Mother and daughter jailed for riot violence

· BBC News
Walton was seen damaging a car's wing mirror and throwing missilesImage source, Cleveland Police

Peter Harris
BBC Look North
Reporting from
Teesside Crown Court
Evie Lake
BBC News, North East and Cumbria

A mother and daughter have been jailed for taking part in a riot while out walking the family dog.

Amanda Walton, 52, and Megan Davison, 24, admitted violent disorder during disturbances in Middlesbrough on 4 August.

Video played to Teesside Crown Court showed Davison jumping on the roof of a red car while Walton was seen throwing a missile, damaging a car's wing mirror and rummaging through a bin.

Judge Francis Laird KC jailed Walton for 22 months and her daughter Davison for 20 months.

Davison, of Seaton Street, Middlesbrough, was said to have been high on a "cocktail of drugs" and became swept up in the violence.

The mother-of-two was also seen sticking a finger up at a police officer and walking away from a shop while "concealing items", said Rachel Masters, prosecuting.

The court heard Walton, of Ashling Way, Middlesbrough, brought her chow chow to the march and a video showed both women holding the pet's lead at times as a mob made its way up Parliament Street.

Walton handed herself in after police circulated images of the trouble, while Davison was arrested at her home.

Jon Harley, defending Davison, said she had taken a cocktail of drink and drugs the night before following a break-up and was still intoxicated during the march.

Since being in prison she has managed to stay drug-free, he said.

Gary Wood, for Walton, said she was at the protest out of concern for her daughter.

"She hadn't planned to be involved, in fact she is present in the street with her dog," he said.

Judge Laird said the seriousness of the disorder, set against other outbreaks of trouble elsewhere in the country, meant neither sentence could be suspended, but he gave both credit for pleading guilty which reduced their jail terms.

Additional reporting by PA.

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