Boy pleads guilty to charges

The case of the 15-year-old boy from South Liverpool, who is represented by Joe Ely, is being called on now.

The youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is supported in court by his mum.

He is charged with violent disorder on Paradise Street in the city centre on Saturday.

The boy is brought into the dock wearing a blue hoodie.

He speaks to confirm his name, date of birth and address before pleading guilty to the single count.

Mr Sanderson-Kirk says: “The crown’s case is he attended Liverpool city centre on August 3 in respect of violent disorder. CCTV enquiries were made, and also members of the public were encouraged to send videos in. A TikTok video was sent in with CCTV, and a PCSO identified [the defendant] as being involved.”

The CCTV footage is played to the court.

Mr Sanderson-Kirk continues: “There is a line of police in front of him. There seems to be a confrontation with a member of the crowd.”

The video shows the youth taking his t-shirt off before picking up a paving slab and throwing it at the member of the public in question.

It then hits the man, who has his back turned, on the back of the head.

The teenager has no previous convictions, although he “successfully completed a community resolution in July last year”.

He was said to have been on bail with a condition not to attend the city centre at the time.

His case will be adjourned for sentencing in the youth court on September 17 in order to enable the completion of a pre-sentence report.

The defendant is released on bail until this date under the condition not to enter the L1, L2 or L3 postcode areas, other than to attend appointments with his solicitors.

Judge Boswell tells the boy: “The court on the 17th of September is going to have to decide what the sentence should be. I will order a pre-sentence report. That will help the judge to make the right decision about what the sentence should be. They could send you to a young offenders’ prison or not. I am sure that you appreciate that this is a very serious matter.”

Liverpool Echo