‘I felt really lonely’: detention ordeal of young asylum seeker caught up in riot
‘I felt really lonely’: detention ordeal of young asylum seeker caught up in riot
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Caseworker calls treatment of child ‘shocking’ after he kicked knee of rioter who was disparaging his religion. An unaccompanied asylum-seeking child was jailed for his involvement in last year’s riots, in a “shocking” case revealed by the children’s commissioner for England.
The boy, who cannot be named, is living with a foster carer after being separated from his parents during their journey to Britain. As a Muslim who does not speak much English, he had been urged by his boss at the barber shop where he works to stay at home for his own safety. He went to the gym after growing restless at home, and came across a large crowd. He wanted to see what was happening and when the demonstration escalated, police closed the roads and refused to let people leave.
It was then that he heard one of the rioters “shouting and swearing bad words against my religion, Islam. He said he wanted to beat us up and then attacked one of us,” he told the children’s commissioner’s office through an interpreter. “I must have lost my mind because I kicked his knee before running somewhere I thought was safer.”.
Hours later, a police officer spotted him and arrested him. “I was scared. My English is not good and I didn’t understand what he was saying,” he said. The child was taken to a police station where he was held for 48 hours and advised to answer “no comment” in interview, even though he was keen to explain his actions.
It was when he was taken to court that he realised “I must have done something very serious”, he said. “My whole body started shaking.” He was remanded to a young offender institution for four weeks, after Keir Starmer had ordered a “robust and swift” crackdown on the disorder.
