A mother thanked the judge who jailed her two sons for burgling a library that was set on fire and looted during riots in Liverpool – before warning others to stay at home.
Trudi Wharton sobbed in the public gallery as Judge Neil Flewitt KC sentenced Adam Wharton, 28, to 20 months in prison and jailed his brother Ellis Wharton, 22, for 11 months.
She called out “I love you” as her sons were taken down to the cells, then said: “Can I just thank you judge.”
The pair pleaded guilty to burglary with intent to steal from the Spellow Lane Library Hub, in Walton, which was opened last year to provide support for one of the most deprived communities in the country and included a food bank.
Follow latest: Mother of jailed brothers who looted library speaks
Speaking outside court, their mother told Sky News she had been “praying” for her sons having heard about the harsh jail terms being meted out, and said: “I was expecting longer.”
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She said they just got “carried away” and their behaviour was “very out of character”, adding: “We’ve never had riots before.”
“It’s heartbreaking, it’s very, very heartbreaking,” she said.
“They lost their dad six years ago so I haven’t got the support of him either. I’ve got a lot of disabilities and both my sons are very helpful to me. Very helpful.
“It’s going to be awful – a really, really big struggle. And it’s not nice that people may look at me because they’re my children. And I’m not a scumbag to be honest.
“You know I just like keep myself to myself.”
Asked what she would say to anyone considering getting involved in disorder, she said: “Stay in. Don’t do it. Don’t let no one peer pressure you. Listen to your elders, parents or grandparents. Listen to the older ones because they know. Because this isn’t going to resolve nothing.”
The Whartons live a “stone’s throw away” from the library, which suffered severe damage to the ground floor, Liverpool Crown Court heard.
Ellis Wharton, who was found inside wearing a mask at around 2am on 4 August holding a computer screen, also admitted assaulting an emergency worker, PC Thomas Nielsen, during his arrest.
The officer was wearing body armour and “thankfully” suffered no serious injury, said prosecutor Chris Taylor, while the defendant appeared in court with a black eye he had sustained in the struggle.
He said he was sorry and that he had been “blackmailed” by his brother, who had asked him to “go looting”, Mr Taylor said.
Adam Wharton, who acted as the lookout, was arrested nearby with a balaclava on him.
The court heard he has 16 previous convictions for 28 offences including attempted robbery, robbery, thefts, assault and burglary, and has served previous prison sentences.
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The men who have been jailed for rioting so far
The judge said in the wake of the killing of three young girls in Southport “a small minority from Merseyside and beyond, fuelled by misinformation, and racial or religious hatred, were intent on causing mayhem”.
He said the offences were not “racially or religiously aggravated” but were committed against the whole community and the brothers took the “deliberate decision” to leave their home and “steal anything of value” they could find.
“Your conduct is more commonly described as looting, a despicable crime where the offender seeks to profit from the misery of others,” the judge told them.
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John Rowan, defending Adam Wharton, said he was “deeply ashamed and disgusted with himself and his role in the serious incident that took place”.
“There can be no excuse or justification for his decision to take the opportunity to enter the streets of north Liverpool and become involved in the burglary of that library and more important than a library, a community hub that was disgracefully damaged by fire that night,” he said.
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He said there was no evidence of his wider involvement in the disorder and that he was attacked in the cells ahead of his first appearance at the magistrates’ court earlier this week.
Mr Rowan said Adam Wharton holds “no far-right views” and there was “no political or racial motivation” but he “took the opportunity to steal”.
He “wished he had stayed at home that night” and “regrets bitterly” his decision to go into the “chaos”.
