Caia Park suffered two nights of disturbances

Every one of the people charged over the second of two nights of violence and criminal damage on the Caia Park estate in Wrexham was given a custodial sentence by Judge Roger Dutton.

Several defendants who threw petrol bombs at police officers were given five or four year sentences, including a child of 13 who was given four years' youth detention.

Judge Dutton told Mold Crown Court that the pictures he had been shown of the riot emulated "the worst scenes in Belfast 25 years ago, not the streets of Wrexham."

He also said the level of violence had been "totally shocking."

Police attacked

The arrests were made following two nights of disturbances between long-term local residents and Iraqi Kurds on the estate.

Judge Dutton added that the disturbances had not been a race riot, but what he termed an opportunity for those who lived outside the law to attack the police.

He added that he hoped the estate could now put the events of June behind them.

'Clear message'

Chief Superintendent Phil Thompson, of North Wales Police, said outside the court: "The swift action of the police at the time of the disturbances, the thorough investigation which followed them and the sentences given by the court today has given a clear message to the people of north Wales that this kind of criminality will not be tolerated.

"I know that the people of Caia Park are determined to work with their police service, their local authority and with other partners to make Caia Park a safer place to live."

Trouble first flared on the estate on 22 June and continued the following night when a mob of about 200 attacked police with missiles and petrol bombs.

During the disturbances, North Wales Police drafted in back up officers from neighbouring forces, including Merseyside.

The following days and weeks saw an increased police presence on the estate.