STORY
Reece Robinson has been jailed for two years after admitting violent disorder during protests in Southampton following the murder of Henry Nowak. Robinson, 21, of Havant, was sentenced at Southampton Crown Court after the court heard that he threw bricks during disorder in the Portswood area on 2 June.
The protest had followed public anger over the police handling of the death of Nowak, an 18-year-old student who had been murdered by Vickrum Digwa. What began as a demonstration later descended into violence, with police officers surrounded by a crowd throwing projectiles. Robinson was among several people charged after the disorder.
Judge William Mousley described the violence as a hate crime “borne out of a hatred for police and in some part racist views”. Prompt sentencing was possible because the Public Order Act 1986, introduced under Margaret Thatcher’s Government, created the offence of violent disorder and gave police and prosecutors a clear legal route to charge those involved in group violence.