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London:
From a charity worker to a postman to a millionaire's daughter --
all appeared in courts here to answer charges over the riots that
have plagued parts of England this week, a media report said
Thursday.
While the trouble has been largely blamed on teenagers, many of
those paraded before the courts Wednesday led apparently
respectable lives, Daily Mail reported.
The youngest looter was an 11-year-old boy who arrived at court in
North London accompanied by his mother clutching a mobile phone in
each hand.
He was convicted of an unrelated offence only last week and is yet
to begin his punishment, the Mail said.
One of the eldest defendants was a 35-year-old new father, who
claimed he was trying to buy nappies when he was wrestled to the
ground by police in a ransacked supermarket.
Many more suspects were expected in the dock over coming days in
Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham and Nottingham, according to the
Mail.
One official said there were 'mad scenes' as colleagues battled to
deal with some of the 371 people charged by the Metropolitan
Police.
Many of those in court were young men apparently caught red-handed
with stolen TVs, laptops and mobile phones worth thousands of
pounds.
They were joined by supposedly respectable professionals and
tradesmen whose lawyers said they had been caught up in a 'moment
of madness' as anarchy took hold of the streets.
Judges refused to grant bail in the majority of cases. They were
told they must remain behind bars to prevent them joining in fresh
unrest.
A millionaire's daughter Laura Johnson, 19, was charged with
stealing 5,000-pound worth of electronic goods, including a
Toshiba TV, Goodmans TV, microwave and mobile phones.
Johnson, whose father is a businessman with directorships in
several companies, attended St Olave's Grammar School in Orpington,
fourth best performing state school in Britain.
She was granted bail on condition that she must wear an electronic
tag and does not associate with the two men allegedly found with
her.
Charity worker Barry Naine, 42, who works for a St Mungo's
homeless hostel in Lewisham, appeared in court charged with
burglary. He is accused of breaking into Primark in Peckham and
was remanded in custody, the newspaper said.
Postman Jeffrey Ebanks, 32, and his student nephew Jamal Ebanks,
18, were allegedly caught in a car stuffed with electrical goods
near a looted Croydon superstore.
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