Grandad, 61, dies in prison after being jailed for violent disorder during summer riots

A rioter who was jailed for violent disorder and abusing police over the summer has died in prison.

Prison sources told The Telegraph that Peter Lynch is believed to have taken his own life on Saturday night at HMP Moorland near Doncaster in south Yorkshire.

The 61-year old grandfather was jailed for two years and eight months on August 22 after pleading guilty to violent disorder in a hearing at Sheffield Crown Court.

The court was told Lynch went to the Holiday Inn Express in Manvers, Rotherham, on August 4 with a placard which called police officers, MPs and the media “corrupt.”

An investigation has been launched by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman. A prison service spokesman said: “HMP Moorland prisoner Peter Lynch died on Oct 19 2024. As with all deaths in custody, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman will investigate.”

At the sentencing hearing earlier this year, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC said Lynch shouted “racist and provocative remarks” towards officers and called asylum seekers in the hotel “child killers.”

Body-worn camera footage was shown to the court of him screaming “you are protecting people who are killing our kids and raping them” at officers with riot shields.

More to come…