Man who stamped on Protester’s Head during Riots Jailed

Ameer Khalile was jailed for two years and 10 months after he assaulted a lone protester during riots in Middlesbrough.

Teesside Crown Court heard 1,000 people turned up for a planned peaceful protest in the town on August 4, which quickly turned violent.

Shops, homes and businesses were smashed up, bins were set alight and missiles were thrown.

The victim attended the protest with a friend but became separated from him.

As he tried to find his friend outside the Intrepid Explorer pub, he saw a group of Asian men running in his direction.

The group shouted racist comments and accused him and others of smashing up a local mosque.

Khalile was among the group who shouted “you white scum” and “you white racist c***”.

The man tried to escape but tripped over some temporary fencing around roadworks and fell into a ditch filled with water, where Khalile and the other men kicked him.

CCTV footage showed Khalile stamping on the victim’s head.

Khalile then ran away and was seen at the door of a pub aiming a punch at someone and kicking at the door.

After a police appeal, Khalile was identified in the following weeks.

He was arrested at his home in Stockton during police raids on August 28, 2024.

Members of the media had attended and as he was filmed being led to the police van, Khalile swore at them, calling them “muppets” and saying:

“Go and get some proper news.”

Khalile pleaded guilty to violent disorder and attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent.

In mitigation, Tom Bennett said Khalile had heard the “rhetoric whipped up by far-right extremists” in the wake of the Southport attacks, and “became caught up with the emotions” on the day after fearing there would be repercussions to the local mosque and the local Asian community.

Mr Bennett added:

“He was caught up in the events that followed and is now remorseful.”

Judge Richard Clews told Khalile the victim “had done nothing to any of you – he had been, probably, attacked because he was white”.

On the attack, the judge said: “He was face down, he could quite easily have drowned.”

Khalile was sentenced to two years and 10 months.