FIFTY people have now been sentenced to more than 83 years custody for their parts in the two days of rioting in Wrexham last summer.

The final nine defendants were jailed for 11 years and eight months between them.

The youngest, a talented footballer aged just 13, escaped custody.

But the judge warned him that but for the limitations placed on him by Parliament, and the fact he had no previous convictions, he would have faced a stay in a youth detention centre.

The boy was sentenced to two years supervision, and he must stay indoors at night for the next three months under an electronic tagging order.

Judge Roger Dutton, sitting at Mold Crown Court, said the riots in June had been a shocking display of mob violence.

But now that there will be no more arrests, he said he hoped the community could draw a line under what had happened.

He praised police officers for containing the troubles, which he said had been caused by a minority of people on the estate.

It was clear the origins of the second night's violence lay to some extent in the events of the previous day which had attracted substantial publicity.

He said: 'But the events I'm concerned with here only have a loose association in my view with the presence of a number of Iraqis in the area.

'There were some who thought that in some way they were being treated more favourably by the authorities than they were and there was some antipathy towards them for that reason.

'But clearly the incident of the previous day had a bearing on what broke out the following evening.'

The judge said the violence quickly turned into nothing more than an excuse to attack as many policemen as possible, to injure as many as possible and as seriously as possible.

'Over a sustained period, these officers were stoned and petrol-bombed by an unruly, wild, baying mob containing all age groups,' the judge said.

About 20 police officers were hurt, remarkably none seriously.

'But never once did any of them shirk from their responsibilities. They deserve our respect and our support and our congratulations,' said Judge Dutton.

He said he had already commended the officers and the inspector in charge for so patiently and effectively dealing with the serious situation that developed.

'This incident I am perfectly aware became national, indeed international, news.This mindless violence put at risk all of the hard work done by so many community groups involved at Caia Park over so many years.

'It's important the public both locally and wider afield know the only people who became involved in this were a minority.

'The majority of people in that area are decent, lawabiding citizens who are extremely angry that the reputation of their neighbourhood has been so badly let down by the behaviour of those involved.'

The judge said he commended the efforts of all those who tried to calm the situation that night and those who still worked within the community 'to heal those open wounds.'

The ringleaders were adult men in their 20s, 30s and 40s, most of them with lengthy convictions for violence and dishonesty, and were a reasonably sizeable sector of the community that lived largely outside the law. They bore a heavily responsibility, for many others would never have been involved but for them.

Many of the defendants were young, most had few if any convictions, which made it all the more unfortunate that they allowed themselves to become involved.

Judge Dutton said video cameras had become one of the greatest aids to the detection of crime and that without the cameras, many of the rioters would not have been detected.

The riots took part following tensions between some Iraqi Kurds who had been housed there and a minority of local people.

One Iraqi had been badly beaten up and others in his community ambushed the local public house, the Red Dragon, believing his attackers to be inside, and there was a pitched battle outside in the street.

But on the following night police mounted a huge security operation and prevented some of the locals from seeking revenge on the Iraqis.

A 200-strong mob confronted police, and at least 14 petrol bombs were thrown at the police battle line. A total of 17 police officers were injured.

The prosecution showed CCTV footage and a film made by a police officer using a hand-held camera from behind the line of police shields to capture what went on.

They were shown to the judge, who said they showed in 'shocking, graphic detail' what went on. It made it 'much more immediate and real' for the court, he said.

One police officer, of 13 years experience, said that he had faced large, hostile crowds on a number of occasions but said the Caia riot was 'the most dangerous and hostile environment I have ever been in. I was in constant fear for my safety and that of my colleagues.' Vaughan John Powell, 21, of St David's Crescent, Wrexham, received 18 months imprisonment; Stuart Michael Davies, 24, of Bryn Gwenfro, Wrexham, was jailed for two years and received an additional 18 months for other offences; Mark David Lawrence, 23, of Gwenfro, received 18 months; Ashley Lucas Powell, 18, of Montgomery Road, Wrexham, received 12 months youth detention; Andrew Lee Sumner, 18, of St David's Crescent, Wrexham, received 10 months youth detention. A 16-year-old boy and a 17-year-old boy received 18 months detention and training sentences, another 17-year-old received a 12-month detention and training order, and a 16-year-old received a 10-month detention and training order.