A 52-year-old jobless chef has become the 61 person convicted of taking part in the Dover riots.

Shaun Gastall was caught on CCTV throwing stones during the disturbance in the town centre in January 2016.

Gastall, a single man living in Brighton, was part of a left wing demonstration which clashed with rival right wingers.

He refused to accept he had done anything wrong and tried to blame others, Judge Simon James told him.

But a jury at Canterbury Crown Court convicted him of violent disorder and he has now been jailed for 14 months.

He told him: “Unlike many who were identified using violence in this ugly incident you were, despite being captured on CCTV, unprepared to accept you had done anything unlawful.”

The judge added that Gastall had joined a group “which was clearly intent on confrontation” and was seen to throw missiles on four occasions.

The riot was a “large scale confrontation which had brought Dover to a standstill”, he added.

He added: “It is clear from the evidence that you were a willing participant in this disorder and you were seen retaliating to aggression from opposing groups by throwing stones over police lines.

“You are usually a rational and intelligent man with strongly held principles but that can provide no justification for violence.

“This incident quickly degenerated into something that wasn’t about politics or principles. It became all about hate and violence. The scenes recorded in Dover were reminiscent of darker times.”

Judge James said that deterrent sentences were needed to “disabuse people that public violence cane ever be justified in a civilised society".

The jury failed to agree on a verdict involving another left-winger from Brighton and was discharged. A decision will be taken later on whether to have a re-trial.