Nevey Smith was with her own mum and her toddler son in a pushchair when she got involved in the riot outside the Holiday Inn in Manchester
A “naive” young mother who put her own toddler son at risk by taking him to a riot at a migrant hotel, has been spared jail.
Nevey Smith put the 20-month-old boy in a pushchair before becoming involved in the violent, large-scale disturbance at the Holiday Inn, in Manchester, on July 31. Smith, who was accompanied by mother, was taking her son to see her grandmother when she spotted a crowd of people outside the hotel.
Magistrates previously heard she threw liquid at police when she “lost her temper” after two asylum seekers were seen going inside. Manchester Crown Court heard how the protest had been planned on Facebook earlier that day and during the disorder racial abuse was directed towards the hotel and missiles thrown at police officers, including glass bottles, bricks and eggs.
One hotel resident was injured after glass was thrown at him, causing cuts to his arm, and while “he’d come to the country to feel safe” he no longer did so. A bus was attacked and damaged, forcing passengers to flee, and one rioter then tried to force his way on board.
Smith was captured on CCTV throwing a liquid at police and a hotel resident who was being escorted through the grounds. Other photographs showed her pushing her child in the pram as the riot took place which happened in a “busy public area” where vulnerable people and other children were present.
Smith was arrested after later handing herself in at a police station. She previously admitted a charge of violent disorder when she appeared before magistrates in August when she was said she was “deeply sorry” for her actions.
Daniel Calder, defending, said Smith was of previous good character and had no previous convictions and she’d pleaded guilty at the first opportunity. He said Smith, of Failsworth, was a single mother who did not “set out” to get involved in the disorder and had been on the way to her grandmother’s with her mother at the time but had “foolishly” gone towards the crowd as she recognised some of the people.
“She allowed herself to be drawn in and to behave in the way that’s seen on the CCTV footage and described by the Crown,” Mr Calder said. He added that she had little understanding of the “wider issues” surrounding the violence and did no display any “discriminatory attitudes’.
Another “striking feature”, Mr Calder said, was the fact she didn’t even know what the term asylum seeker meant. He added that she had “unhappy history” with her ex-partner which had impacted her mental health and forced her out of her home.
Judge Field KC said that and “extraordinary and concerning” feature of the case was Smith’s decision to get involved in the trouble while pushing her 20-month-old child in a pushchair. “What on earth were you thinking?” he said. “I doubt very much you had his safety and well-being in mind.”
He said there was no evidence Smith was motivated by racism and she’d got involved because she was “misguided, naive and immature.” Nevertheless, she had taken part in a “serious” incident, during which other’s violence had caused “fear”.
The judge handed Smith a community order, which means she will have to attend regular reviews at the women’s problem-solving court and carry out 100 hours of unpaid work, and she will also pay a surcharge.
