Four men jailed for part of ‘dystopian’ Leeds disorder after children taken into care

Four men have been jailed for taking part in mob violence that engulfed a Leeds suburb after four children from a Roma family were taken into care.

A double decker bus was set alight and a police car was overturned during the disorder in Harehills on July 18.

On Tuesday three men who were involved in the bus fire – including one who was filmed holding a lighter to the seats – were jailed for their roles.

Iustin Dobre (second left), 37, and Mark Mitchell (left), 34, were jailed for six years after pleading guilty to aggravated arson and violent disorder.

Milan Zamostny (right), 30, was jailed for five years and four months after pleading guilty to aggravated arson and violent disorder.

And Celan Palaghia (second right), 21, was jailed for three years after pleading guilty to arson and violent disorder.

Prosecutor Richard Holland said the disorder grew out of a reaction to four children being taken into care.

Leeds Crown Court heard police were called to assist social services at around 5pm when a group gathered outside a house in Luxor Street and started “shouting and growing disorderly”.

The crowd continued to grow and police “were forced to withdraw” after becoming outnumbered and targeted by missiles.

The court heard the incident “deteriorated from there” as a police vehicle was flipped onto its side.

Attempts were made to enlist the help of a Roma councillor to quell the rising tension, but by 6.30pm between 300 and 400 people were on the street.

The mob moved into Harehills Lane, with people throwing missiles at a police line set up around a nearby supermarket.

A double decker bus was stopped by the crowd and the driver and passengers were forced to flee as the vehicle “succumbed to the growing mob surrounding it”, Mr Holland said.

The bus was set on fire, with three of the defendants – Zamostny, Mitchell and Dobre – involved at various points.

The court heard the cost of the damage to the bus was around half a million pounds and the driver has been out of the business since the “traumatic” incident with mental health concerns.

None of the four defendants, who appeared via videolink from prison, were involved in the initial incident but joined in the violence that ensued.

Dobre was part of the mob who overturned a police car and was also filmed holding a lighter next to the fabric of the bus seats.

He was also seen holding a construction barrier and feeding it into a separate fire, and throwing missiles at police and a moving police van.

Paul Addison, representing father-of-three Dobre, said he became “drawn into the disorder” after hearing rumours “that some children from the Roma community had been maltreated by the authorities and the police”.

Mr Addison said Dobre “saw others acting violently and joined in” but accepts he “acted in a deplorable, violent way” and “apologises to the community in Harehills, of which he is a member, for bringing deep shame and discredit upon them”.

In footage played to the court, Zamostny was seen throwing items including a table at the burning bus, getting rubbish out of a bin and feeding it into the fire and collecting broken breezeblocks to throw at police.

Mitchell was filmed lighting pieces of cardboard and throwing them into the bus to feed the flames.

Palaghia was part of a mob who stopped a van before pulling items from it and setting them on fire.

He later became directly involved in violence against the police, using a brick from a broken wall to throw at them.

Palaghia also led people to the bus and was one of a group that attempted to turn it over.

Statements from residents spoke of serious concern on the night about the bus exploding, while one person described “seeing women and children outside the mosque wailing with fear in their eyes”.

The headteacher of a local primary school said parents kept their children off school for fear of further incidents, and staff contacted her with concerns about increased racial tensions.

The court heard the financial impact to the police and fire service was more than £300,000 “for one night of wanton violence and criminality”.

Assistant Chief Constable Pat Twiggs, of West Yorkshire Police, said: “The social and cultural wounds that developed that night will take months if not longer to repair.”

Haroon Khattak, representing Mitchell, said the defendant had been on the way to visit his mother with his child and partner at the time, and was “in the wrong place at the wrong time”.

Mr Khattak said Mitchell was struggling with drink and drugs and fighting for custody of his children at the time, and had “not had the easiest of upbringings”.

“What’s most striking about this case and perhaps most foolish is he had no involvement with the children being taken into care,” he added.

Mohammed Rafiq, representing Zamostny, said he had been trafficked into the UK at the age of 18 and had learning difficulties.

“He accepts he foolishly got himself involved in this incident, which had nothing to do with him whatsoever,” Mr Rafiq said.

James Lake, representing Celan Palaghia, said the defendant was “utterly ashamed by what is shown in that footage” and would miss the birth of his first child while in custody.

Judge Tom Bayliss KC told the defendants: “What happened that summer evening serves as a chilling example of how a violent, anarchic mob can, with astonishing ease, achieve a situation of complete lawlessness.

“It also offers a dystopian vision of what can happen when the rule of law is subverted by mob violence.

“Those who involve themselves in such events can expect deterrent sentences to be imposed.”

Copyright (c) PA Media Ltd. 2024, All Rights Reserved. Picture (c) West Yorkshire Police / PA.