Riot boy, aged 11, sentenced for bin theft

The boy from Romford in Essex, who cannot be named for legal reasons, 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, criminal damage and carrying a pointed instrument in an unrelated incident.

The 11-year-old stole the waste bin, which was worth £50, from Debenhams in Romford on August after a group had smashed the store’s windows.

Previous offence

He was already under a referral order for an incident on 18 July when he cut the seats of a bus with a Stanley knife and tried to set fire to the exposed foam.

When the driver would not let him off, the 11-year-old threw a stone at the exit door of the route 174 bus, and then kicked a hole in the shattered glass so he could jump out while the bus was still moving.

You seem to think that nobody can stop the way you behave. If you were a little older, you would be ending up in prison. District Judge John Woollard

He was sentenced at Havering magistrates court in Essex after previously admitting burglary.

District Judge John Woollard said: “You seem to think that nobody can stop the way you behave.”

The boy was given an 18-month youth rehabilitation order and told that his local authority will dictate where he lives for the next six months.

The judge said the boy, who sat in court next to his mother, had been involved in a “major disorder” just days after appearing before magistrates.

“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,” he said.