First Wolverhampton rioter to be jailed

A Prince's Trust award winner honoured for turning his life around today became the first Wolverhampton rioter to be locked up as he was jailed for three years.

Cassidy Etiemble was told by the city's top judge he was "in the thick" of the violence that saw yobs running amok smashing windows and looting shops.

The 21-year-old, who has 25 previous convictions, had been freed from an eight-week prison sentence just a fortnight earlier for burgling the office of a chartered surveyor.

He was brought to justice after being recognised in a photograph published in the Express & Star that showed him kicking out at a police officer during the trouble at around 4pm on August 8.

Etiemble, of Chervil Rise in Heath Town, was also captured on CCTV rampaging through E.V. Beckett jewellers in Queen Street after other rioters had torn off the metal shutters and smashed the front windows, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard today.

Convicted Wolves hooligan Etiemble admitted affray and burglary. Judge John Warner told him today: "This created all sorts of consequences for this city and you were in the thick of the burglary and other violent disorder."