Boy, 12, youngest person to be sentenced over summer riots
A 12-year-old boy, who is the youngest known person in England to have been charged over the disorder in UK cities earlier this summer, has been given a 12-month referral order.
The boy, who cannot be named because of his age, appeared at Liverpool youth court yesterday.
He was also given a three-month curfew – between 9pm and 7am – while his father was given a sixmonth parenting order and ordered to pay £200 in compensation to the mosque at the heart of the disorder.
The boy, from Southport, had previously pleaded guilty to violent disorder after being involved in rioting in the seaside town, which broke out after a knife attack in Merseyside in which three girls were killed.
He was caught on CCTV throwing an object at police officers on 30 July, before riding off on a bicycle.
The court heard that he lived near the scene of the violence and had been out riding his bike with a friend at about 8.30pm. He had thrown two stones in the direction of the police, the court heard.
Judge Lloyd said that although these had not caused injury to anyone, he had joined an “angry group of people” and that he must have known that doing so was wrong.
The court heard that the boy handed himself in to Merseyside police after his mother recognised him when the force circulated images of people they wanted to speak to.
Prosecuting, Angela Conlan played footage of the violence to the court. She also read statements from a police officer who was injured during the Southport incident and a mosque leader who was trapped inside with worshippers when the building was targeted by a mob.
“It was like being under attack in a war,” the mosque leader said. “I was very scared.”
Passing sentence, Lloyd said that despite being 12, the boy had suffered problems with alcohol, which was “extremely concerning”.
“What you did that night was very wrong,” she said. “It really was a horrible situation, and you made it all the more horrible by joining in and throwing stones.”