Courts sit all night to process the hundreds arrested by police
Source: Agencies |
August 12, 2011, Friday
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COURTS around England were struggling yesterday to cope with the huge numbers arrested during this week's riots, including a millionaire's daughter, a charity worker and a woman who handed herself in after suffering pangs of guilt.
At Westminster magistrates' court, police vans queued round the block and spectators jostled for places as a procession of defendants trooped through the dock. "Chaos reigns downstairs," said one defense lawyer.
Courts in the capital and elsewhere have been sitting overnight to deal with an unprecedented number of cases.
London police said that by midday yesterday they had arrested 922 people in connection with violence, disorder and looting. Of those, 401 have so far been charged.
One defendant, graduate Natasha Reid, 24, handed herself in because she was "unable to sleep" after looting a television from an electrical store. She was warned that despite her remorse she could still face jail.
A millionaire's daughter, Laura Johnson, 19, was remanded in custody when she appeared in court in Bexley near London after being arrested behind the wheel of a car filled with stolen electrical goods and alcohol worth about US$7,500.
A teenage girl from south London handed herself in after seeing her picture in the paper. She told police she was just a bystander, but prosecutors said CCTV showed her ducking under the broken shutters of a store twice and emerging each time with a flat screen television. She was detained in custody pending trial.
Charity worker Barry Naine, 42, was also remanded in custody accused of breaking into a clothing shop in Peckham, south London.
At Westminster, hearings were held in two small courtrooms, with the press packed into a tiny public gallery and standing room only elsewhere.
One of the first cases was that of a university law student accused of being part of a gang that ransacked cafes and restaurants in upmarket St John's Wood, north London.
Marouane Rouhi, 21, was one of 16 people charged with violent disorder. Magistrates were told they "ransacked properties and terrorized customers." He was remanded in custody.
Sameer Shah, 18, who works for a youth charity, was also charged with violent disorder in St John's Wood.
In the northern city of Manchester, eight men had been jailed by 7am yesterday on charges ranging from attacking police officers to handling stolen goods.
At Westminster magistrates' court, police vans queued round the block and spectators jostled for places as a procession of defendants trooped through the dock. "Chaos reigns downstairs," said one defense lawyer.
Courts in the capital and elsewhere have been sitting overnight to deal with an unprecedented number of cases.
London police said that by midday yesterday they had arrested 922 people in connection with violence, disorder and looting. Of those, 401 have so far been charged.
One defendant, graduate Natasha Reid, 24, handed herself in because she was "unable to sleep" after looting a television from an electrical store. She was warned that despite her remorse she could still face jail.
A millionaire's daughter, Laura Johnson, 19, was remanded in custody when she appeared in court in Bexley near London after being arrested behind the wheel of a car filled with stolen electrical goods and alcohol worth about US$7,500.
A teenage girl from south London handed herself in after seeing her picture in the paper. She told police she was just a bystander, but prosecutors said CCTV showed her ducking under the broken shutters of a store twice and emerging each time with a flat screen television. She was detained in custody pending trial.
Charity worker Barry Naine, 42, was also remanded in custody accused of breaking into a clothing shop in Peckham, south London.
At Westminster, hearings were held in two small courtrooms, with the press packed into a tiny public gallery and standing room only elsewhere.
One of the first cases was that of a university law student accused of being part of a gang that ransacked cafes and restaurants in upmarket St John's Wood, north London.
Marouane Rouhi, 21, was one of 16 people charged with violent disorder. Magistrates were told they "ransacked properties and terrorized customers." He was remanded in custody.
Sameer Shah, 18, who works for a youth charity, was also charged with violent disorder in St John's Wood.
In the northern city of Manchester, eight men had been jailed by 7am yesterday on charges ranging from attacking police officers to handling stolen goods.
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