An alleged serial rioter accused of being at the centre of racist arson attacks on migrant businesses in Belfast must remain in custody, a High Court judge has ruled.
Lennon Ashwood was refused bail amid claims that he broke into and looted an ethnic minority cafe set on fire during violence on the city’s streets earlier this year.
The 23-year-old, of Tavanagh Street in Belfast, is also being prosecuted for previous outbreaks of disorder where he allegedly acted as a leader showing children how to discharge fireworks at police officers.
Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan ruled there was a high risk of reoffending after declaring the incidents as “shocking and stark”.
She said: “This applicant is described as someone at the core of what went on in the summer.”
Ashwood faces a total of 28 charges connected to his alleged central role during four separate nights of unrest in July and August.
Prosecutors claimed he was one of the main participants in trouble at Broadway Roundabout on July 15 and 16, when a mob repeatedly attacked police with petrol bombs and other missiles.
Footage showed the defendant throwing cans of paint over PSNI vehicles, beckoning youths to join him, and carrying fireworks to the scene, a previous court heard.
Ashwood allegedly demonstrated to a group of children and young people how to light the devices and handed one of the rockets to a 15-year-old youth before it was fired at PSNI officers.
He was also said to have dismantled a garden wall to obtain masonry, as well as lighting and throwing a petrol bomb while in the presence of a young child.
Based on CCTV recordings, Ashwood is further accused of playing a major role in racially-motivated disturbances in the Donegall Road and Sandy Row areas on August 3.
Businesses owned by members of the ethnic community were smashed up and set on fire following an anti-immigration protest at City Hall.
According to the prosecution, Ashwood kicked in the front door of the Bash Cafe and entered the premises after another rioter had thrown a petrol bomb inside.
He then emerged with a till before smashing it on the ground for a crowd to pick through the money, it was contended.
A short time later wooden pallets were set alight inside the cafe.
The scale of looting and destruction caused to the property left the owner predicting he will never financially recover from it.
Charges were brought against Ashwood on the basis that ethnic minority businesses had been specifically targeted in racially-motivated attacks.
It was claimed that he hurled “hundreds of projectiles” at PSNI officers as they attempted to quell the disorder.
One piece of masonry thrown over the top of the police lines struck a constable on the head, causing him concussion.
Ashwood has also been described as the “primary aggressor” when a nearby ethnic minority grocery store was torched on the same night.
Front shutters and doors to the Sham Supermarket on Donegall Road were broken before flammable materials were tossed inside.
The arson attack endangered the lives of more than 60 people who had to be evacuated from flats above the retail premises, the court was told.
Two nights later, Ashwood was allegedly part of another crowd who attacked police in the same area with masonry and petrol bombs.
He once again directed juveniles in their actions and took a leadership role in the disorder, prosecutors submitted.
Ashwood is charged with four counts of riotous assembly, encouraging others to riot, throwing petrol bombs, possessing fireworks without a licence, attempted grievous bodily harm with intent to a PSNI constable and having offensive weapons - namely pieces of masonry.
He is further accused of burglary, four counts of arson, causing an explosion likely to endanger life, and a further arson with intent to endanger life at a supermarket.
Defence counsel Michael Boyd argued that his client should be released from custody due to the potential delay in the case reaching trial.
He told the High Court that the risk of reoffending related to specific circumstances which were unlikely to occur again during the winter months.
The barrister described Ashwood as “not academically talented” but suggested that he has been offered a job.
“His mother is simply desperate to have him home for Christmas,” Mr Boyd added.
But the Lady Chief Justice ruled that the bail application must be denied at this stage.
“The background facts here are shocking and stark,” she said.
“The incidents of rioting during the summer are to be deprecated; the element alleged in this case against ethnic minorities in Northern Ireland is particularly troublesome.”