British Man Jailed for Nine Years Amid Anti-Muslim Hotel Arson

Thomas Birley, 27, has been sentenced to nine years in prison for arson with intent to endanger life following his involvement in setting fire to a hotel housing asylum seekers. His actions, part of anti-Muslim riots, were described by the judge as racially motivated. Additional unruly behavior has led to nearly 1,300 arrests.

Thomas Birley, a 27-year-old British man, was sentenced to nine years in prison for arson with intent to endanger life during anti-Muslim riots. He admitted to stoking a fire in a bin outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Rotherham, northern England, on August 4.

Prosecutor Alisha Kaye explained that Birley added wood to the already-flaming bin placed deliberately in front of a fire door while staff and guests were inside the hotel. He was also convicted of violent disorder and possession of an offensive weapon. Judge Jeremy Richardson described Birley's actions as 'suffused with racism from beginning to end.'

The incident occurred amidst larger rioting that followed the killings of three young girls in Southport, initially misattributed to an Islamist migrant due to online misinformation. These riots spread across the UK, resulting in approximately 1,300 arrests and around 200 people jailed, including one individual sentenced to six years for violent disorder.

(With inputs from agencies.)