London courts are working around the clock under police guard to sentence the youthful offenders who ran riot around the city looting and setting fire to buildings for four nights starting last Saturday.
One tearful mother wandering around Horseferry Magistrate’s Court in London’s Westminster borough told the Mail & Guardian how her 18-year old son had simply been “caught up” in the rioting.
“He didn’t do anything. He didn’t steal anything. He was just caught up in it all,” the woman said, asking not to be named, to protect her son. “I haven’t seen him since they arrested him.”
The mother was accompanied to court by two of her other sons, who were sporting tracksuits. There is talk among the authorities that the tracksuits with hoodies popular with teenagers might be banned on Britain’s streets.
The woman was growing desperate because she couldn’t locate her son in any of the courts that have been opened to hear the cases involving the looters and rioters.
“He’s a good boy. He’s not from a bad home,” said his mother. “They can’t always blame the parents. He has a job, he plays football. He’s a good kid. I don’t know what is going to happen to him now. I just have to find his solicitor.”
Legal representatives said they had requested a police guard because every other building was to be shut down in the area by 6pm, due to fear of further rioting, and this court would have stood out “like a Christmas tree”.
Creating havoc
Two hours later, the M&G heard how another 18-year-old boy — Mario Quiassaca — had joined a hooded gang near the upmarket Sloane Square in central London and attacked a trendy Hugo Boss store, and tried to force open an ATM machine.
The clothing they stole was worth up to £350, and the gang was accused of throwing missiles at the police.
Seven items were found in Quiassaca’s possession and all were from Hugo Boss, the court heard. The clothing was brand new in appearance, its tags were removed but Metropolitan police said they were brand new. They also apparently found a pair of latex gloves with blood on it in the pockets of one of the pieces of clothing that were allegedly stolen.
Quiassaca told police he had heard there were gangs raiding London and he had joined in when the trouble began.
When asked why he had taken part in the rioting, he told police it was because he had a resentment towards police because they often stopped him when he came home from football.
The young boy in the dock with him, 17-year-old Charlie Burton, had also been in Sloane Square on Monday night, he said. He told police the gang wanted to create havoc, but “he had not wanted to steal”.
Burton had gone home and told his mother after he had joined in the gang raids, he said. His supporters were in the public gallery. “He’s not a bad lad. He just got caught up in it,” said one of his friends.
Although both had previous convictions for minor issues, their legal representative asked that they be given bail and a curfew, which would monitored by an electronic tag. Burton has two previous convictions for being disorderly and drunk.
A serious case
The court ordered that both the young men be held in custody until their next court appearance.
Some of the children appearing in court for looting and rioting were as young as 15, and the oldest person was 32.
The M&G watched in the public gallery as a judge heard compelling reasons why a 23-year old young man — Iannick Pinto — who was captured on film looting and stealing, should not be sent to prison. Pinto entered a Sports Direct shop in London and stole clothing valued at up to £300.
“You have not been in trouble before. You have part time work and you are studying,” said senior district court judge, Howard Riddle, who made the extradition recommendation that Shrien Dewani should be sent back to South Africa.
But the case against Pinto was so serious Riddle said he was sending him to Woodgreen Court for a hearing and trial where a lengthier sentence could be imposed. Pinto was transferred for trial as the maximum sentence that can be imposed at the magistrate’s court is six months for one offence, and 12 months for two offences.
On Friday, the press pack was waiting outside the courts, laden with cameras. So far, the people who have made headline news in Britain for becoming involved in the rioting have been a 12-year-old and a young Olympic ambassador for Britain.
Protectors by night
Police have moved with haste to identify the looters and those involved in the violence, and at the last count the number of arrests made was 1Â 200. Hundreds of people have been charged after video footage and photographs were posted on the net and around the city.
While the looting and violence has mostly subsided around Britain due to a heavy police clampdown, vigilante groups formed to maintain a watch over their communities, saying that they were going to protect themselves.
After claims of a lack of police response to the violence, the residents of affected suburbs are taking no chances.
Twenty-five year old court orderly Ronnie Seaton said his community in Eltham in south-east London had gathered on the first night of the riots to protect the community and kept the looters and rioters from moving into the high street.
“Around 600 of us gather every night now to guard our community,” said Seaton. “I have a sister who works in a shop in Eltham high street and she has four kids. I can’t have anything happen to her. My own girlfriend is pregnant, so I work all day and then go out to protect my community at night.”
‘Tension but no racism’
Seaton said there had been allegations of racism in the community following the stabbing of black teenager Stephen Lawrence, who was stabbed to death by white youths while waiting for a bus in Eltham a few years ago.
“There is tension but there is no racism,” said Seaton. “We are all standing together in this; we will protect our community together. We will not let the gangs take over. They sent some gangs from Brixton and Peckham to fight us last night but we turned them away.”
Seaton said they were using Facebook to get residents out onto the streets as vigilantes. Police had been grateful for the assistance, he said.
On the streets of London, people are despondent, not knowing whether they will still have a future in Britain as a result of the unprecedented violence.
One London tourist information guide at Victoria central station in London, said August was meant to be Britain’s busiest tourist time.
“But you know what it is like, you come from South Africa, people run scared if there are riots.” he said. “Look around you, the place is deserted, compared to what it is usually like at this time of year. This is what our December usually looks like.”
Hard living
Another Londoner — 47-year old single mother Maggie Groarke — said she was feeling “depressed and upset about the state of affairs in Britain”. While she does not condone the violence, she said she thinks it is a backlash to the hardship people are now facing.
“I have grown-up kids. I was a single parent and my one child got a scholarship to be barristar. She went to the best law college to train, and the other one has a place at the conservatoire in Paris as an actress.”
Groark said the children had a good role model in her, and in her parents who were both doctors. Although she had to work, she got a grant to go to university herself and got places for the kids in the university creche. She also was given a flat on the campus at Lancaster University in the 1980’s.
“As a single parent now, I couldn’t do it today. There wouldn’t be the grant money to support me today,” said Groarke. “It is very hard now. I trained to be a teacher and did part-time work while raising my children. I don’t think there would be part-time jobs today. I don’t know how parents do it today.”