A far-right protestor who tried to break into a Liverpool hotel has avoided jail.
Robert Scott was part of a group of between 100 and 150 people that caused disruption during a march through the city centre on the evening of June 9.
The 47-year-old from Bootle attempted to force his way into the Richmond Hotel, which houses asylum seekers, as doors and windows were damaged.
He also stole a Deliveroo food delivery bag during the incident, which came on the heels of anti-immigration riots in Belfast following a stabbing there.
Scott later posted the bag on social media ‘celebrating’ his theft with five pictures of murdered Southampton teenager Henry Nowak plastered on it.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that Scott had 44 previous convictions and ‘domestic violence all over his record and five children he doesn’t look after’.
But he was spared prison on Thursday (August 13) after admitting theft and criminal damage with a 12-month sentence that is suspended for two years.
He was ordered to carry out 25 days of rehabilitation activity, 100 hours of unpaid work in addition to 12 months’ mandatory mental health treatment.
Scott will also be required to wear a trail monitoring tag for 12 months.
Judge David Swinnerton said: “You, alongside around 150 other people, were going as a mob though the streets of Liverpool.
“You went to the Richmond Hotel, which was known to house asylum seekers.
“I’m satisfied there were asylum seekers there, indeed there was a notice on the wall in various languages telling people not to open the door on that day.
“Outside, the sounds of the mob were loud and clear, and the general intention was no doubt to intimidate.
“You, clad as you were in your Union Jack flag as a cloak, forced your way through the doors.
“Immediately behind you as you forced open the doors of that hotel were 100 to 150 people shouting and being abusive, and racially motivated abuse, towards the people within that hotel.”