A 12-year-old boy who threw stones at police during riots outside a mosque has become the youngest person to be convicted in connection with the far-right unrest in England this summer.
The boy, who cannot be named because of his age, had already admitted a charge of violent disorder in the town of Southport on July 31.
District Judge Wendy Lloyd sentenced the boy on Tuesday to a three-month curfew and a 12-month referral order, which requires him to attend a rehabilitation programme.
The judge told the boy that the riots had "shattered society to its core".
"It was an angry mob and you chose to be part of it," Lloyd said.
The riots in Southport, on the north coast of England, began shortly after a knife attack at a dance school in the town that left three girls dead. False rumours spread online about the suspect in the attack, who was believed to be an asylum seeker.
The young man who was sentenced today was part of a crowd of hundreds of protesters who set fire to a police van and attempted to storm the Southport Islamic Society mosque.
The violence quickly spread to towns and cities across the country, but the unrest died down after those involved were quickly charged and convicted.
Police made more than 1,000 arrests and laid more than 800 charges.
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