Poverty, social exclusion, poor education - these are just some of the theories put forward to explain the recent rioting.
Yet shockingly, among those in the dock accused of looting are a millionaire's grammar school daughter, a ballet student and an organic chef.
Here are some of those allegedly involved...
Millionaire's daughter: Laura Johnson, 19, was charged with stealing £5,000-worth of electronic goods including TVs and mobile phones
THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL GIRL:
Millionaire's daughter Laura Johnson, 19, was charged with stealing £5,000-worth of electronic goods, including a Toshiba TV, Goodmans TV, microwave and mobile phones.
The goods were allegedly found in a car being driven by Miss Johnson after a branch of Comet in Charlton, south-east London, was raided.
Bexleyheath magistrates heard that a 'public order kit' of balaclava, gloves and a bandana was also found in the car.
Miss Johnson attended St Olave's Grammar School in Orpington, Kent, the fourth best performing state school in the country, after transferring from its sister school Newstead Wood.
She achieved A*s in French, English literature, classical civilisation and geography A-levels, and is now studying English and Italian at Exeter University.
Her parents, Robert and Lindsay Johnson, live in a large detached farmhouse in Orpington. It has extensive grounds and a tennis court. They sold their previous house, near Greenwich, for £930,000 in 2006.
Miss Johnson's parents, who supported her in court, run Avongate, a direct marketing company.
Her father is a businessman with directorships in several companies. He was a director in a company that took over the Daily Sport and Sunday Sport newspapers in 2007.
During her schooling, Miss Johnson offered her services as a tutor. On a website she wrote: 'I was a student at Newstead Wood School for girls and gained four A*s and nine A grades at GCSE.'
Country pile: Laura Johnson's home in Orpington which has extensive grounds and a tennis court
Miss Johnson indicated a plea of not guilty to five counts of burglary and was granted bail on condition that she does not associate with the two men allegedly found with her.
She must wear an electronic tag, submit to a curfew between 7pm and 6am and not enter any London postcode. She is due to return to court on September 21.
Camberwell Green magistrates heard that a 17-year-old and Alexander Elliot-Joahill, 18, were allegedly passengers in the car. Both were denied bail and will next appear on September 7.
Stefan Hoyle was clutching a looted violin when he was arrested in the aftermath of riots in Manchester
THE ASPIRING MUSICIAN:
Stefan Hoyle was clutching a looted violin when he was arrested in the aftermath of riots in Manchester.
Smelling strongly of drink, the aspiring musician quipped: ‘I’ve always wanted to learn to play the violin.’ His parents wept in the dock as district judge Alan Berg told the 19-year-old it was an ‘absolute tragedy’ that he had thrown away his prospects in this way.
Hoyle, of Manchester, was arrested at 3am on Wednesday when police encircled a group of youths and saw him clutching the violin, thought to be from a music shop which had earlier been looted.
He tried to run away as police arrested a girl, but the court heard he was chased and caught, telling officers: ‘I can understand why people riot, you really are fascist ********.’
Hoyle had never been in trouble before and is on Jobseekers’ Allowance, the court heard.
Sentencing him to four months in a young offenders’ institution for theft, Judge Berg told Hoyle he had brought ‘shame and disgrace’ on his family. But he told the shamefaced teenager: ‘Nobody forced you to get drunk and pick up the violin.’
THE ESTATE AGENT:
Gassam Ojjeh, 22, was accused of attempting to steal from a branch of PC World in Colliers Wood, South London the day after it had been devastated by rioters.
Westminster Magistrates heard he was caught by a police dog handler at the store with students Saffron Armstrong and Kairo Lawson, both 21.
Raids: Looters have devastated businesses in cities across England causing thousands of pounds of damage
Armstrong, an accounting student at Kingston University, claimed to be a freelance journalist when he was caught. Lawson, a civil engineering student at South Bank University, had to be restrained by police and was punched repeatedly in the back.
Ojjeh, an estate agent, denied burglary. The two other men admitted the same charge. All three were remanded in custody.
THE BALLET STUDENT:
An aspiring ballerina was arrested after police published images of her looting two boxed flat screen TVs from a hi-fi store where £190,000 of damage was caused.
The 17-year-old, who has been studying ballet since she was seven and wants to be a dance teacher, gave herself up after seeing a CCTV image of herself in a newspaper.
She was among a group of masked women caught on camera looting Richer Sounds, in Croydon.
She was remanded in custody.
