An “overtly racist” man who stopped motorists to check they were white during the UK summer riots has been jailed for 38 months.
Jake Wray, 23, from Middlesbrough, admitted violent disorder in the town on 4 August, including trying to set a car on fire, racist chanting and pushing a flaming wheelie bin into police lines.
At the time of the riot, he was already serving a 24-week suspended sentence for spitting at a police officer and carrying a knife.
Judge Bennett, sentencing at Teesside crown court, told Wray: “[Your] behaviour was disgraceful and in no way reflects the values of the decent people of Middlesbrough.”
The judge said Wray’s offending was violent, “overtly racist” and included arson that day.
Wray, wearing a distinctive red top and an England flag around his shoulders, stopped cars at a junction in the town centre and was caught on mobile phone footage asking drivers about the colour of their skin.
On the clip, which was played in court, Wray stood blocking the traffic and could be heard asking: “Are you white, are you English?”
The judge said the incident was so shocking it was played on the national TV news.
Further clips showed him setting fire to a wheelie bin, which was pushed towards police lines, and helicopter video captured him interfering with a red hatchback, which minutes later burst into flames.
Wray had told police he was merely stopping cars to warn drivers, but he no longer stood by that account.
Bennett said: “You were clearly enjoying the attention and power of being masked during a frightening event for those drivers.”
A clip was played in court of Wray, with his England flag over his mouth as a mask, approaching a police video operator and shouting: “You can stick your chicken tikka up your arse. Tee-Tee-Teessiders.”
Harry Crowson, for the defence, said Wray initially denied the racial motive for stopping the cars “out of embarrassment and shame”.
Crowson said the defendant had repeatedly watched the clips in court over several hearings, adding: “In the cold light of day, he doesn’t even believe the things that came out of his mouth that day. He is quite appalled by it.”
Wray’s partner and her mother have also been jailed for violent disorder.
