Aldrich & Hall, Pic: Met Police

A 25-year-old woman from Lewisham has been sentenced to two years in prison for attacking a beauty salon with a metal bar during last summer riots.

Kellie Hall, of Casella Road, New Cross, was arrested on August 9 for an attempted burglary when two police officers saw her repeatedly hitting the window of the Joseph Annell Beauty Salon with a metal pole she had brought from her car.

Hall denied attempted burglary and stated that she had deliberately gotten arrested to avoid taking part in rioting in Woolwich, Inner London Crown Court heard.

Hall’s friend, Julie Aldrich, 31, from Downham, who was seen at the scene inciting and goading her, was sentenced for the same crime but got a reduced sentence of 13 months after pleading guilty.

The sentences are the longest to be handed to those involved in the disorder in Lewisham so far.

DC Niall Crowley, the investigating officer, said: “The day after the disorder broke out in Lewisham, whilst officers sought to reassure the public, and communities leaders calling for calm, Hall and Aldrich thought they would use it as an opportunity to commit more crime and encourage others to continue on with the disorder. The sentences they have received reflect the seriousness of those actions.”