'Laughing' teenage yob torched bin and hurled missiles at police during Harehills disorder
A teenager who help stoke the flames of a fire started during the Harehills disorder is the latest yob to be jailed.
Leeds Crown Court heard that Peter Budai was heavily involved in the “mob violence” that engulfed the area on the evening of July 18 last year.
Budai was handed a 32-month sentence this afternoon after he admitted arson and violent disorder.
He was seen pushing an industrial wheelie bin through a crowd and tipping it onto a fire as baying crowds pelted police with missiles.
Budai, who was 19 at the time but has since turned 20, was shown on footage smiling and laughing during the melee.
He was later seen hurling missiles towards officers, even climbing over a barrier to get closer and throw more objects.
Prosecutor Jemima Stephenson-Finn said he was present in the area for around three hours and 40 minutes.
Following his arrest, he gave a no-comment interview. He has no previous convictions.
Mitigating, Howard Shaw said his early guilty pleas were his best point. He said there had been no further offending since that night.
He is expecting his first child with his girlfriend. He added: “Immaturity played a significant part in his behaviour that day.”
Judge Tom Bayliss KC rejected that Budai’s jovial demeanour that night was connected to his immaturity, but that he happened to be “enjoying” himself.
Judge Bayliss described the disorder as “dystopian mob violence”.
He told Budai: “The streets were lawless and you contributed to that. You were not on the edge of this violence.”
Budai, who had been living on Sutherland Mount, Harehills, is the 24th defendant to be convicted of trouble from that night and his conviction takes the collective sentences handed out to more than 40 years.
The trouble stemmed from an incident on Luxor Street at around 5pm on July 18, 2024, as social workers attempted to take children into care over safeguarding issues.
It caused a scene and drew a 100-plus crowd, forcing the police to attend.
But the matter escalated, missiles were thrown towards the police and a police car was overturned.
The number of people swelled and police were pelted with missiles as the trouble spread to the surrounding roads, most notably on Harehills Lane.
The bus was stopped and torched by thugs, goaded by hundreds of others, filmed on mobile phones by many and loaded to social media.
The police are continuing to prosecute those involved and recently released images of those they still wish to speak with.