A demonstrator has been jailed for 14 months for throwing objects and hitting people with a flagpole in the Dover riots.

Daniel Spensley, 27, of Proudfoot Drive in Bishop Auckland, Durham, travelled to Kent to take part in a pre-planned march on Saturday 30 January 2016.

Fighting broke out when those present were met by other visitors who were holding a counter protest at the same time.

Kent Police detectives viewed hundreds of hours of evidential footage captured on the day and witnessed Spensley in a fist fight, attacking a person with a flagpole, and throwing rocks and brick.

He was arrested at his home address on February this year and and subsequently charged with violent disorder.

He pleaded guilty and was sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court last Friday.

Investigating Officer Det Cons Kirsty Bricknell said: ‘We will continue to pursue and convict protestors who acted in violence and without a care for the significant impact it would have on local residents.

“Spensley was one of these violent protestors and he, like many others, who thought they could evade justice by living outside our jurisdiction have been proven wrong time and again.

“Regardless of the difference of political views involved on the day, there is never any excuse for this type of criminal activity and I hope Spensley reflects on this while he is behind bars.”

The rioting had broken out when a march by far right groups such as the South East Alliance and National Front was confronted by anti-fascist protesters.

Ever since police have caught up with offenders and by March, 51 people were convicted.