Ardoyne rioter’s sentence reduced
A north Belfast man who threw a petrol bomb during riots in Ardoyne in July 2010 has been told he will serve 12 months of his four year sentence because of mental health issues.
Hugh Booth has been ordered to spend three years on licence following his release as Belfast Crown Court Judge Tom Burgess said medical reports indicated any lengthy prison term could worsen his condition.
Booth, from the Cliftonville Road in north Belfast, is the last of 26 defendants who were arrested following hours of rioting between police and hundreds of people at the Ardoyne shop fronts on 12 July 2010.
Thousands of pounds worth of damage was caused during eight hours of disturbances in the area, during which bricks, stones, bottles and petrol bombs were launched at police.
The 26-year-old pleaded guilty to rioting and to throwing a petrol bomb and was seen on CCTV footage playing an “active and persistent” role, initially as part of the sit-down protest but then attacking a police land rover, trying to open the rear doors and throwing bricks at it.
On Wednesday, Judge Burgess said had he sentenced Booth last July as planned, he would have jailed him for four years given the fact that the petrol bomb is a “potentially lethal weapon”, but that pre-sentence probation and other psychiatric reports evidenced previously undiagnosed psychiatric issues.
The reports showed that from the age of 19, Booth had been hearing “voices in his head,” had endured numerous bouts of self-harm and attempted suicide and inpatient treatment.
The judge said that since being remanded in prison, Booth’s condition had stabilised with medication and a supportive structure and that while he was assessed as a medium risk of re-offending, he did not pose and significant risk to members of the public.
Describing the case as an “exceptional set of circumstances,” Judge Burgess adding that in his view, “I am satisfied that the defendant’s general mental health is not best served by an extended period of custody”.
He told Booth however that while on his three year licence programme, “it is incumbent on him to engage in this work” and warned him that “any failure… will lead to his licence being revoked and to him being returned to prison for the protection of the public.”
