London: A 11-year-old boy on Wednesday became the
youngest person to be sentenced for stealing a waste bin worth
50 pounds during the recent London riots.
He was given an 18-month youth rehabilitation order at
Havering Magistrates` Court in Essex after admitting burglary.
The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, stole a
waste bin from Debenhams in Romford, Essex, on August 8 after
the windows of the store were smashed by looters.
He is the youngest rioter in London to face prosecution,
according to Scotland Yard.
He committed the offence just five days after being given
a referral order for arson and criminal damage in an unrelated
incident, the BBC reported.
Passing sentence, district judge John Woollard said: "You
seem to think that nobody can stop the way you behave."
The Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, refused to be drawn
on the case during a visit to Tottenham, saying "the worst
thing would be if politicians are second guessing the judges",
but added "if you break the laws... you`ve got to face the
consequences".
The boy, from Romford in Essex, took the waste bin,
which was worth 50 pounds, after a group of males smashed
windows at the store, causing 6,000 pounds of damage.
The boy was told that his local authority will dictate
where he lives for the next six months.
"My view is that the offence is a very serious one. If
you were a little older, you would be ending up in prison, you
would be looked after there rather than elsewhere. You need to
understand very clearly that you can`t get away with
committing offences of this nature," Woollard was quoted as
saying by the Press Association.
Police have arrested a total of 2,124 people over the
unrest in London and 1,221 people have been charged so far.
The four-day riots were the worst in England in three
decades, with masked youths engaged in arson and looting in
violence that left five people dead.
PTI
