Teenage rioter avoids prosecution after stern telling off by his parents deemed 'far more effective' than criminal justice system

Parkinson said the wrath of the boy’s parents was more impactful than any action the criminal justice system would have taken.

He added that prosecutors were very aware of children being criminalised unnecessarily after becoming involved in the riots which erupted in the aftermath of the Southport killings in July 2024.

Parkinson said: "We’ve come across instances of families regarding it as a day out, to go and just join in the disorder.

"But conversely, we had an instance where a family marched their 14-year-old to the police station, having seen on social media that individual had been involved in the disorder.

"The wrath that had been visited on that child by his parents was more effective than anything the criminal justice system could deliver. And so we took no further action."

According to data collated from information provided by police and prosecutors, so far more than 600 people have been charged over the disorder.

Of these, more than 530 are adults and more than 75 are children under the age of 18, about 13 per cent of the total.

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Parkinson added: "It’s very troubling that youngsters have been being sucked into this and, you know, I’m fully alive to the consequences of a conviction on someone’s life. So we do have to think very carefully about the decisions we take.

"But sometimes the state does need to intervene, not to mark criminality with a record, unfortunately that’s a consequence, but in order to open the possibility of diverting away from the future path."

One of the youngest defendants was a 12-year-old boy, who hit the headlines because his mother chose to fly to Ibiza for a holiday the day before he was due in court.

District Judge Joanne Hirst ordered her to appear at Manchester Magistrates’ Court after her sunshine break, where she ordered her to pay £1,200 compensation and go on a parenting course. The boy was given a 12-month referral order after admitting two counts of violent disorder, a measure designed to prevent him committing further crimes.

Parkinson said “investigations have been opened” into whether any alleged criminality had been carried out by far-right groups during the riots. The DPP said the first sentence handed down for violent disorder in connection with the unrest "probably sent shockwaves."

He added: "I think a couple of days before Judge (Andrew) Menary’s sentence on the Wednesday in Liverpool, I said I think the disorder is coming to an end. I said that because I knew the first sentence was coming up and I knew what would happen – and I think that that first sentence probably sent shockwaves.

"It was the day when there was a substantial police presence, there were a lot of counter protests, but in the middle of the afternoon Judge Menary passed that sentence, and probably social media helped us there, because those riots just didn’t happen."

Speaking about how the prosecutions unfolded he said: "They were relatively easy cases to prosecute – I couldn’t see why we should wait and I wanted to get that message out, I know I did get that message out. Generally, I think we’re quite proud of the way we responded, to be honest."