Six convicted of violence on Leeds estate

Six men have been convicted of disorderly conduct following violence that broke out on a Leeds estate.

Police officers were pelted with rocks, bottles and fireworks during unrest in the Halton Moor area on November 7 and 8, 2020.

Trouble initially flared when a group of young people targeted a family who had moved into a property on Kendal Drive.

Six men aged between 20 and 26 were convicted at Leeds Crown Court on Friday for crimes including violent disorder and arson.

The court heard they descended on the Kendal Drive address and the family’s car was attacked and set on fire.

When West Yorkshire Police attended, stones were thrown by a group of between 30 and 40 youths.

An officer was taken to hospital after a rock hit the back of their head and damaged police vehicles.

The family’s home was also attacked and burglarized, with the windows smashed.

A dispersal order was issued and public order units were deployed to the scene, which came under rocket attack throughout the evening.

The following night, November 8, police vans were shot with rocks and fireworks around the intersection of Rathmell Road and Ullswater Crescent.

A garden gate was set on fire, as was a member of the public’s car.

CCTV and bodycam footage documented a total of 41 violations over the two nights.

An investigation into the disorder has made 39 arrests and has now convicted 22 people for their involvement.

Police said the investigation, called Operation Digmark, had cost “several hundreds of thousands of pounds”.

Between January 2021 and August last year, 13 young people and adults were convicted at hearings at Leeds Crown Court and Leeds Youth Court.

Six of the remaining nine were convicted at Leeds Crown Court on Friday:

• Calvin Smith, 26, of Wykebeck Avenue, Osmondthorpe, was sentenced to one year and nine months, suspended for 18 months, for violent disorder.
• James Anderson, 25, of Kendal Drive, Halton Moor, was sentenced to one year and five months, suspended for 18 months, with 150 hours unpaid work for violent disorder. He was ordered to pay £1,000 in compensation to the police officer who was hit by thrown objects.
• Kyle Saddington, 24, of Kendal Drive, Halton Moor, was sentenced to one year and five months, suspended for 18 months and given a six-month curfew for violent disorder.
• Morgan Thewlis, 24, of Forber Place, Halton Moor, was sentenced to 10 months, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work and pay £600 compensation for arson.
• Lewis Hamilton, 20, of Rathmell Road, Halton Moor, was given a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work for violent disorder.
• Brett Hamilton, 22, of Wykebeck Avenue, Osmondthorpe, was sentenced to a further six months for arson, on top of a prison sentence he is already serving.

Leeds District Commander Ch Supt Steve Dodds said: “The ugly scenes seen on the streets of Halton Moor on those two nights were truly horrific and caused understandable fear and anxiety in the local community.

“While it is the role of police officers to deal with challenging situations, I never underestimate how disturbing it would have been if all the officers involved had been the target of mob violence.”

He added that the investigation had been “meticulous” over four years and that the majority of those involved had been brought to justice.

However, Ch Supt Dodds believed the disorder was the “opportunistic actions of a minority of local young people” and not a reflection of life in Halton Moor.

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