A yob who was caught on camera stopping cars and asking the drivers ‘Are you white? Are you English?’ during the recent protests is now facing a lengthy jail term.
Jake Wray, 23, is said to have played a ‘leading role’ in the anti-immigration disorder in Middlesbrough on Sunday, August 4.
At a previous hearing prosecutors said he was arrested for stopping vehicles at a road junction and grilling the drivers about their ethnicity.
Terrified motorists were only allowed to pass Wray’s checkpoint on Linthorpe Road if he was satisfied they were white.
Videos from the day of the protests on social media showed Wray shouting his questions at a driver when a car was trying to cross an intersection while hundreds marched around him.
Jake Wray, 23, is said to have played a ‘leading role’ in the anti-immigration disorder in Middlesbrough on Sunday, August 4
He was arrested for stopping vehicles at a road junction and grilling the drivers about their ethnicity, asking them: ‘Are you white? Are you English?’
The ‘checkpoint’ was set up on Linthorpe road in Middlesbrough amid spiralling violence
Videos from the day of the protests on social media showed Wray shouting his questions at a driver when a car was trying to cross an intersection while hundreds marched
‘Yes, he is!’ someone else was heard shouting back.
Two cars narrowly avoided colliding as they sped away from the mob, prompting one of the agitators to whine he had ‘nearly been run over’ and calling out ‘where’s your police?’
Rows of officers wielding riot shields were seen near the commotion as thugs circled on BMXs and continued stopping cars, standing in the middle of the road.
Wray appeared briefly before a judge today to plead guilty to a single charge of violent disorder.
He was also accused of setting fire to a wheelie bin which was then pushed into a line of riot police trying to quell the disorder by forming a line across Linthorpe Road, the main route into the town centre.
However after reviewing evidence prosecutors decided not to proceed on that charge.
Appearing via video link from HMP Nottingham, Wray, from Middlesbrough, admitted his guilt and also that he was in contravention of a suspended sentence order imposed on April 12 of this year.
Wray, from Middlesbrough, appeared via video link from HMP Nottingham and admitted his guilt. He also that he was in contravention of a suspended sentence order imposed on April 12 of this year
Wray’s partner Megan Davison, 24, and her mother Amanda Walton, 54, have also been charged with violent disorder and will appear in court later today
MIDDLESBROUGH: A car burns on Parliament Road after it was set alight by far-right thugs
MIDDLESBROUGH: Police raced off with far-right agitators on Parliament Road on August 4
At a previous hearing before magistrates, prosecutor Michael Embleton said: ‘He was heavily involved in the disorder and plays a leading role in my view.’
Wray’s partner Megan Davison, 24, and her mother Amanda Walton, 54, are also charged with violent disorder and will appear before the same court to enter pleas later today.
Judge Francis Laird, KC, told Wray: ‘You have pleaded guilty to violent disorder. I need to know a little more about you and particularly how you have progressed on the current suspended sentence order.
‘Obviously as you were told when that order was imposed you are at risk of having that sentence activated as well as any sentence that is appropriate for this offence of violent disorder.’
He was remanded in custody to face sentence on September 18.
Elsewhere in Middlesbrough on the day of the riot, far-right groups torched cars and hurled bricks.
MIDDLESBROUGH: Cars were set on fire and objects thrown at police in riots Sunday, August 4
MIDDLESBROUGH: Riots devastated a number of towns and cities across the UK beginning on July 30
The ‘staggering’ surge of violence led to 43 people being arrested in Middlesbrough on that day, police said.
Buses had to change their schedules to avoid the disorder.
About 300 people gathered in front of a mosque in Waterloo Road in the town to guard it while police blocked off nearby streets.
A person was seen being stretchered into an ambulance after an incident at the Swatters Carr pub.
Police in riot gear were forced to retreat to get away from a group dressed in hoods and face coverings at one point.
Rioters smashed the windows of houses and cars and hurled objects at officers, with one seen shouting a racial slur and another telling police: ‘It’s our f****** country.’
There was significant damage to the crown court, the university and a number of properties in the Parliament Road area.
