Seven sentenced for Ely riots – live updates from court

The third day of a sentencing hearing of 30 people involved in the Ely riots has heard how one of the defendants was a “stone and missile thrower” during the initial escalation.

Matthew Cobbe, prosecuting, has told the two-week sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court how McKenzie Pring arrived at the scene shortly after the collision and watched from a short distance until the disorder began to escalate.

“He became involved in the first flurry of stone throwing, gathered stones from a nearby garden, and threw them at police,” Mr Cobbe told a busy courtroom on Wednesday morning as footage of Pring’s involvement was played to the court.

Pring was arrested and made no comment at police interview. The court heard he has two previous convictions for offences including of section 20 and section 18 assaults, possession of an offensive weapon, possession of a knife and possession of cannabis.

In mitigation Andrew Taylor said his client Pring should have 20% credit for his guilty plea. The barrister highlighted the defendant was 18 at the time of the riots and was a “good friend” of Kyrees Sullivan and Harvey Evans, whose deaths while riding an electric bike through the streets of Ely sparked the ensuing riots on May 22, 2023.

The two young boys were involved in a fatal collision and were later pronounced dead at the scene. Around 150 people attended the riot which saw hours of violence and vandalism take place on the streets on and near Wilson Road in the west Cardiff suburb.

Moments after the collision large crowds consisting of members of the close-knit community of Ely came out to witness the horror as it unfolded. Shock and sadness quickly turned to distress and anger at how the police were handling the scene and as rumours circulated online that the police were responsible for the death of Kyrees and Harvey, who had previously been pursued by a police van.

The mothers of the two teenagers attempted to run to their children, grief-stricken and in desperation, but their path was blocked by the police. After the deaths of Kyrees and Harvey had been confirmed the boys remained lying dead on the floor.

The trials of the rioters at Cardiff Crown Court last year heard police officers set up a cordon to protect the scene. As time went on a larger proportion of the crowd became hostile towards the police with that hostility quickly escalating to the point the police were facing a flat-out riot.

Hundreds of officers were directed to assist colleagues as missiles were thrown from the crowd including bottles, bricks, plasterboard, and fireworks. Cars parked in the street were rolled over and set alight, doors were taken off their hinges and thrown at officers, mattresses were set alight, and petrol bombs were thrown with one police officer engulfed in flames.

On Wednesday, defendants Jamie Jones, Jayden Westcott, and Lianna Tucker are also due to be sentenced in the morning before Keiron Beccano, Jordan Webster and Jasmine Smith in the afternoon.

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