UK riots latest: Man admits looting Lush shop as girl, 13, pleads guilty to threatening unlawful violence

More investment in frontline youth work could help keep young people away from violence and counter misinformation, a sector leader has said as children as young as 12 were convicted over the summer riots.

Analysis shows at least 50 youths under the age of 18 have been charged in connection with the nationwide disorder.

On Monday, two 12-year-old boys were convicted on charges of violent disorder, while Tuesday saw a 13-year-old girl plead guilty to the same charge.

Kayleigh Wainwright, from leading youth work charity UK Youth, said it is “really sad” to see children “caught up in this”, whether perpetrators, victims or witnesses to scenes of unrest.

The director of youth sector innovation, whose career working with young people has spanned two decades, said those who committed crimes must take responsibility but voiced concern that children can be “more vulnerable”.

Sentencing for a man who looted cosmetics chain Lush during riots in Hull has been adjourned after claims he asked a prison probation officer “if he wanted his autograph”.

John Honey helped attack a car with three Romanian men in, targeted a garage leaving nine vehicles damaged and pushed bins at police lines during the disorder on August 3.

The 25-year-old “played a prominent role” in the 12 hours of violence and unrest that gripped the city, prosecutors said.

Honey pleaded guilty to violent disorder and three charges of burglary at Lush, the O2 store and Shoezone. He also admitted racially aggravated criminal damage of a BMW, and to damaging nine other cars during an attack on a garage.

Judge John Thackray KC, the Recorder of Hull, said he had received a letter from a member of staff at HMP Hull who claimed they were conducting an assessment with Honey and that he had asked “if I wanted his autograph as he is famous and is all over social media”.

They said he was an “over-confident individual” who “presented with no remorse”.

The court heard Honey disputed the probation officer’s claims and wanted to be sentenced on the basis that he was “genuinely remorseful”.

The case was adjourned until Friday for further statements to be taken.

A woman has denied purchasing eggs and water for protesters to throw at police outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Manchester.

Barbara Barker, 52, of Tyndall Avenue, Manchester, pleaded not guilty to violent disorder at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday afternoon.

Prosecutor Suzanne Ludlow alleged Barker was a “willing participant in the disorder” and “aided and abetted the riots” by buying eggs and water from a nearby shop for protesters on July 31.

Defending, John Black told the court Barker went to the area because she was “nosey” and was not present when “violence occurred”.

Mr Black said Barker had “no reason” to believe the eggs she purchased would be “used in any unlawful purpose”.

Barker was remanded into custody and will appear at Manchester Crown Court on September 3 for a plea and trial preparation hearing.

Tom Tugendhat said Elon Musk’s claim that civil war was inevitable amid the disorder in parts of the UK was “delusional” and “simply false”.

The Tory leadership hopeful said people make different choices when it comes to engaging with social media when asked if politicians should rethink using X.

“Frankly I found those comments delusional and simply false. The question as to how we operate on social media is a difficult one,” he said.

Giving the example of TikTok, he said: “I refuse to be on TikTok because the algorithm is set by a foreign dictatorship. Others make different choices.”

A 16-year-old boy has been convicted of “participating in riots” in Bolton.

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to violent disorder at Manchester Magistrates’ Court, sitting as a youth court, on Tuesday afternoon.

Prosecutor Suzanne Ludlow said the charge related to the boy “participating in riots” in Bolton town centre on August 4.

District Judge Lucy Hogarth told the boy: “You were involved in an extremely serious incident where real harm was caused around the country by individual people involving themselves in what was happening.”

The boy was bailed and will be sentenced at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on September 17.

Former security minister Tom Tugendhat has claimed that Sir Keir Starmer did not show the UK the leadership that was needed during the unrest across the country over recent weeks, and claimed the announcement of a “standing army” was a “PR line and not a policy”.

“If he had chaired a daily Cobra meeting with senior police officers, the security services, the army and others, the Prime Minister could have given the police more of what they needed. They could have cancelled leave, extended mutual aid and confronted the rioters earlier with an overwhelming police presence.

“But this is not what we saw. We did not see the leadership we needed.

“They could have backfilled policing roles by calling up all special constables and using the army for backup office duties. They could have decided, before the shameful scenes outside the hotel in Rotherham, to allow the police to use appropriate force. They did none of this,” he added.

Tom Tugendhat suggested setting up a new national security police force to deal with counter-terrorism.

The Conservative leadership hopeful said: “The structure of policing, not least the Met’s confused mix of national and local responsibilities and its reporting to the Mayor and the Home Secretary, with each blaming the other, must also change.

“Removing counter-terrorism from the Met to create a new national security police force whose focus is not just counter-terror, but also state threats, would be one way of doing so.”

Shadow security minister and Tory leadership hopeful Tom Tugendhat accused Sir Keir Starmer of a “failure of leadership” over the disorder of the last two weeks.

He also hit out at Reform UK leader Nigel Farage for condemning the breakdown of law and order before the riots “but not the riots themselves”.

“I want to be clear, this is not leadership, it is deeply irresponsible and dangerous,” he said.

“Later when masked men gathered in Birmingham brandishing weapons and live on camera threatened female journalists and attempted to slash the tyres of broadcast vans, Jess Phillips, a Home Office minister, chose to justify their behaviour instead of condemning it because these were not far right hooligans but young Muslim men.

“This was a failure of leadership just as surely as that of Nigel Farage, and it is not the only failure of leadership by Keir Starmer’s Government over these last two weeks.”

Mr Tugendhat added: “This has been the Government’s first real test and the Prime Minister fell short.”

Tom Tugendhat warned against a “softly softly” approach to disorder, saying “visible lawlessness” was “radicalising”.

The shadow security minister said: “As Conservatives, we understand that order is not the product of freedom, rather our freedom depends on order.

“None of us are bystanders. We don’t have that luxury.

“Once lost, public order can be difficult to regain and social unrest can rear its head, which is why the police response to disorder must always be swift and determined.

“For officers on the street, policing a violent crowd is a dangerous job. We sometimes hear of the need to go softly softly and to make arrests later.

“But visible lawlessness is radicalising. It encourages others to join in and to commit crime.”

Tory leadership hopeful Tom Tugendhat said the disorder seen on the UK’s streets was “completely unacceptable” and he condemned “racist thugs” as he opened a speech in central London.

But the shadow security minister added: “Too often over the last two decades or more we have avoided being brutally honest about the underlying social unrest across society, preferring instead the warmth and false comfort of denial and complacency.

“Bombs have been detonated and we have moved on. Attempted terror attacks have gone without much comment. Wicked, violent crimes have taken place with little said or done.”