Celebrities and authors rally round riot-hit Liverpool library

Celebrities, authors and members of the public have rallied around to support a library, which was severely damaged in riots in Liverpool, the council boss has said.

Liverpool City Council leader Liam Robinson said that showed “the real spirit” of the city.

Spellow Lane Library Hub on County Road in the Walton area of Liverpool was set alight while people looted shops and burned wheelie bins.

A 69-year-old man who armed himself with a wooden cosh and joined a “mob” which took part in the destruction of the library was jailed on Thursday for two years and eight months.

When sentencing William Nelson Morgan, of Linton Street, Walton, the judge said: “Your advancing years plainly did not prevent you from playing an active part in a disturbance on County Road.”

Mr Robinson said he hoped the investigations into the riots would continue and further people would end up in court to “face the full weight of the law”.

He said he was heartened by the number of people who offered money and time to help rebuild the library.

“I like to say that’s the real spirit of Liverpool, the amount of local people who have been offering their time, their expertise their work to be part of the rebuild and renovation we’ll be doing,” he told BBC Radio Merseyside.

“I think that is testament to what our city is about, rallying around, particularly when things are tough.”

“We’ve had famous people donate but also lots of local people and normal everyday people who were disgusted by seeing the actions of a small minority of people trying to destroy a community facility,” he said.

The council is now working with structural engineers to bring the building back into use.

Mr Robinson said services that are usually delivered from the hub will be available in different locations within the same area.

“We don’t want to disadvantage anyone by having them travel a long distance,” he said.

He added: “Everyone across the city will rightfully be pleased that some of the perpetrators have already been brought to justice and given sentences that match the severity of the crime they’ve committed.

“Hopefully that means we might have reached a turning point in this.”