A judge has jailed a woman for the part she played in last year’s Bristol riot despite hearing she had mental health issues and had run out of medication.
Jasmine York, 26, was given a nine-month sentence for pushing a bin into a burning police car during the disturbance, which followed a “kill the bill” protest.
York, who was struck by police batons and bitten by a police dog, was cleared by a jury of the more serious charge of riot but convicted of arson.
During a sentencing hearing on Monday, Bristol crown court heard York, from Brislington, Bristol, had been diagnosed with emotionally unstable personality disorder and had longstanding issues with drugs and alcohol.
Her barrister, Russell Fraser, said she regretted what she had done and asked for her sentence to be suspended.
But Judge James Patrick said he would be failing in his public duty if he did not impose an immediate custodial sentence. He highlighted that after pushing the bin at a police vehicle she warned: “We will burn your fucking cars.”
The judge told York: “You played your part in continuing the lawlessness. Your actions made a difficult situation even worse. There is no issue that you didn’t know what you were doing.
“Your offending played a part in a very serious incident and caused very serious damage to public and private property and was very difficult to police.”
York is the 15th person to be convicted over the trouble, which took place outside Bridewell police station, on 21 March 2021. Those found guilty have been jailed for a total of almost 60 years.
Avon and Somerset police were criticised by some activists at this riot and subsequent “kill the bill” demonstrations for what they saw as heavy-handed tactics, with horses and dogs being used to disperse protesters.
After the hearing, a spokesperson for the Bristol anti-repression campaign said: “The repression following kill the bill protests has been harsh … We see Jasmine’s sentencing as part of the broader political repression following the demonstrations.”
