Former pro boxer named 'The Beast' jailed for part in Rotherham asylum seeker riots after attacking police van
16 September 2024, 20:23 | Updated: 16 September 2024, 20:48
A former professional boxer known as 'The Beast' has been jailed for his involvement in a mob which attacked a police van outside a hotel housing asylum seekers.
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Luke Crowcroft, 30, from Doncaster, was jailed for two years and six months at Sheffield Crown Court on Monday.
The court heard how Crowcroft was part of a group which tried to overturn a police van outside the Holiday Inn Express, in Manvers, Rotherham, on August 4, leaving those inside terrified.
The barrister representing Crowcroft told the court the defendant was a successful boxer from an early age, represented his country as an amateur and later became the youngest professional.
Ed Moss, defending, said it was "just bizarre" to everyone who knows him that he got involved in the violence as he "is a man who, all of his life, has been disciplined."
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Mr Moss said: "It is simply not in his nature. It is just bizarre to everyone who knows him why he was there and doing what he did. Out of character simply doesn't do it justice".
He said Crowcroft was devoted to the 15-year-old son of his partner, who has a number of problems, and the defendant is a key part of his care.
He said: "He wishes me, on his behalf, to apologise to everybody - to the court, to the police, to his own family."
Judge Sarah Wright was shown video footage of how the police dog van was violently rocked by a group outside the hotel.
The court was told how there was a chief inspector and a Pc inside, as well as a dog, and a statement from the junior officer outlined how he was terrified the vehicle was going to be overturned and set on fire.
The incident was part of wider rioting outside the hotel which left 64 officers, three police dogs and a horse injured.
There were 240 asylum seekers in hotel, which protesters tried to set on fire, and the court has heard how staff barricaded themselves in the kitchen with freezers, fearing they would die.
According to boxing data available on the internet, middleweight Crowcroft was nicknamed The Beast and had 14 bouts, with 11 wins. He turned professional in 2012 and his last fight was in 2018.
Crowcroft admitted violent disorder at a previous hearing.
Judge Wright also jailed 19-year-old Ashley Lowe on Monday after she heard how he took part in various aspects of the disorder, including entering the hotel building after a fire door had been smashed-in.
The court heard how Lowe, who was 18 at the time, was first caught on camera pulling down fencing which was then used by the mob to throw at police and fuel the fire in a bin outside the fire door.
He was then seen going into the hotel for a short period before confronting officers outside as they came under a barrage of missiles.
In one piece of footage Lowe, of North Street, Darfield, is heard shouting "Oi! Charge!".
Clarkson Baptiste, defending, told the judge: "He said he went along because there was nothing else to do.
"There was no reason for him to be there. It was the biggest mistake he's made in his life."
Lowe was jailed for two years and two months.
