SEVEN men were sentenced to jail at Liverpool Crown Court today for their involvement in a violent protest outside a hotel housing asylum-seekers in Merseyside.

The court heard how violence erupted as mobs chanting “get them out” gathered outside the Suites Hotel in Kirby on February 10 last year, at a protest advertised on far-right channels via Telegram, a messaging platform. 

Fireworks were launched, a police van was set alight, and several people were injured. Before the protest, footage was circulated claiming to show an asylum-seeker “asking a 15-year-old for her phone number and a kiss.”