Dylan Carey visited a peaceful vigil to lay flowers with his pregnant girlfriend before rioting in the town
Dylan Carey(Image: Merseyside Police)
A rioter who played a part in the violent disorder that unfolded in Southport last year has been released from prison just three months into his 18 month sentence.
Dylan Carey, of Castle Hill Road in Hindley, Greater Manchester, appeared in Liverpool Magistrates’ Court on August 6 where he pleaded guilty to violent disorder in Southport on July 30.
Carey had attended a vigil in the town centre earlier that evening with his pregnant girlfriend where they laid flowers in memory of Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine.
The vigil had been arranged following the deaths of the three schoolgirls in a mass stabbing at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class the day before.
Following the attack, which also injured eight children and two adults, false information was spread by online accounts. As a result, a protest was advertised for after a vigil, outside Southport Mosque on the corner of St Luke’s Road and Sussex Road which quickly descended into violence.
Prosecutor Joshua Sanderson-Kirk told the court during Carey’s hearing how police arrived outside the mosque on July 30. He said: “They became aware of a large crowd that was hostile, with approximately 200 people coming towards them.
Items were thrown towards the mosque. The crowd was chanting who the f*** is Allah. The crowd became more angry. Several were shouting ‘why are you protecting them?’.”
Dylan Carey throwing a missile during scenes of violent disorder in Southport
Mobile phone camera footage which was provided to Merseyside Police was played to the court. In the footage, Carey was seen in a grey t-shirt picking up an object and throwing it, then kicking a police van as it was driven away.
An officer’s body-worn camera meanwhile captures him kicking out at a stationary police van. Under interview following his arrest, he told detectives that he had “attended because his girlfriend attended the vigil to lay flowers and light a candle”.
Carey was remanded into custody before being sentenced on August 12 to 18 months in prison. He was told how he would miss the birth of his child but was released after just three months in prison.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice told the ECHO: ““Anyone released into Home Detention Curfew faces strict licence conditions and must be tagged. Those who break the rules face being returned to custody.”