The grandad was jailed for his part in disorder outside a hotel housing asylum seekers

A man who was found dead in a Doncaster prison two months after being jailed for his part in disorder outside an asylum seeker hotel took his own life, an inquest jury has found.

Peter Lynch, 61, died at HMP Moorland on 19 October last year, after being sentenced to two years and eight months for his role in the riot at the Holiday Inn Express in Manvers, Rotherham, in August 2024.

A two-and-a-half-week-long inquest at Doncaster Coroner's Court heard he had been reported for alleged racist comments two days before his death and was waiting for an adjudication by the prison governor.

On Wednesday (August 5) the inquest jury returned a conclusion of suicide on the directions of a coroner.

Mr Lynch, of Burman Road, Wath-upon-Dearne, had four adult children and three grandchildren.

He died from hanging at the Doncaster jail, the jury was told.

A two-week long inquest heard that Mr Lynch was “confused” and behaved “strangely” after his arrest.

He called asylum seekers “child killers” and shouted racist comments at police during a riot at the hotel and was also pictured at the demo holding aloft a placard saying that politicians, police, judges, the media, MPs, NASA, reporters and a string of other “deep state” groups were all “corrupt.”

Lynch went to the hotel on 4 August and shouted "racist and provocative remarks" towards officers, the Recorder of Sheffield Judge Jeremy Richardson KC told Sheffield Crown Court during his sentencing.

Body-worn camera footage was shown to the court of him screaming "you are protecting people who are killing our kids and raping them" at officers with riot shields.

More than 200 asylum seekers took shelter upstairs and staff barricaded themselves into the kitchen as violence erupted outside.

More than 60 police officers were injured in the violent scenes, as a marauding mob stormed the hotel and attempted to set it on fire.

The inquest heard that Mr Lynch had repeatedly expressed his views on immigration and asylum seekers to prison officers, telling them "they're all rapists and paedophiles and should not be allowed in the country".

The officers said they had asked him to stop because they found the comments "disrespectful, abusive and racist", but Lynch persisted.