UK Riots 2011: Six Found Guilty Of Firebombing Canning Circus Police Station In Nottingham

Six Guilty Of Police Station Firebombing During Riots

Six people have been found guilty of firebombing a Nottingham police station during the 2011 summer's riots.

A jury at Nottingham Crown Court convicted Lance Francis, 25, of no fixed address, of riot, arson with intent to endanger life, and perverting the course of justice on Wednesday.

Shaundre Robinson, 22, of Scotholme Avenue, Hyson Green; Gregory Coleman, 20, of Bells Lane, Broxtowe; Callum Powell, 20, of Jarrow Gardens, Top Valley, and two youths, aged 16 and 17 who cannot be named for legal reasons, were all convicted of riot.

Six other people had already pleaded guilty to riot at an earlier hearing, while four others admitted taking part in violent disorder.

The six will be sentenced together at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday.

The trial followed arrests over an attack on Canning Circus police station just before 10pm on 9 August last year, which saw a number of petrol bombs thrown by a large group of people, intent on setting the building on fire, Nottinghamshire Police said.

Three police officers and three PCSOs were inside during the attack. No one was injured.

Petrol bombs were thrown at other passing vehicles, including a bus. The group also damaged a number of vehicles -some parked, some stationary at traffic lights – as they travelled to and from the police station.

In a police statement read out in court, Kaye Challinor said a man launched a lit bottle straight at her as she sat on the bus, which had stopped at a red light on Derby Road in Nottingham.

"He was looking at me the whole time. His eyes were fixed on me. I was absolutely petrified," the court heard.

The bottle "smashed into a pool of flames" near the man after it hit the bus and bounced back towards him.

The jury cleared a seventh person, Roxwell Yeaboah, 34, of a charge of riot on Wednesday.

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