Boy, 12, believed to be youngest convicted following nationwide riots

A 12-year-old boy is believed to have become the youngest person to be convicted of a criminal offence in connection with the nationwide public disorder.

The youngster admitted two charges of violent disorder after throwing a missile at a police van and taking part in two separate incidents of unrest in Manchester at the city’s magistrates’ court on Monday.

The court heard the youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was part of a group that gathered on July 31 outside a Holiday Inn hotel housing asylum seekers.

Prosecutors said the boy was “filmed by police kicking the front window of a vape shop” and was also seen kicking a bus as it drove past him.

Another 12-year-old youth is scheduled to appear at Liverpool Youth Court charged with violent disorder.

Elsewhere, the wife of a Conservative councillor is also due to appear in court 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.

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.

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.

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.

Also in the North East, a 34-year-old man has admitted to sharing a video on TikTok in an effort to stir up racial hatred.

James Aspin, of Blyth, Northumberland, pleaded guilty to distributing a recording intending to stir up racial hatred during a hearing at Bedlington Magistrates’ Court.

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.

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