A district judge has refused to allow a 17-year-old involved in the summer disorder outside a Rotherham hotel to be named, saying he struggled to see how lifting his anonymity would help deter future violence.
Sheffield Youth Court heard how the teenager was spotted waving a piece of wood above his head when he was part of the mob outside the Holiday Inn Express, in Manvers, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, which was housing 240 asylum seekers at the time.
He was arrested after he was tackled by a police dog called Luna, and the court heard the defendant spent six hours in hospital after his arrest because of injuries inflicted by the dog.
On Wednesday he avoided detention and was given a two-year youth referral order, with a number of provisions including a six-month night-time curfew.
Applications to allow the youth to be named were made by PA Media and the BBC, but these were refused by District Judge Tim Spruce.
Judge Spruce said he did not agree with arguments that lifting his anonymity would add to the deterrent effect of the sentencing of scores of adults after the rioting in parts of the UK in early August.
He said a number of weeks had now elapsed and “that horse has bolted”.
The judge said the lengthy sentences handed down to adults “has been an impressive message” and acknowledged that the “exceptional” response of the criminal justice system has “proved successful” in quelling the outbreaks of violence.
But he said six or seven weeks had now passed and “I struggle to see how lifting the anonymity order in (the boy’s) case will assist that message”.
Judge Spruce acknowledged that Kenzie Roughley, who had only just turned 18 when he was jailed for two years and four months when he became the first person to be sentenced for his part in the Rotherham violence, was not much older than this defendant.
But he said that the threshold of 18 was an important distinction in law and the fact the teenager was being dealt with in a youth court meant there were different priorities.
The judge said: “He was not, and is still not in law, an adult. Unlike Kenzie Roughley, (the boy) is entitled to statutory protection.”
He said: “This is not a hardened offender,” and added “There is a real opportunity here for further intervention.”
He said he had heard the boy was “horrified” and “genuinely upset” when it was explained to him about the terror experienced by the people trapped inside the hotel and the fact that the police on duty had families too.
The judge said: “I am satisfied that’s genuine.”
But he told the youngster: “It was shameful disorder and you were part of it.”
He said the defendant was at the forefront of an “ignorant mob” but acknowledged this was only for a short time.
Judge Spruce said: “You were part of the swarm of violent offenders.”
He told the boy that, if he had been adult, he could have been facing a sentence of between two and a half years and five years in prison.
But he said: “We don’t treat children like mini-adults. The principle aim of the youth justice system is to prevent offending. The welfare of children, which you are, is paramount.”
Judge Spruce told the teenager: “You have the opportunity to take a different path and move towards a more positive future.”
Asked if he wanted to say anything to the court, the boy said: “Sorry.”
The judge ordered the boy’s parents, who were both in court, to pay £111 in costs and surcharges, and advised them to recoup the cash from their son through household chores or other means.
The teenager pleaded guilty to violent disorder at a previous hearing.
The incident was part of the rioting outside the hotel which left 64 officers, three police dogs and a horse injured.
There were 240 asylum seekers in the hotel, which protesters tried to set on fire, and courts have heard how staff barricaded themselves in the kitchen with freezers, fearing they would die.
More than 45 men have so far been jailed for their parts in the Rotherham disorder.
A bus driver and former soldier who served in Iraq was jailed for two years and two months on Wednesday at Sheffield Crown Court for his role in the riot.
Lee Marshall, 39, of Princess Street, Barnsley, shoulder-barged a female officer in order to move the police line back and retrieve his phone, which he had lost when confronting officers.
He pleaded guilty to violent disorder and assaulting an emergency worker.
Chris Aspinall, defending Marshall, said he attended the protest “because he did have strong feelings that unregulated and uncontrolled immigration was a problem” but that he “played no part in any violence or racial chanting”.
The court heard that as a result of his prison sentence Marshall will “come out literally with nothing”, after losing his job with Stagecoach, his house, contact with his teenage son, and the ability to visit his partner in the US.
At the same court, Mason Lowe, 27, of Lowfield Road, Bolton-upon-Dearne, admitted violent disorder but pleaded not guilty to arson with intent to endanger life.
Arron Bailey, 28, of Margaret Close, Darfield, Barnsley, also pleaded guilty to violent disorder but denied attempted arson with intent to endanger life.
A provisional trial date of December 16 was set for both men, who were remanded in custody.
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