A desperate grandmother said today that she had reached the end of her tether with a boy branded by a judge as ‘Britain’s worst rioter’ – adding that she does not know how he can be helped back onto the straight and narrow.
The 12-year-old boy – whose father is in prison – was in court yesterday where he admitted joining two mob rampages through Manchester in three days.
His mother looked on tearfully as a judge said he was ‘more involved in the violence and disorder than any other defendant’.
The boy was warned he would face consequences and told him: ‘It’s time to stop letting your mum down now.’
But the lout’s exasperated grandmother today claimed she spent seven months looking after the boy before he clashed with her disabled son and messed up her home.
He then went back to stay with his mother – and had gone missing for a week before getting involved in rioting.
It comes as:
The 12-year-old boy – whose father is in prison – was in court yesterday where he admitted joining two mob rampages through Manchester in three days
the lout’s exasperated grandmother today claimed she spent seven months looking after the boy before he clashed with her disabled son and messed up her home
Police outside a Holiday Inn hotel in Newton Heath, Manchester, on July 31 following rioting
It is believed he was staying with older teenagers when he became involved in the riot outside a hotel housing migrants in Newton Heath, Manchester, on July 31.
He then joined disorder in Manchester three days later on August 3.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, the 52-year-old grandmother said: ‘I work with young people and if I can help out, I will do. But I just can’t help him anymore. I’ve done my nanna bit.
‘I think he likes the excitement. He’s seen a lot of violence in his life, sadly. His dad is serving a long prison sentence. His mother can’t control him.
‘It’s incredibly sad. He’s a lovely little boy when on his own. You’d think he’d actually listen to what you try to tell him but it goes in one ear and out the other.’
The grandmother said she fears that if he is sentenced to juvenile detention, it could make his behaviour worse as he will be with ‘older and worse lads’.
Riot police in central Manchester on August 3, which was the day the boy joined the disorder
She said: ‘He likes to show off, he likes to think he’s the big man. I don’t know whether detention would be a good or bad thing.’
The boy has never settled into any school, getting into trouble even at nursery and being moved regularly due to behavioural issues, the grandmother revealed.
She said: ‘When he was living with me, I got him to go to school and to boxing, to give him some discipline. Then he told me he just wanted to go home, back to where his mother lives, which he calls ‘The Hood’.
‘I don’t know where he’s going to live or what’s going to be done. I couldn’t take him back because of my son.’
The grandmother said she understands the rioting is the worst thing he has been involved in – but revealed police have previously been involved with him.
Police form a line to separate opposing demonstrators in Manchester on August 3
She said: ‘He’s got bad ADHD. If he’s not taking his medication he’s a danger to himself and others. He’d even run into the road.
‘He’s in serious trouble now. The question is, what’s the right thing to do with him? It’s such a shame.’
Yesterday, a youth court in Manchester was told that the boy was involved in two incidents of disorder within the space of four days.
Prosecutor Tess Kenyon said he was in a group gathered outside a Holiday Inn hotel in Manchester that housed asylum seekers on July 31, two days after the Southport stabbings.
She said he was seen on video ‘handing a rock to another youth during the disorder’ and kicking the side of a bus as it drove past.
Police officers detain a demonstrator during a protest outside Downing Street on July 31
On August 3 he was causing trouble again, this time in Manchester city centre where, while wearing a balaclava, he was filmed by police kicking the front window of a vape shop before throwing a missile at police.
The boy admitted two charges of violent disorder for which his lawyer, Natasha McGarr, said he was ‘very sorry’ and ‘absolutely ashamed’ of his conduct.
His mother told the court he had ADHD and went to live with his grandmother for seven months because of his behaviour at home but returned ‘as she couldn’t handle him’.
District Judge Joanne Hirst said the case was the first she had dealt with of a person attending both incidents.
She added: ‘He’s more involved in the violence and disorder than any other defendant I’ve seen coming through these courts, adult or child.’
Judge Hirst warned the boy he would face consequences and told him: ‘It’s time to stop letting your mum down now.’
She added: ‘You have gone out not once but twice.
John Honey, 25, pictured outside Greggs with stolen goods in Hull on August 3
Honey is seen outside a Lush store in Hull which he stole products from amid the riots
Honey admitted three charges of burglary at the bath and shoe stores in the city of Hull
‘You are the first person I have dealt with to have been involved in two. You are to do one thing – do as you’re told.’
The boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was remanded to local authority accommodation and will be sentenced next month.
Meanwhile, the Greggs rioter caught out on social media as he looted Lush, O2 and Shoezone – while clutching stolen pasties was unmasked today as 25-year-old John Honey.
He admitted three charges of burglary at the bath and shoe stores in the city of Hull on August 3.
He also pleaded guilty to the racially aggravated criminal damage of a BMW and damaging nine other cars.
Footage shared on social media shows Honey entering various stores during the riots in Hull that left 11 police officers injured.
His St George’s Cross rugby shirt meant he was easy to identify as he took bath products from Lush and smashed up the shoe store with a chair.
Elsewhere, teenage father Drew Jarvis, 19, was sentenced to three years behind bars after being caught on TikTok throwing a brick at police guarding the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham on Sunday last week.
Drew Jarvis, 19, was sentenced to three years behind bars after being caught on TikTok throwing a brick at police guarding the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham on Sunday last week
A police officer is seen trying to extinguish flames after a mob set a wheelie bin alight at the Holiday Inn Express hotel in Rotherham which was housing asylum seekers
Sheffield Crown Court saw footage filmed from an upstairs window of the hotel, in which Jarvis – wearing a blue Adidas hoodie and face mask – was recorded throwing a plank of wood at the hotel around midday.
Later on Jarvis, said to be ‘at the fore’ of about a dozen violent individuals, was shown throwing a brick at police officers – then at 5.40pm he was videoed lighting arrows and launching them at the police line.
When sentencing Jarvis, Recorder of Sheffield Judge Jeremy Richardson today said the conduct of him and the mob was ‘vile towards the occupants of the hotel and the police’.
He added: ‘You were desirous of provoking both. You were desirous of spreading hate.”
Prosecutor Neil Coxon told the court that Jarvis handed himself in to Wombwell Police Station last Thursday and pleaded guilty at Sheffield Magistrates’ Court to violent disorder.
Jarvis said: ‘I got in with the wrong crowd. I don’t know what I did it.’
John Kirtley, 26, was caught on camera violently pushing shopping trolleys at officers
Kirtley has been convicted of violent disorder at South Tyneside Magistrates’ court
Footage shows Kirtley kicking out at frontline officers during the chaos
A thug draped in a St George’s flag who kicked out at riot police and smashed trollies into officers was also among the latest rioters convicted over the violence on Britain’s streets.
John Kirtley, 26, of Sunderland, was caught on camera as violence erupted when far-right demonstrations turned to chaos.
Today the thug admitted violent disorder in connection with his role in the protests, with dramatic footage showing Kirtley forcefully hurling trolleys at officers.
The rioter was caught on camera throwing bricks and a beer keg towards police officers who were protecting a mosque, South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court heard.
He also shouted ‘England till I die’ as he waved a flare.
It comes as a 13-year-old girl became the youngest known female rioter to be convicted today following anti-immigration protests as a result of the Southport stabbings.
The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted violent disorder in Aldershot outside a hotel two days after the attack in Merseyside – having punched and kicked the entrance to the building.