Jamie Hogg and Kevin Lankiewicz
Introduction
Jamie Hogg and Kevin Lankiewicz are two young Edinburgh men who admitted roles in the fireworks-fuelled mob disorder that struck the city’s Moredun area on consecutive nights in late 2024. On 31 October 2024 a group of around 20 youths smashed 45 windows across four blocks of flats, causing an estimated £50,000 of damage, set a pyrotechnic off inside a block of flats’ foyer and bombarded police cordons with fireworks; on 5 November the group fired fireworks horizontally along residential streets, blocked a road to police and emergency vehicles, and attacked a Scotmid store. Sheriff Campbell, sentencing at Edinburgh on 15 September 2026, detained Hogg for 18 months and imposed a 12-month tagged curfew on Lankiewicz .
Background Information
The 2024 Moredun disorder required what the sheriff called “a very substantial response” from police and other emergency services, at significant cost and diverting them from other operations, and left staff and customers distressed as businesses were targeted. Both men pled guilty at a continued first diet — Hogg to charges covering both nights, Lankiewicz to one charge covering the 5 November events. Both were sentenced as young people under the Scottish Sentencing Council’s guideline, the court recognising that immaturity contributed to offending in which they “thought less clearly” about the consequences and took more risks, while noting neither was under peer pressure or exploitation .
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Admitted active roles in two nights of fireworks rioting in Edinburgh — 45 windows smashed, police cordons attacked, a shop door bricked; detained and tagged.
On the evening of 31 October 2024, Hogg was one of a group of about 20 youths mobbing and rioting in Moredun, causing extensive damage. At Moredun House, Marytree House, Little France House and Castleview House a total of 45 windows were smashed with an estimated repair cost of £50,000. The group set off fireworks indiscriminately and threw rocks at windows; at one point a pyrotechnic was set off in the foyer of a block of flats, something the sheriff said could have had a very serious outcome. Later, in Moredunvale Road, the group abused members of the public trying to calm things, one member lit and threw a firework toward the public, and police cordons came under prolonged attack with fireworks set off in all directions, including toward officers .
On the evening of 5 November 2024, Hogg was again identified among around 20 youths in dark clothing and face coverings gathering in Moredunvale Road. He and others set off fireworks horizontally — extremely dangerous, the court said, in an area surrounded by buildings and people. The group removed fencing from a building site and blocked the road, including to police and emergency vehicles, and moved wheelie bins into the middle of a roundabout. Lankiewicz was seen setting light to objects on the roundabout, returning a short time later to pour accelerant on top and add several planks of wood. The group then travelled toward the Scotmid on Moredun Park Road, where staff locked the doors for safety; an unknown male threw a brick at the shop door, and Hogg retrieved it and threw it at the door twice more, smashing the pane. Hogg was in possession of fireworks throughout .
Public Reaction and Consequences
Sheriff Campbell told both men it was “only down to good fortune that your actions did not result in more severe consequences for innocent members of the public.” For Hogg — whose prior offending was dealt with in the children’s hearing system and who grew up in a family troubled by addiction but has since matured, sought work experience and engaged with bail supervision — the court set a headline cumulo sentence of 24 months’ detention, reduced to 18 months for the plea timing. The sheriff noted Hogg chose to be involved on two separate evenings .
For Lankiewicz — reported to have been very heavily intoxicated on a mix of drink and drugs, “a partial explanation, but in no way an excuse” — the court found an alternative to custody: a restriction of liberty order requiring him to remain at home between 7pm and 5am every day for 12 months, the longest period available, enforced by an electronic tag. His rehabilitation credit included moving to Glasgow, securing a permanent job, efforts to stay clean of drugs and an assessed reduced risk of further serious offending .
Current Status
Hogg is serving 18 months’ detention imposed on 15 September 2026; Lankiewicz is under a 12-month restriction of liberty order with electronic monitoring. The court’s sentencing statement records the two nights of disorder in detail, including the £50,000 repair bill, the pyrotechnic in the flats’ foyer and the attacks on police cordons — the standing judicial account of the Moredun riots in which both admitted playing active parts .
Impact on Their Career/Life
Hogg’s path from the children’s hearing system to a young-offender detention term of 18 months marks the court’s answer to his choice to return on the second night; Lankiewicz’s tagged curfew keeps him at home every evening for a year, with some pending matters still before the court. Both sentences are built around the young-person guideline — shorter than adult equivalents so rehabilitation can begin earlier — but the sheriff made clear the prospect of custody was appropriate for offending of this kind, and for Hogg it was imposed .
Sources
- “HMA v Jamie Hogg and Kevin Lankiewicz” — Judiciary of Scotland sentencing statement, 15 September 2026: source