A STUDENT HAS been jailed for six months today for stealing a case of water from Lidl during a looting spree in Brixton in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The Telegraph reports that Nicolas Robinson had no previous criminal record, and had taken the water as he walked home from his girlfriend’s house. He threw the water away when he was confronted by police, and was arrested and charged.
In handing down the sentence the judge said that he was taking 23-year-old Robinson’s previous good character and early guilty plea into consideration, but also said that the student wilfully contributed towards “the atmosphere of both chaos and sheer lawlessness”.
Robinson’s solicitor has said that his client is ashamed of his actions, and was caught up in the moment. His family were in court when he was sentenced and, according to the Telegraph, they gasped when the sentence was handed down.
BBC reports that people from all walks of life have been appearing before Westminster Magistrate’s Court in the wake of the disturbances. A 17-year-old girl, also an aspiring ballet dancer, was accused of stealing two televisions in Croydon. She had handed herself in after seeing her picture in the paper.
Another woman in court, also accused of stealing a television, had also handed herself in.
Children as young as eleven have appeared in court. Last night the first people were jailed in Manchester in connection with disturbances there.
Police raids have taken place on properties in connection with the civil unrest. Over 1,300 people have been arrested so far.
Today the British Prime Minister admitted that police had got their tactics wrong.
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