London riots: school assistant and boy, 11, among defendants in court

[Turborama]

Source: The Guardian

Learning mentor pleads guilty to burglary as magistrates courts stay open to deal with cases emerging from London unrest

Jasmine Coleman, Sandra Laville, Jessica Shepherd and Mark Brown
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday August 10 2011 19.27 BST


Alexis Bailey, a 31-year-old primary school assistant, tries to hide his face
after pleading guilty at Highbury magistrates court to offences commited in
Monday's riots in Croydon. Photograph: Felix Clay for the Guardian


A primary school assistant pleaded guilty when he appeared in court on Wednesday, accused of being part of a mob that tried to loot an electrical store during the riots in London.

Alexis Bailey, 31, who works at Stockwell primary school in Stockwell Road, south London, was arrested in Richer Sounds, Croydon, just after midnight on Monday, Highbury Corner magistrates in north London heard.

Bailey was one of a slew of cases passing before busy magistrates courts across London on Wednesday – an 11-year-old boy was the youngest defendant.

=snip=

Lambeth council confirmed that Bailey worked at one of its primary schools. A spokesman said: "In the event that any of our staff are convicted of criminal acts, we have robust internal processes in place to ensure that we deal with them in accordance with employment law."


Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/10/london-riots-school-assistant-pleads-guilty

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By EMILY NASH, NICK PARKER, RYAN SABEY,
ALEX PEAKE and NEIL SYSON
Published: Today

A MILLIONAIRE'S daughter and a teaching assistant landed in court on looting charges yesterday - along with jobless teens from sink estates. A boy of 11 and people from a variety of professions were also facing justice over London's mayhem.

Meanwhile, http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1708055">a father pleaded for calm after his son and two pals were mown down and killed by a car during a second night of rioting in Birmingham.

The teenage girl hauled into court for allegedly being part of a mob of 200 looters is the privileged daughter of millionaire parents.

Laura Johnson, 19 - one of dozens to appear in court yesterday - is said to have been arrested behind the wheel of a car filled with stolen electrical goods, cigarettes and alcohol worth £5,500.

Full article with more details: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article3745609.ece

[ChrisBorg]

1. B.S. They are all underprivileged poor people seeking social justice.

Everyone knows that.

[indurancevile]

5. the millionaire's daughter is, i'm sure, typical of the rioters. everyone knows that.

[Blue_Tires]

2. well, i figured once the smoke cleared

it would be revealed to all that the vast majority of the rioters were of the "steal/smash/burn shit" motivation...

give it another week, and people won't even remember the incident that sparked the whole thing...

[snagglepuss]

3. I've noted that people want to jump on this as the oppressed poor lashing

out but from what I've read a number of the looters were in college or university or had jobs. The scum that have been involved in this are no better or any different than bankster scum. Both groups ignorant, vile, self-centered, greedy, amoral bastards.

[Matilda]

4. It seems that the questions being asked

should be about the drive for possession that motivates so many people. People are judged by what they have, not for what they are, and it's a real sickness in society, and not only in the U.K. This could happen anywhere in the western world. It seems that much of what we've seen over the past few days is nothing more or less than the desire for more, more, more.

I saw this excellent article on the U.K. forum in DU, reminding David Cameron of the sins of British MPs:

http://nathanieltapley.com/2011/08/10/an-open-letter-to-david-camerons-parents/

The writer reminds us of all the rorts perpetrated by MPs of both major parties, which are nothing less than stealing from taxpayers. David Cameron seems to think that the rules that apply to other citizens shouldn't be applied to politicians. They're far from squeaky-clean, and it can fairly be said that the example set by those at the top does trickle down, but the pollies seem to believe in "do what I say, not what I do".

It doesn't excuse the rioters and looters, but Mr Cameron needs to set his own house in order before he starts throwing around the insults and threats. Maybe the politicians who rorted the system didn't kick in windows or light fires, but they are as guilty of stealing as the people who looted shops. They all need to sit down and examine their own consciences.