A “hardworking family man” will miss the birth of his child after he was jailed for launching missiles at a police van during mob violence which broke out after a vigil in Southport. Dylan Carey’s pregnant girlfriend burst into tears in the public gallery as he was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court to 18 months in prison after he earlier admitted violent disorder. Carey, 26, from Hindley, travelled to the Merseyside town on July 30 with his girlfriend, Natasha Keenan, to lay flowers and light a candle a day after three girls were fatally stabbed at a dance class.
Widespread disorder involving a group of about 1,000 people started after the vigil ended with the focus of violence aimed at a local mosque and fuelled by misinformation on social media, Liverpool Crown Court heard. Chants of “who the f*** is Allah?” and “this is our f****** country” were heard as police officers came under fire from missiles as they formed a cordon to prevent the group from reaching the mosque. CCTV footage was played to the court which showed Carey, wearing black shorts, a grey T-shirt and black cap, twice fly-kicking a police van and hurling a bottle and a tin of paint at the vehicle.
On Monday, prosecutor Nardeen Nemat said CCTV and mobile phone footage of the incident was shown “quite quickly” online on X, formerly Twitter, and other social media platforms. A police officer at Southport railway station was shown the footage and stopped Carey about an hour later at 9.05pm when.