A 15-year-old boy from Sunderland on Thursday became the first person in England to be charged by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) with rioting under Section 1 of the Public Order Act 1968, following violent anti-immigrant protests across the UK.
The charge of rioting carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, which is more than any other crime. Violent riots, for example, carry a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
To be charged with rioting, the defendant must have acted violently with 12 or more people for a common purpose and thereby caused reasonable fear and terror to others. The 15-year-old defendant had previously pleaded guilty to violent disorder and burglary on Sunday.
On August 2, people took to the streets in Sunderland, a continuation of violent unrest across the country. Mosques, Muslims and ethnic minorities were attacked in the riots. Video evidence released on Sky News shows burning buildings, cars overturned and burning, police station windows smashed and police officers guarding local mosques.
The CPS announced today, 16 August, that the first adult to be charged with rioting is Kieren Usher, who also took part in the riots in Sunderland on 2 August.
Likely in response to calls from politicians from all over the world, including Prime Minister Kier Starmer and former Scottish First Minister Hamza Yousaf, the police and CPS are now taking tougher action against rioters. British legal groups in particular have expressed concern about the new 24-hour night courts that have been introduced to deal with rioters.
The riots in Sunderland were condemned by Kim McGuinness, the mayor of the north-east.
McGuinness said it was:
It is vital that we bring calm and safety back to our streets and I have set out clearly what our region needs to avoid a repeat of the horrific scenes we saw in Sunderland this weekend. These events must stop: they are not a protest, they are a cover for violence and vandalism and will not be tolerated.
The riots began in response to a tragedy in Sefton, Southport, where a man wearing a COVID mask entered a Taylor Swift-themed dance performance for children and stabbed them, leaving three people dead. The defendant was falsely accused of being Muslim, sparking the riots that have been taking place in towns across the UK ever since. The leader of Sefton Council, the town in Southport where the attacks on the young girls took place, Marion Atkinson, has vowed to “stand strong and united with (Muslim people) against all forms of violence in our society”.
