Children as young as 12 due in court over widespread riots

Children as young as 12 are due to appear in court as suspects continue to be charged over widespread public disorder.

Those in court on Monday include the wife of a Conservative councillor who is accused of encouraging people on social media to attack hotels housing asylum seekers.

Lucy Connolly, the wife of West Northamptonshire councillor Raymond Connolly, is alleged to have posted on X on the day three girls were stabbed to death in Southport , saying: “Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f****** hotels full of the bastards for all I care… If that makes me racist, so be it.”

The 41-year-old, of Parkfield Avenue, Northampton, is yet to enter a plea to the charge and will appear at the town’s crown court.

The Crown Prosecution Service said two 12-year-olds have been charged with violent disorder, with one due to appear at Liverpool Youth Court and the other at Manchester City Magistrates’ Court.

The pair are believed to become the youngest to appear in court in connection with the disorder.

Also in Manchester, a man has admitted throwing a missile at police during “shameful disorder” in Bolton town centre on August 4.

Niall Charnock, 31, was caught on social media footage breaking through a police barricade and throwing something at officers.

A 41-year-old man has been jailed for two years and eight months at Sheffield Crown Court for his part in the rioting outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Rotherham.

Ricky Hardman, who runs a haulage business, was arrested after a picture of him brandishing a piece of wood during the disorder on Sunday August 4 was published in a national newspaper, a judge was told.

At Teesside Crown Court, a teenager seen “celebrating” after throwing a rock which hit a police officer during riots in Darlington was detained for 18 months.

Cole Stewart, 18, was one of about 30 people who gathered outside a mosque in the town on August 5.

Stewart was seen breaking a large boulder into smaller rocks and throwing them towards police, and was later spotted “celebrating with his arms in the air” when one struck an officer in the arm.

So far, 927 people have been arrested and 466 charged in relation to the recent disorder, a spokesman for the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said on Monday.

According to the Crown Prosecution Service, as of Monday, 273 people have been charged in relation to the disorder.

The figure released by the NPCC is higher to reflect charges which are solely done by police and do not involve the CPS.