Teen rioter locked up for stealing from shops

A teenage rioter wept in court as he was locked up for 10 months for stealing a laptop and designer jeans from Midland shops.

A teenage rioter wept in court as he was locked up for 10 months for stealing a laptop and designer jeans from Midland shops.

But the 17-year-old won the right to keep his identity a secret because of the potential impact on his innocent family members.

The youth raided Sunitek.com in Broad Street, Wolverhampton, and Zhapp clothing store in Queen Street during the height of the riots in August, the city's crown court heard. He then targeted EV Beckett jewellers but fled empty-handed.

Prosecutor Mrs Jenny Winzar told the court the teenager, from the Eastfield area of the city, was pictured carrying a stolen laptop by an Express & Star photographer.

His image was published in the newspaper and after being identified, he admitted taking the computer from Sunitek.com, jeans from Zhapp and burgling EV Beckett.

The court was told that the combined total of goods stolen from those three shops during the riots reached £110,000.

The court was handed references from the teenager's former school during yesterday's hearing. The court heard that he had earlier admitted three counts of burglary.

When invited to explain his actions by District Judge Michael Wheeler, the youth burst into tears and said: "I would just like to say I have let down my family and friends but most of all, I have let down myself. I have been a carer since I left school. I care for my mother who is disabled, and my brother who has special needs. I am sorry to you and to everyone else I caused harm to."

District Judge Wheeler handed the youth, who had no previous convictions, a 10-month detention and training order. He said:?"This community was rocked by the photographs of people taking part in public disorder that appeared in the Express & Star."