Girl, 13, sentenced over violent disorder at hotel

A 13-year-old girl has been sentenced for her part in a violent protest at a hotel housing asylum seekers.

The girl, who cannot be named because of her age, was filmed punching and kicking a glass door at Potters International Hotel in Aldershot, Hampshire, on 31 July.

The teenager had previously admitted using or threatening violent behaviour which would cause people to be fearful for their safety.

District Judge Tim Pattinson, sitting in a youth court at Basingstoke Magistrates' Court, imposed a 12-month referral order.

This means the girl will have to engage with the Hampshire Youth Justice Service in a programme of rehabilitation, reparation and education.

The court heard the girl's parents had been at the protest but left, leaving her with a friend’s parents, who then joined the smaller violent gathering.

Mr Pattinson asked the girl to consider how those inside the hotel would have felt.

"Probably quite scared," she said.

The judge said: "What you and the other people did must have caused them to be absolutely terrified. Therefore, it is a serious and very nasty offence.

"I want you to think carefully about how the people inside the hotel must have felt, being surrounded and threatened by a mob of violent and aggressive people, which included you."

Mr Pattinson said a number of adults in the group had been handed custodial sentences, and if the girl had been 18 she would have been jailed too.

He also imposed a surcharge of £26 and costs of £85 which her mother will have to pay, but he told the girl: "I want you to repay your mother as soon as you can."

The judge said he was satisfied the girl was sorry and said his focus was on her rehabilitation.

There were outbreaks of violence in a number of towns and cities across England and in Northern Ireland, including Plymouth, Sunderland, Belfast, Rotherham, Manchester and London.

It followed the fatal stabbing of three girls in Southport - with unrest fuelled by misinformation online.

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