Youths, 12, believed to be youngest convicted following nationwide riots

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Two 12-year-old boys are believed to have become the youngest people to be convicted of a criminal offence in connection with the nationwide public disorder.

The youths’ guilty pleas came as Downing Street said rioters could be released from prison after serving 40% of their sentence, as part of the early release scheme.

One of the youngsters admitted two charges of violent disorder after throwing a missile at a police van and taking part in two separate incidents of unrest in Manchester at the city’s magistrates’ court on Monday.

The court heard the youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was part of a group that gathered on July 31 outside a Holiday Inn hotel housing asylum seekers.

Prosecutors said the boy was “filmed by police kicking the front window of a vape shop” and was also seen kicking a bus as it drove past him.

The other 12-year-old youth admitted a charge of violent disorder at Liverpool Youth Court, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

A Number 10 spokeswoman said the early release scheme will be based on the sentence convicted criminals have been given and that there would be “no specific exclusion for the rioters”.

Elsewhere, the wife of a Conservative councillor appeared in court accused of encouraging people on social media to attack hotels housing asylum seekers.

Lucy Connolly, the wife of West Northamptonshire councillor Raymond Connolly, is alleged to have posted on X on the day three girls were stabbed to death in Southport, saying: “Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f****** hotels full of the bastards for all I care… If that makes me racist, so be it.”

The 41-year-old, of Parkfield Avenue, Northampton, is yet to enter a plea to the charge and was remanded in custody ahead of another hearing on September 2.

A 41-year-old man has been jailed for two years and eight months at Sheffield Crown Court for his part in the rioting outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Rotherham.

Ricky Hardman, who runs a haulage business, was arrested after a picture of him brandishing a piece of wood during the disorder on Sunday August 4 was published in a national newspaper, a judge was told.

In Manchester, a man has admitted throwing a missile at police during “shameful disorder” in Bolton town centre on August 4.

Niall Charnock, 31, was caught on social media footage breaking through a police barricade and throwing something at officers.

Another man admitted throwing missiles at police and exposing his genitals to a line of officers during disorder in the city.

Thomas Ward, 35, pleaded guilty to violent disorder and indecent exposure after he was seen in social media footage “stamping on fencing” and “throwing a plank of wood towards police officers” in Piccadilly Gardens on August 3.

Judge Joanne Hirst told Ward: “You inflamed an already shameful incident by exposing your genitals to upset people.”

At Teesside Crown Court, a 22-year-old who threw a vacuum cleaner through a house window and told a police officer “I hope your children get raped” during riots in Middlesbrough was jailed for 26 months.

Thomas Rogers pleaded guilty to violent disorder and possession of an offensive weapon after he was seen throwing bricks at police.

A teenager seen “celebrating” after throwing a rock which hit a police officer during riots in Darlington was detained for 18 months.

Cole Stewart, 18, was one of about 30 people who gathered outside a mosque in the town on August 5.

Stewart was seen breaking a large boulder into smaller rocks and throwing them towards police, and was later spotted “celebrating with his arms in the air” when one struck an officer in the arm.

Also in the North East, a 34-year-old man has admitted to sharing a video on TikTok in an effort to stir up racial hatred.

James Aspin, of Blyth, Northumberland, pleaded guilty to distributing a recording intending to stir up racial hatred during a hearing at Bedlington Magistrates’ Court.

In Liverpool, Dylan Carey, 26, was sentenced to 18 months in prison and will miss the birth of his child after he admitted to participating in violent disorder in Southport on July 30.

His pregnant girlfriend, Natasha Keenan, burst into tears in the public gallery as Carey was locked up for throwing various items, including a tin of paint, at a police van.

At Plymouth Crown Court, a man who grabbed a police officer’s baton and ran off with it during disorder in the Devon city has been jailed for three years.

Guy Sullivan, 43, admitted a charge of violent disorder relating to the incident during protests in Plymouth on August 5.

As of Monday, 975 people had been arrested and 546 charged in the wake of the disorder, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said.

According to the Crown Prosecution Service, as of Monday, 273 people have been charged in relation to the disorder.

The NPCC figure is higher to reflect charges which are solely issued by police and do not involve the CPS.