Kate Beveridge, a mother of a two-year-old son and a 14-year-old daughter, threw a one litre plastic drinks bottle at police when she was on the protest in central London in June last year.

Others hurled cans, traffic cones and various makeshift missiles during an afternoon of "disgraceful violence" in the UK capital.

The 35-year-old, from Singleton in Lancashire, was the only one of five defendants spared jail by Judge Deborah Taylor when they were sentenced at Southwark Crown Court after admitting violent disorder.

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The judge said: "You have two children aged 14 and two for whom you are the sole carer.

"You should think what sort of example you are setting your own children and the children at the primary school by the actions you carried out that day."

'Acting on impulse'

Beveridge wiped away tears as the judge said she was spared immediate custody because she was the sole carer for her children.

She was handed a 15-month jail term, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to carry out 200 hours' community service.

Her counsel Sheryl Nwosu said: "She expresses not only sorrow, but embarrassment and shame. She does not align herself with what went on that day.

"She acted on intoxicated impulse ... this is a one-off."

Danny Grealey, Keith O'Sullivan and Robert Sandford were jailed for violent disorder, while Andrew McLean, the youngest member of the group at 20, was sent to a young offenders' institution.

Prosecutor Aska Fujita told the court police had become "overrun" by disorder in the capital, with thousands of people packing Whitehall to demand former EDL leader Robinson's release from prison for contempt of court.

Ugly scenes at protest

Footage from a police camera showed flanks of officers with batons raised coming face to face with Free Tommy Robinson protesters, some of whom lobbed bottles, cones and other missiles.

Chants rang out during the protest, while snarling demonstrators could be seen on camera shouting "shame on you" at the police, adding "you're not English any more" to the tune of the hymn Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer.

At one point, the officers were so outnumbered they were forced to retreat to sanctuary at Great Scotland Yard, just off Whitehall, and away from the worst of the violence, the court was told.

Ms Fujita said: "It turned ugly. The police have been constantly abused, missiles were thrown at them, they have been punched, kicked and had barriers thrown at them.

"The number of defendants does not reflect the actual occurrence of violence. Police have tried incredibly hard to identify the people involved. However, out of a crowd of hundreds and thousands, it is impossible to identify everyone."

The prosecutor described how fists were raised by protesters, an act which showed many were "ready to engage in violence".

She added: "The only thing police were trying to do is try to control the crowd. It was just that they were overrun by the number of protesters.

"Each of the defendants were involved in serious acts of violence, including using weapons that could have caused serious injury."

The others convicted

Ms Fujita said "more than 20" police officers were injured, although nothing more serious than cuts and bruises.

She said: "That was due to sheer coincidence."

Sandford, 47, of Bolton Road in Hungerhill, Greater Manchester, was jailed for 14 months after he was among those to "take over" a bus full of tourists before hurling a traffic cone.

He handed himself in to police after he spotted himself on a Sky News broadcast of the violence, the court was told.

O'Sullivan, 40, of Holmstead Way in Luton, Bedfordshire, was jailed for 23 months after he threw traffic cones and a metal barrier.

His counsel, Timothy Banks, told court his client "should have known better".

Grealey, 43, of Ebberns Road in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, was handed an 18-month sentence after he admitted throwing a traffic cone at police.

The court heard he did not originally intend to join the protest, but had wanted to go to the zoo instead.

McLean, of Field Street in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, was handed an 18-month term at a young offenders' institution.

He told police he was protesting for the first time because he thought Robinson had been wrongly incarcerated for exposing paedophile grooming gangs after seeing posts on Facebook.

The five defendants were the first of 14 defendants due to be sentenced for violent disorder during three hearings at the court.

Robinson was released from Belmarsh prison in south-east London a fortnight ago, two months into his nine-month sentence for contempt of court.

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