Girl, 13, admits threatening violence as more youths appear in court over riots

The youth pleaded guilty to violent disorder on Tuesday.

A police car burns as officers are deployed on the streets of Hartlepool (Owen Humphreys/PA) (PA Wire)

A 13-year-old girl has become the latest youngster to be convicted for her part in the widespread riots after admitting threatening unlawful violence outside a hotel housing asylum seekers.

Her conviction comes as analysis by the PA news agency shows more than 50 people have been sentenced since suspects began appearing in court over the nationwide disorder.

The youth pleaded guilty to violent disorder at Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday after she was seen punching and kicking the entrance to Potters International Hotel in Aldershot on July 31 during a protest.

Analysis by PA shows at least 50 youths under the age of 18 have been charged in connection with the riots.

The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted threatening unlawful violence that would cause a person to fear for his or her personal safety while with three or more other people in the Hampshire town.

She sat with her parents throughout the short hearing and a court official said she was granted unconditional bail.

District Judge Tim Pattinson ordered a pre-sentence report to be made and adjourned for the youngster’s sentencing to take place on September 30 at the same court.

In Liverpool, the longest prison sentence handed out to a rioter so far was given to Gareth Metcalfe, from Southport, who admitted participating in violent disorder in his home town.

He was jailed for three years and four months at Liverpool Crown Court after he was identified by officers reviewing social media footage.

His sentence follows other lengthy prison sentences, including for Tyler Kay who was jailed for 38 months for stirring up racial hatred.

Elsewhere, a man who looted cosmetics chain Lush during riots in Hull has pleaded guilty to violent disorder, burglary and racially aggravated criminal damage.

John Honey, 25, admitted three charges of burglary at Lush, the O2 store and Shoezone in the city on August 3.

He also pleaded guilty to the racially aggravated criminal damage of a BMW and damaging nine other cars.

Honey’s sentencing hearing was adjourned after claims he asked a prison probation officer “if he wanted his autograph as he is famous and is all over social media”.

In Sheffield, a 19-year-old man who admitted throwing bricks and lighted arrows at police protecting a hotel housing asylum seekers was jailed for three years.

Father-of-one Drew Jarvis was filmed lighting an arrow with a lighter and throwing it at officers during the rioting outside the Holiday Inn Express in Manvers, Rotherham, on August 4, a judge heard.

Unemployed Jarvis, of no fixed address, but originally from Barnsley, admitted violent disorder last week.

At the same court, 22-year-old self-employed construction worker Kaine Hicks was jailed for two years and eight months after admitting hurling abuse at police protecting the hotel and pushing against officers’ shields.

At Plymouth Crown Court, four men were jailed for violent disorder following an anti-immigration protest – including one man who did not “hit anyone… throw anything… (or) spit at anybody”.

Judge Robert Linford told Gary Harkness, 51, he was the “least involved” in terms of “direct violence” to come before him before jailing him for 12 months.

At Chester Crown Court, two men were jailed for stirring up racial hatred after calling for protests outside a hotel in their home town where asylum seekers were staying.

Christopher Taggart, 36, and Rhys McDonald, 34, both of Runcorn, Cheshire, pleaded guilty to publishing written material to stir up racial hatred and were handed sentences of 32 months and 28 months respectively.

Both posted messages on Facebook, with McDonald writing: “Need to march on the Daresbury Hotel with torches and pitchforks.”

A few days later, Taggart said: “We don’t want them here. F*** em. They started we will end it. All of this wouldn’t have happened if they shut the boarders (sic).”

Alleged rioters also continue to be brought before the courts, with further hearings due to take place in cities such as Sheffield, Plymouth, Liverpool and Manchester.

Far-right rallies and violence broke out in parts of the UK following the killing of three young girls in Southport after false claims spread online that the suspect was an asylum seeker who had arrived in Britain by boat.

As of Monday, 975 arrests had been made and 546 charges had been brought in the wake of the disorder, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said.

The figures do not represent the number of people charged, but the Crown Prosecution Service said prosecutors had helped secure charges for 354 people.

By comparison, in the wake of the August 2011 riots police made 4,105 arrests, according to a Home Office report published a month after the disorder broke out.