Harry Potter actor jailed for gang violence

Jamie Waylett as Crabbe, left, in Harry Potter. He was found guilty of violent disorder during the London riots. Picture: Warner Bros

THE British actor who played bully Vincent Crabbe in the Harry Potter movies was jailed for two years overnight after he was convicted of violent disorder during the London riots in August last year.
Jamie Waylett was captured by security cameras on a number of occasions during the riots in Chalk Farm, north London, swigging from a stolen bottle of champagne and carrying a petrol bomb.
The 22-year-old was part of a gang of at least four people who took to the streets during the third night of violence in the capital, London's Wood Green Crown Court heard.

The actor, of West Hampstead, north London, admitted handling stolen goods - the bottle of champagne that had been stolen from a supermarket.
But he was cleared of intending to destroy or damage property with the petrol bomb he was pictured holding.

After he was identified in the video footage and brought in for questioning, Waylett told police that he was "fascinated" by the civil unrest, but denied taking an active part in the violence.

Jailing him for two years, Judge Simon Carr said, "You chose to go out on the streets on what was the third day of the disorder and could be under no illusion of what was happening out there. Far more serious later that day you are seen over an extended period of time holding a petrol bomb".

The judge said, "Anyone seeing a group of young men walking towards them armed in the way would be terrified. But I accept there is no evidence you threw or had any intention of throwing that bomb".
Waylett already had a previous conviction for cannabis possession.