Britain's youngest rioter: Boy who had just turned 12 sentenced for involvement in violent disorder
5 November 2024, 15:28
A 12-year-old boy has become the youngest person to be sentenced over the riots on Merseyside following the Southport knife attacks.
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The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had only just turned 12 when he took part in the violent disorder that he has since accepted brought shame on his home city.
The court was shown an eight-minute compilation of footage whereby he can be seen picking items up from the ground, rooting through wheelie bins to find other objects, and throwing things at passing police vans as they responded to chaos on County Road.
The boy also admitted taking part in racist chanting, with crowds singing things like "Allah, Allah, who the **** is Allah".
Further footage showed the boy taking part in looting at a nearby Go Local, as a group of people helped themselves to around £3,000 of items including alcohol, cigarettes and scratch cards.
The boy pleaded guilty to violent disorder and burglary at an earlier hearing.
Appearing at Liverpool Youth Court, the boy, in a grey tracksuit, spoke about how he understood his behaviour that day was "abhorrent" and "unacceptable" and how he got carried away by what was going on around him.
Because of his age, he was handed an 'Intensive Referral Order' which will see him take part in educational sessions for 12 months, designed to teach him about the impact of his behaviour, cultural differences, the power of words and how to avoid getting into further trouble.
The judge urged him to make the most of the opportunity and to stay away from further trouble.
In August, another 12-year-old, but seven months older, was given the label of 'youngest rioter' for his part in the violence scenes in Southport on July 30th.
