Hartlepool teenager smashed restaurant window in Middlesbrough disorder

Dylan Willis, 18, joined a mob of over 1,000 people that rampaged through Middlesbrough town centre on August 4.

He was caught on video carrying a brick on Parliament Road and throwing it at the window of the Red Lantern restaurant.

In a sentencing hearing at Teesside Crown Court on Monday, Judge Francis Laird: “The first time the large widow didn’t break.

"You tried a further two times before achieving your goal of smashing the window pane.”

Willis, of Masefield Road, Hartlepool, handed himself in to police after footage of the disorder was shared by the force to trace those responsible.

He pleaded guilty to violent disorder.

The court heard how homes, businesses and public buildings, including Teesside University and court buildings, were targeted by rioters during the disorder.

It followed a far right protest advertised on social media as protesters marched through the town.

Many chanted things such as “take back our country” and police had to use riot shields to protect them from bricks and concrete blocks.

Gary Wood, mitigating, stressed Willis’s actions were directed at property rather than people.

A pre-sentence report also described Willis as “vulnerable” due to his low IQ and lack of maturity.

Mr Wood added his client had no connection to any right wing views or groups and argued his was an “exceptional” case.

Judge Laird agreed to make a substantial reduction in the sentence but said the least he could pass was 14 months in a young offenders’ institution.