Boy, 13, threw lit firework and stones at police during rioting outside Rotherham hotel

The teenager, who cannot be named, appeared at Sheffield Youth Court today, Wednesday, September 4.

He was spared custody and given a 12-month youth referral order, with his family also ordered to pay a £26 statutory surcharge. District Judge James Gould heard how the teenager had joined a mob which besieged the Holiday Inn Express, in Manvers, on August 4.

The youngster was filmed multiple times by police body-worn cameras throwing missiles at officers with shields outside the hotel, which was housing more than 200 asylum seekers.

‘You willingly and enthusiastically took part in that disorder’

In one clip, the boy was caught being handed a firework, which he lit and threw.

This fell just short of the officers’ shields, the court heard.

Judge Gould told the boy: “Whatever was within your reach you threw at police officers, including numerous stones.

“You willingly and enthusiastically took part in that disorder.”

He said: “You participated in that disorder at the highest level.”

More than 30 people sentenced

Judge Gould said: “You asked for a firework, you lit it and you used it as a missile.”

The judge said the boy told the author of a pre-sentence report that he found it “exciting”.

More than 60 officers, three police horses and a police dog were injured as hundreds of protesters surrounded the hotel. At one point some people got inside the building and tried to set it alight.

More than 30 people have now been sentenced for their part in the disorder in Manvers.