Teenage girl went to hotel riot to 'impress crush'

The Holiday Inn Express in Manvers, Rotherham, suffered severe damage

A teenage girl said she took part in a riot outside a hotel that housed asylum seekers to “impress her crush”.

The 16-year-old, who cannot be named due to her age, "tagged along" to the scene of the unrest at the Holiday Inn Express in Manvers, Rotherham, on 4 August.

The girl later admitted violent disorder and said she had picked up stones and thrown them towards police "in an act of stupidity".

At Sheffield Youth Court on Wednesday, she was handed a 12-month intensive referral order and told to pay £111 in costs.

The court was told that while the girl was filmed throwing "stones or rubble" there had been no evidence to suggest the missiles hit or injured anyone.

Helen White, defending, said her client accepted going to the riot but denied being motivated by racism.

"It was nothing more than following a boy to the scene, she wanted to impress him, she had a bit of a crush on him," Ms White said.

"She didn’t link the consequences of her behaviour with the actual impact it could have on the victims.

"It's fair to say immaturity played a huge part here."

The teen had no previous convictions and "bitterly regrets" her involvement, Ms White said.

The girl, who is the first female to be sentenced in connection with the Manvers riot, told the judge: "I’m not going to do anything like that ever again."

Passing sentence, Judge Marcus Waite told her to "stay out of trouble".

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