvement was well to the fore in the most serious aspects of the episodes that afternoon.”
Reeve-Lawson and Kazemi each received 22 months in jail after the court heard how they were involved in later incidents once police had managed to push the mob away from immediately outside the hotel.
The sentencing of the four men today is understood to have brought the total number of people sentenced for the Rotherham violence to 104.