14-year-old boy not prosecuted over riots after stern telling off by parents

By Henry Moore

A 14-year-old taking part in the riots that swept England this summer was spared prosecution after receiving a stern telling-off from his parents.

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Director of public prosecutions (DPP) Stephen Parkinson said the wrath of the teen’s mother and father, who quickly took their son to a police station after discovering his role in the riots, was “more effective” than anything the criminal justice system could have done.

Mr Parkinson highlighted the actions of the mum and dad, comparing them to other parents who saw taking part in the far-right riots as a “leisure activity.”

"We've come across instances, anecdotally, of families regarding it as a day out, to go and just join in the disorder,” he told the PA News Agency.

"But conversely, we had an instance where a family marched their 14-year-old to the police station, having seen on social media that that individual had been involved in the disorder.

"And actually, we took the decision that the wrath that had been visited on that child by his parents was more effective than anything the criminal justice system could deliver.

"And so we took no further action."

Mr Parkinson, who took up the post as head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in November last year, said prosecutors are "very alive" to the risk of children being criminalised unnecessarily, after becoming involved in the riots which erupted in some parts of the UK in the summer, in the wake of the Southport stabbings.

A number of young children, including an 11-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl, were arrested in the wake of the riots.

August saw two 12-year-olds become the youngest people to be charged in relation to the riots.A 12-year-old boy from Southport was charged with violent disorder in the wake of the killings in Southport on July 29.

The boy, who cannot be named due to his age, was among three males charged over the riot that broke out the day after Bebe King, Alice da Silva Aguiar and Elsie Dot Stancombe were stabbed.

The other 12-year-old pleaded guilty to two counts of violent disorder while attending Manchester City Magistrates Court.