Mother, 21, who brought her child to riot in a pushchair pleads guilty to violent disorder
14 August 2024, 12:42
A young mother who brought her child in a pushchair to a riot outside a hotel housing asylum seekers has pleaded guilty to violent disorder.
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Nevey Smith, 21, pushed her child in the pushchair as she joined a demonstration outside the hotel in Newton Heath, Manchester on July 31.
She threw water at police officers who were guarding the hotel.
Smith pleaded guilty to violent disorder at Manchester magistrates’ court on Monday.
Prosecutors said: “Footage shows her throwing liquid from a bottle towards police officers who were trying to maintain order.
“She had a child with her in a stroller.”
Smith’s lawyer said she had ‘lost her temper’ and ‘threw some water’.
Robert Moussalli, defending, added: “She was taking the child to her grandmother’s house when she saw her auntie standing with some people near to the hotel and went to talk to her.
“Then people started shouting and she moved to the front of the group and her auntie went to the back with the child. She wasn’t planning to do anything.”
The judge told her: “You put your own child at risk.”
She will be sentenced on August 19.
Her guilty plea comes as more arrests and charges were brought after the violent scenes that swept the country.
Dorset Police charged 40-year-old Kevin Searle, of Weymouth, with violent disorder and assault by beating of an emergency worker following a protest in Weymouth. He is due to appear at Poole Magistrates' Court later.
Two more people were charged following violent disorder in Bristol city centre on August 3, Avon and Somerset Police said.
Benjamin Tavener, 35, of Charfield, south Gloucestershire, was charged with violent disorder and is due to appear at Bristol Magistrates' Court later on Wednesday.
A 15-year-old boy was charged with violent disorder and is due to appear at court on Thursday.
Nottinghamshire Police released video footage of a 35-year-old man being arrested on suspicion of violent disorder in the Bestwood area of Nottingham at about 7am on Wednesday.
The suspect was wanted in connection a violent incident witnessed on Saturday August 3 at around 5.20pm, during a protest near Nottingham's Old Market Square.
A 19-year-old Asian male was punched several times by a white male, and other men then became involved in the altercation, throwing punches and kicks at the victim, police said.
