Teenage boy who joined riot on his 14th birthday sentenced for 'cowardly and shameful' behaviour
17 September 2024, 20:56 | Updated: 17 September 2024, 23:28
A boy who joined a riot on his 14th birthday and threw bricks at a police van has been sentenced for his "cowardly and shameful" behaviour.
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The teenager became part of a mob which taunted police before attempting to knock their helmets off outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in the Newton Health area of Manchester on 31 July.
The boy cannot be named because of his age, but admitted violent disorder at a previous hearing and stated that he was "ashamed and sorry" for his actions.
District judge Margaret McCormack, when sitting at Manchester Magistrates' Court, attacked his "wicked" behaviour and gave him a 12-month community sentence.
Violence arose nationwide in the days after the fatal stabbing of three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance club in Southport, Merseyside, on 29 July.
The court saw CCTV footage of the boy throwing missiles at police vehicles and kicking a bus.
The bus driver went on to be assaulted, but the 14-year-old was not part of that attack.
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The court heard that the boy did not have racial prejudices but instead had "joined in" with the violence.
Judge McCormack said she accepted he had made a "stupid mistake" and was sorry for his actions.
The boy's mother was also in court and was ordered to pay £150 in compensation to the bus driver.
In addition, another boy was arrested on his 13th birthday for participating in the same riot, and was sentenced at the same court.
The teenager was given a 12-month referral order for throwing objects - including an egg - at police.
Judge McCormack said he and others who had gathered outside the Holiday Inn had been "terrorising people trying to go about their daily lives".
She told him: "You may have been 12 but you knew what you were doing was wrong."
Additionally, the youngest person to appear before the courts due to this summer's violence in towns and cities across England was given a 12-month referral order.
The 12-year-old boy appeared before a judge at Liverpool Crown Court and admitted violence disorder, mostly throwing missiles at police during a riot in Southport on 30 July.
Six people admitted to charges relating to disorder outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Tamworth on 4 August.
A 19-year-old man from Middlesborough was sentenced to 18 months in jail for violent disorder and possessing drugs in a riot in Hartlepool on 31 July.
