More than 100 bikers caused mayhem on a Mad-Max style Halloween ride out through shopping streets.
Now 13 people have been jailed after the terrifying organised event,
which saw more than 100 riders on motorbikes and quad bikes disrupting traffic and riding through pedestrianised areas, have been jailed.
David Armitage, who organised the event through social media, was filmed during the incident encouraging “carnage” and telling riders to “shut down” Leeds city centre.
Police said the lawlessness and fear caused on October 31 led to people branding the scene as like Mel Gibson film Mad Max.
Sentencing the defendants at Leeds Crown Court, Judge Geoffrey Marson QC said: “This is a case which calls for a deterrent sentence.
“Behaviour of this sort, having serious effects on this city, cannot be tolerated.”
The bikers, on motorbikes, scooters, scramblers and quad bikes, gathered “en masse” on Kirkstall Road and Leeds city centre at rush hour.
Some of the riders were not wearing helmets and some were wearing face coverings, including Halloween-style masks. A number of the bikes did not have licence plates.
The bikers were seen speeding, weaving in and out of vehicles, riding on pavements, in bike and bus lanes, through pedestrian-only areas and red lights and on the wrong side of the road, and performing wheelies and other stunts.
One group of riders drove through a narrow, pedestrianised shopping arcade in the city centre, with one quad bike colliding with a motorcycle and injuring the rider’s leg.
Judge Marson said bikes were seen riding on pavements towards groups of children out trick-or-treating, customers at a supermarket on Kirkstall Road were unable to leave and the store had to close early as a result of the disruption.
One woman reported that she was unable to cross the road with her disabled son, who had a seizure as a result of the noise.
Police received around 160 calls from the public and took the decision to close a section of Kirkstall Road, which was eventually reopened at around 10.10pm.
Judge Marson said the riders were “causing danger and serious inconvenience to citizens”.
He said: “This was a planned event, organised through the use of social media.
“It began at about 5.15pm, during the rush hour in this city, on Monday 31 October 2016.
“Approximately 100 riders gathered en masse in the city centre.
“I have seen CCTV and mobile phone recordings showing the chaos that ensued in this city over a period of more than four hours.”
The court heard that Armitage, who did not take part in the event due to injury but was shown encouraging the riders on a Facebook live video, said the ride-out was to raise money for the family of 17-year-old Sophie Smith, who was murdered by her 18-year-old partner.
He claimed to have raised around £400 but the court heard that the family had received no money and did not want to associate themselves with the event.
Judge Marson said: “It was said by some that this had begun as some sort of charity event organised by Armitage.
“It seems clear to me that the reality is that that was no more than an excuse for a large, unlawful gathering in the city.
“It’s perfectly obvious from footage that there came a time in which you, Armitage, were organising matters in order to shut down the city centre.
“You were heard to say ‘carnage, that’s what we do’ and ‘Leeds city BikeLife shut the f***ing thing right down’.
“You were clearly enjoying the chaos which ensued.”
Speaking outside the court after the sentencing, Superintendent Matt Davison, of West Yorkshire Police, said: “I think that the sentences passed today will serve to be a really useful deterrent going forwards.”
He added: “The footage is quite clear, the lawlessness, the fear that was caused.
“We got 160 calls on the evening, people were branding it as this ‘Mad Max style ride-out’, or this ‘motorcycle mayhem’, were the phrases that people were using.
“Very, very dangerous, and I’m just absolutely delighted that no-one was more seriously hurt.”
Chief Superintendent Paul Money, Leeds District Commander, said the situation was completely unprecedented in Leeds and West Yorkshire.
He said: “The behaviour of these individuals and others that night put people’s safety at risk, caused unnecessary fear to the public and created an image of lawlessness in the heart of the city that we simply could not allow to go unchallenged.
“We made it very clear in the immediate aftermath of the incident that we would be taking firm action against all those we could identify as being involved and these outcomes at court today show us delivering on that promise.”
The defendants are:
David Armitage, 26, of Brookfield Road, Leeds; Omar Ahmed, 24, of Stonegate View, Leeds; Ashley Benson, 25, of Whingate Road, Leeds; Michael Clough, 28, of Torre View, Leeds; Ben Colley, 26, of Butterbowl Road, Leeds; Dean Fawcett, 29, of Intake View, Leeds; Nicholas Flaherty, 30, of Prospect Street, Leeds; Rachel Taylor, 30, of Grange Park Walk, Leeds; Joshua Hawley, 23, of Mead Grove, Leeds; Dylan Lockwood, 23, of Torre Grove, Leeds; Adam Nicholson, 26, of Bellmount Close, Leeds, Anton Rojas, 26, of Skelton Avenue, Leeds, and Jamie Ayres, 26, of Lupton Avenue, Leeds.
All 13 defendants pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to “causing a public nuisance by participating in a large-scale procession of motorbikes and similar vehicles that rode around Leeds in a manner that interfered with the comfort, enjoyment and safety of the public”.
Colley also admitted driving while disqualified and without insurance and Flaherty admitted perverting the course of justice by posting a message on Facebook warning people to get rid of their bikes during the police investigation.
Since the incident, Leeds City Council has secured a landmark injunction banning anyone from participating in anti-social driving of motor vehicles, including motorbikes and quad bikes, involving two or more motor vehicles in any public place in the Leeds district.
Anyone found breaching the order, which was granted for five years in January, can be arrested.
