LONDON –
A 15-year-old boy on Thursday became the first person to be charged with rioting following a wave of violent unrest that swept across the U.K.
Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service said the teen, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, would appear at South Tyneside Youth Court later Thursday and be asked to enter a plea. He was charged following disorder in Sunderland in northern England on Aug. 2.
“This defendant is one of a number of individuals who we expect will be charged with riot,” said Gale Gilchrist, chief crown prosecutor for northeast England.
Hundreds of people have been arrested since riots erupted on July 30 after misinformation spread online that the suspect in a knife attack that killed three children was a Muslim asylum-seeker. Protesters fuelled by far-right activists attacked a mosque in the town of Southport, where the girls were killed, and the violence soon spread to cities and towns across the country.
Many have been charged with violent disorder and sentenced, but no one had so far been charged with rioting, a more serious offence that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
Last week, a 26-year-old man who used social media to encourage people to torch hotels that house asylum-seekers was sentenced to more than three years in prison.