Boy, 12, who threw stones at police becomes youngest to be sentenced after Southport riots
A 12-year-old boy is believed to have become the youngest person sentenced after riots erupted in Southport this summer.
The boy – who cannot be named because of his age – previously admitted to a charge of violent disorder in the Merseyside town on 31 July after the fatal stabbing of three young girls.
Arriving at Liverpool Youth Court with his father on Tuesday, the boy was given a 12-month referral order and a three-month curfew order.
District Judge Wendy Lloyd also gave his father a six-month parenting order and ordered him to pay £85 in costs and £200 compensation to Southport Mosque.
The court was told the boy has no previous charges and has had a difficult home life.
Sentencing the youth, Ms Lloyd said: “These offences have shaken society to the core. It was an angry mob and you chose to be part of it.
“You have had a complicated and in many ways sad young life. But what you did that night was very wrong. It really was a horrible situation and you made it more horrible by engaging in throwing stones.
“Many police officers were hurt that night.”
Rioting erupted in multiple cities across the UK the day after six-year-old Bebe King, Alice da Silva Aguiar, aged nine, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, aged seven, were stabbed in a rampage at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on 29 July.
The youngster is believed to have been one of a group of people who threw missiles at a mosque and bricks at police officers after misinformation spread on social media that suspect Axel Rudakubana was an immigrant.
PC Bourhill of Merseyside Police said he was hit on the chin by a piece of concrete leaving him bleeding, then hit on the head by a second concrete missile, causing him to black out before being taken to hospital, the court heard.
He said in a statement: “I have never experienced such high level of violence towards police.”
Imam Sheik Ibrahim Hussein said in a statement he was locked inside the mosque as crowds chanted outside. Pic: PA
In all 93 police officers were injured in the trouble.
Like a ‘war zone’
Ibrahim Hussein, chairman of Southport Islamic Society Mosque, said in a statement that after the stabbings, three security guards sent by the Home Office turned up at the mosque.
He said he locked himself and a small number of worshippers inside the mosque as bricks were hurled at the building and crowds could be heard shouting: “We will get you out of here, you Muslim bastards.”
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Mr Hussein was escorted from the building at midnight and described the outside as looking like a “war zone”. He returned the next day to find council workers, the fire brigade and local residents clearing up.
Defending the boy, Heather Toohey, said that in terms of having an unstable upbringing, the youngster “ticks every box”.
She said he simply got “caught up” in the trouble, adding: “He knows he acted out of stupidity.”
Liverpool have won the Premier League title after a 5-1 victory over Tottenham at Anfield.
Arne Slot’s men did it in impressive style, turning over Spurs in a convincing win.
It was a rocky start for the Reds after Dominic Solanke put the north London side ahead.
However, fortunes quickly changed in the first half as Liverpool scored three times without a response.
Captain Virgil van Dijk (centre) celebrates. Pic: Reuters
Salah on his knees in celebration after the final whistle. Pic: AP
Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott (below) and Jarell Quansah celebrate after full-time. Pic: PA
Slot cheers after the full-time whistle. Pic: AP
In the second half, it took until the 63rd minute for Mohamed Salah to make it 4-1 before a fifth followed.
The Reds have won the title in manager Arne Slot’s first season in charge, and move level with fierce rivals Manchester United on 20 league championships.
But it makes them arguably the most successful English club ever as they have won more European Cup or Champions League titles.
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk told Sky Sports after the final whistle: “It’s special and it’s something that we don’t take for granted. It’s amazing.
“A lot of emotions before the game, during the whole week, but we got the job done and we (are) truly deserved champions of England. (Liverpool is) the most beautiful club in the world and I think we deserve all of this. Let’s enjoy the next couple of weeks and let it sink in.”
Liverpool’s Kostas Tsimikas poses with a Premier League trophy cut out. Pic: Reuters
Manager Arne Slot and his team after the final whistle. Pic: AP
Slot took over last summer from Jurgen Klopp, who guided them to their previous and maiden Premier League title triumph in 2020, when the COVID-19 lockdown saw matches played behind closed doors.
He is the first Dutch manager to win the Premier League and the fifth man to do so in a debut campaign after Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, Manuel Pellegrini, and Antonio Conte.
Speaking to Sky Sports he said: “They [the players] did an outstanding job today. The main job was to win. Everyone said we had got it already. But we had to make sure and we got over the line.”
Several players, including Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Virgil van Dijk, and Mohamed Salah, played leading roles in both the 2025 and 2020 campaigns.
Van Dijk and Salah recently signed new contracts extending their careers at the club.
Mohamed Salah takes a selfie with fans after scouring the fourth Liverpool goal. Pic: AP
Fans at Anfield during the game. Pic: AP
Fans in the stands at Anfield before full-time. Pic: Reuters
Liverpool will have to wait until the final game of the season – at home to Crystal Palace on 25 May – to be presented with the Premier League trophy.
It will be the first time the club’s fans will have seen their side lift the top-flight title in person since 1990.
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Two pro-Palestinian demonstrators have thrown red powder on Tower Bridge – just moments before leading runners in the London Marathon went past.
The protesters were arrested on suspicion of causing a public nuisance and remain in custody, said the Metropolitan Police.
A video shared by Youth Demand, which is calling for a trade embargo on Israel, shows two people jumping over a barrier that separates spectators from the race course.
The pair, wearing t-shirts that say “Youth Demand: Stop Arming Israel”, are then seen standing in the middle of the road on the bridge.
Pic: LNP
They throw red powder in the air as an official marathon car goes past displaying the race time.
A motorbike with a cameraman on board continues along the route, while a second motorbike stops and one of the riders gets off and pushes the pair out of the way, just before the men’s elite runners pass.
Several police officers then jump over the barrier and detain the pair, the footage shows.
There appeared to be no impact on the marathon.
More than 56,000 participants were expected to take part in the 26.2-mile race through the capital.
Sabastian Sawe of Kenya won the men’s elite race in a time of two hours, two minutes and 27 seconds, while Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa shattered the women’s-only world record in two hours, 15 minutes and 50 seconds.
Assefa beat the previous best of two hours, 16 minutes and 16 seconds set last year in London by Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir.
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Pic: LNP
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “At around 10.38am, two protesters from Youth Demand jumped over barriers at Tower Bridge and threw red paint on to the road.
“Marathon event staff intervened to remove the protesters from the path of the men’s elite race which was able to pass unobstructed.”
The force added that they were “quickly supported by police officers who arrested the protesters on suspicion of causing a public nuisance”.
The Met said the paint “appeared to be chalk-based” and was not expected to “present a hazard to runners yet to pass this point”.
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