Itv News Tyne Tees: Stacey Vint says she is ‘making things right’ after Middlesbrough riot jail term
itv news tyne tees has followed the story of Stacey Vint, the Middlesbrough mother jailed after pushing a flaming wheelie bin towards police during the August 2024 disorder. Speaking after her release, Vint says the prison sentence forced her to confront the damage her actions caused and the life that led her there. She now says she wants to be “making things right. ”
Stacey Vint reflects on the riot and her sentence
Vint was among the first people sentenced on Teesside after the unrest that followed the Southport attack. She pleaded guilty to violent disorder and was jailed for 20 months after footage of her pushing the burning bin spread widely.
At the time, she was 34 and the mother of five. She has since spoken openly about addiction, homelessness and instability, saying those years left her feeling as if she had no future and no control.
She said she had been awake for several days, drinking and taking drugs, when she became caught up in the crowd while on her way to the shops. In prison, she said, she began to understand the wider impact of the disorder, including fear inside homes, smashed cars and boarded-up windows.
That reflection now sits at the centre of her account. Vint said she was part of something she should not have been part of and that she wants to make amends for what happened.
The restorative justice meeting that changed the conversation
After her release, Vint took part in a restorative justice process with Restorative Cleveland, the service run by Safer Communities across the Cleveland Police area. That brought her face to face with Satti Collins, a retired primary school teacher who had recognised her as a child she once taught.
Collins said she wanted to know why Vint had done it and hoped to find her again. When they met more than 25 years after Collins had last seen her, the conversation turned from shock to accountability.
Collins described Vint as brave and honest, and said she had worked hard to turn her life around. Vint, for her part, said she was not racist but had still been part of a moment she should not have joined.
That meeting became a turning point. In Vint’s telling, it helped move her from public shame toward responsibility, and from prison reflection toward action.
What Stacey Vint is doing now
Since the restorative justice process, Vint and Collins have remained in contact and have shared their experience across the region. They have spoken at schools, addressed representatives from 18 schools at a conference, and delivered sessions to police officers about crime, addiction and getting caught up in disorder.
They also recently appeared at a community event organised by the Amal Project, which helped coordinate the clean-up after the unrest. The focus has been on consequences, recovery and what it means to repair harm after public disorder.
Vint said prison helped her stop using drugs and alcohol, and she has remained abstinent since her release while living in supported accommodation.
How it fits the wider aftermath
The Middlesbrough riots left a trail of damage, fear and anger that stretched beyond the day of the disorder. Vint’s case shows how one of the most visible moments from that night has now become part of a longer process of accountability and repair.
For Vint, the next stage is continuing to speak publicly about what happened and how addiction shaped her decisions. For those who heard her story, the message remains focused on the same point: the cost of disorder is carried far beyond the crowd. In that sense, itv news tyne tees has tracked not just a sentencing story, but a rare attempt at making things right.
