An unnamed 14-year-old boy involved in the riots that followed the Southport stabbings escaped punishment after his parents effectively punished him. The director of public prosecutions, Stephen Parkinson, said that the telling-off the child received after being taken to a police station was a more effective deterrent than taking him through the courts. More than 570 people faced court proceedings as a result of the riots, with at least 49 of those charged aged under 18. Parkinson commented that prosecutors are “very alive” to the risks of unnecessarily criminalising children, but that the state sometimes has to intervene.
Parkinson said that a family had marched their 14-year-old to the police station after discovering he had been involved in the riots, and that prosecutors had decided that the wrath of the parents was more effective than anything the criminal justice system could deliver. In contrast, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had come across families who viewed participation in riots as a “day out”. The youngest person to appear in court over the riots was a 12-year-old boy given a 12-month referral order and a three-month curfew after pleading guilty to violent disorder.
Parkinson said that the objective of intervention with children was not to criminalise them, but to put them on the right path. The courts have been swift to administer tough sentences to those convicted in relation to the riots, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer emphasising that those involved would “feel the full force of the law”. Parkinson commented that the CPS was proud of the way it responded, and that the first sentence given probably sent shockwaves. The CPS plans to review its role in the prosecutions and consider lessons to be learned.
The unrest in towns and cities across England began in July following the fatal stabbings of three young girls in Southport. Misinformation fuelling the outbreaks including false suggestions spread online that the suspect was an asylum seeker arriving in the UK by boat. Parkinson also revealed that investigations were underway to ascertain whether any alleged criminality had been committed by far-right groups during the riots
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