Vigilantes who joined 400-strong mob that attacked innocent family over fake paedo rumours are jailed
TWO vigilantes have been jailed after a 400-strong mob forced a family to flee their home over false rumours a paedophile lived there.
Nathan Scott, 32, and Sophie Evans, 20, were part of a crowd that smashed all the windows in the house and shoved a lit pizza box through the letterbox.
Cops in riot gear finally managed to end the violence in Wrexham, North Wales, which cost around £62,000 in police resources.
They later confirmed the supposed sex offender the mob was hunting wasn’t even at the home the innocent family lived at.
Scott and Evans have now been jailed for three-and-a-half years and 16 months respectively.
Despite the rumours about the sex offender being false, Scott still yelled “paedophile lovers” at the jury as he was convicted of violent disorder.
Caernarfon Crown Court heard around 400 people descended on the Caia Park estate on April 11 last year after the fake claims spread.
Yobs yelled “get the nonces out” as they hurled bricks at the home, smashed a car in the driveway and damaged six police vehicles.
The riot lasted for hours before police managed to escort the family, who have never returned to the house, to safety.
Scott had showed up around an hour into the carnage and shouted abuse aimed at the terrified family.
He also urged other protesters, including children, to hurt the homeowners and resisted police when they tried to disperse the crowds.
Sentencing, Judge Nicolas Parry told Scott: “Your attitude to authority was only underlined when on hearing the verdict in your trial.
“You stood and hurled verbal abuse at the jury, accusing them of being paedophile lovers.”
The judge also told the pair that “ill-informed knowledge” led to “an appalling incident of violent disorder”.
He added: “The residents of Caia Park were subjected to an appalling incident of violent disorder which began as a peaceful protest based on ill-informed knowledge involving some 30 people.
“It escalated into what can only be described as a large scale public disorder lasting for hours with as many as 400 people there.
“Heavily outnumbered by as many as four-to-one, even after reinforcements arrived, the police realised the incident was suddenly a so-called ‘critical incident.’
“Reinforcements were drafted from the far corners of north Wales on an emergency basis.”
Scott and Evans were handed a five-year restraining order banning of them from contacting any of the victims or mentioning them on social media.