Boy, 14, found guilty of taking part in summer Harehills disorder

A 14-year-old boy has been convicted of throwing missiles at police officers during disturbances in the Harehills area of Leeds last summer.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was found guilty of committing violent disorder on 18 July last year, following a short trial at Leeds Youth Court earlier.

The boy had denied being present during the violence, which broke out after social workers, acting under legal direction, removed children from the home of a family in the area that afternoon.

Delivering a guilty verdict, District Judge Timothy Capstick said it was “sufficiently clear” that a boy shown in footage was the defendant. The boy will be sentenced on 9 April.

Clips played during the trial showed a figure in a white top helping others to overturn a police car on Luxor Street on the night in question.

The figure was then shown posing for a photograph in front of the upturned vehicle.

Other clips showed the figure walking amongst a crowd and picking up stones before hurling them in the direction of police officers.

Giving evidence through an interpreter, the defendant denied the figure was him and insisted he had been at home with his mother and sister throughout that evening.

“That’s not me,” he told the court. “I don’t look like that.”

Defence barrister Oliver Norman said no forensic or fingerprint evidence from the overturned police car could be linked to the defendant.

Giving evidence as a witness, the boy’s mother also insisted he had been at home during the disturbances.

The court was told the defendant had been interviewed on two occasions by the police and that he had responded with “no comment” to all questions asked.

Judge Capstick said a distinctive feature belonging to the teenager could be matched to the figure shown on the footage.

He said: “The identification evidence in this case is very clear.

“I’m quite satisfied, so that I am sure, that the person in the white top is (the defendant).”