Young people who joined in summer race riots should have records wiped clean, children’s commissioner says
Young people who joined in summer race riots should have records wiped clean, children’s commissioner says
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It comes after a new report concluded that young people took part in the riots because they ‘looked fun’ - not because they held anti-migrant or racist views. Children involved in last year’s summer race riots following the Southport attacks should have their criminal records wiped clean, England’s children’s commissioner has said.
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Dame Rachel de Souza said young people should be allowed to “move on with their lives” and become successful adults, saying offences they committed during the violence should not be held against them for the rest of their lives. The riots were sparked by misinformation spread following the killing of three girls in Southport, with hotels housing asylum seekers among the targets.
“They’re children,” she said. “It feels hard to think a 14-year-old who has served an eight-month sentence for throwing a stone and been really stupid would carry that conviction on their record for the rest of their life, so I hope that we can think of how they can make reparation but also let these children have a life going forward.”.
It comes after a new report from the independent commissioner, published on Tuesday, argued that young people took part in the riots because they “looked fun” - not because they held anti-migrant or racist views. Dame de Souza told The Times: “Obviously there are some crimes — sexual offences, extreme violence — that are different, but we are looking at short sentences here and young people who were often of really good character and have recognised the wrong they’ve done.
