Jail sentence for woman convicted of riot

A 25-year-old woman has been given a prison sentence of five years and 10 months after being convicted of riot.

Francesca Horn, of Montpelier in Bristol, was found guilty of riot following a trial at Bristol Crown Court.

Footage gathered by the investigation team shows Horn striking officers with wooden sticks, kicking out and spitting at officers, and taking hold of a police shield and using it to ram them. She’s also seen ripping off the wing mirror of a police van.

Judge Patrick said her offending had a “devastating effect” and told her she was “clearly delighting in what you were doing”.

He added: “You spat at officers during a pandemic. You attacked police lines, kicking officers and rocked a police van. You used a number of weapons and you tore a wing mirror off a van and you threw two shields at officers.”

Senior Investigating Officer Supt James Riccio said: “The prison sentence given by the court today reflects the gratuitous and corrosive offending Horn carried out on that night.

“She spat at officers, with one of them describing at the trial how she’d never been spat at before, and given the COVID-19 pandemic was ongoing, it left her feeling worried and upset. This is wholly unacceptable behaviour.

“A total of 18 people have now been jailed as part of our investigation, receiving a combined prison sentence of 71 years and three months.”