Shame: Rioters raid a clothes shop in Hackney and a home cinema shop in Birmingham, right, this week
Hands full: Youths spill out of a ransacked Poundland store in Peckham clutching crisps and fizzy drinks among other things - but many rioters were middle class
THE ORGANIC CHEF:
Fitzroy Thomas, of Streatham and his 47-year-old brother, Ronald, allegedly smashed up a branch of Nando's, the chicken restaurant, in Clapham, south London, and stole a laptop.
The pair pleaded not guilty at Camberwell Green Magistrates Court in south London and were remanded in custody, the Times reported.
OPERA STEWARD:
19-year-old Nan Asante, who had recently taken up a job as a steward at an outdoor opera venue in London's upmarket Holland Park district, pleaded not guilty to looting a supermarket.
Looted: The battered shop front of an Argos store in Surrey Street, Croydon. The area was hit hard by rioters
A star pupil from £1m home. How did she end up in the dock?
By Paul Bracchi
Privilege: Laura Johnson, left, and friend in a photo posted on Facebook last year
Balaclava. Gloves. Bandana. Could the ‘evidence’ allegedly in the car Laura Johnson was found driving be more sinister? The items, the police claim, were part of a ‘public order kit’ used to loot shops during the riots.
But this is not the most shocking aspect of the story you are about to read.
For the 19-year-old who found herself in the dock before Bexleyheath magistrates on Wednesday, flanked by uniformed security guards, charged with five counts of burglary in connection with the theft of goods from stores was perhaps the very last person you would expect to be implicated in the mayhem of the past week.
According to the prosecution, she was the getaway driver for a gang which pillaged branches of Curry’s, Comet, Halfords, and PC World as well as a BP service station in south-east London.
Getaway driver? It is a description her mother and father, sitting at the back of the court, will scarcely be able to comprehend.
The family live in a £1million detached converted farmhouse, with extensive grounds and a tennis court, in leafy Orpington, Kent.
Her millionaire parents, Robert and Lindsay, are successful company directors who run the direct-marketing firm Avongate.
Mr Johnson was also a director of a company that took over the Daily Sport and Sunday Sport newspapers in 2007.
Their daughter attended St Olave’s Grammar, the fourth-best state school in the country, and its sister school, Newstead Wood, gaining nine GCSE A Grades and four A*s.
The star pupil studied A-levels in French, English literature, geography, and classical civilisation before gaining a place at Exeter University where she is an English and Italian undergraduate.
Proof, if any more were needed, of Laura’s privileged upbringing is revealed in family photographs posted on the internet.
In one, on Facebook, she is dressed in a long black evening gown, glass of red wine in hand, hugging a blonde school friend. There is a swimming pool in the background.
Laura Johnson's £1m detached family home in Orpington, Kent. It has extensive grounds and a tennis court
Whatever the reasons for Laura’s ignominious predicament, they appear to have nothing to do with alienation or despair; not that this is any excuse for the shameful events that have scarred the country this week.
Indeed, it would be difficult to imagine a young woman with a brighter future: a future which has now been jeopardised, perhaps irrevocably so.
How and why she came to be driving a car, which, it is claimed, contained a £5,000 haul of stolen goods – including two television sets, a microwave, a Blu-ray player, mobile phones, cigarettes and alcohol – is a matter for her pending trial.
Laura was granted conditional bail and is due to return to court next month, having pleaded not guilty to the charges against her. The case is expected to be committed to the Inner London Crown Court.
One of her alleged accomplices is 18-year-old Alexander Elliott-Joahill. The other, a 17-year-old, cannot be named. The younger boy’s mother, a secondary school teacher, said her son was a ‘good boy’ who had gone for a job interview in the City earlier this week.
The well-spoken woman, who lives in a two-storey terraced house in south-east London, added: ‘He is doing a business qualification, so he has taken his CV to an interview on Monday.
‘He’s a complete coward and hates fighting so I don’t understand how he could have got caught up in this.
‘I spoke to him at 1.30am on Tuesday morning and told him to be careful of the riots and that I was worried. He said he’d be coming home. He knows [Alexander Elliott-Oakhill] but I’ve never heard him mention this Laura girl.’
The prosecution claim the three had ‘driven around stealing from shops with windows kicked in during the rioting . . . and were active participants in looting’ before being apprehended by the police.
How painful – and embarrassing – these details must have been for Laura’s family sitting in the public gallery, as must be the continued police activity at their home.
Yesterday, five officers spent about 30 minutes inside, although it was unclear whether they were taking statements or searching for something in particular.
Mr and Mrs Johnson, who also have two sons, Rory, 21, and Scott, 17, did not wish to comment. Laura’s grandparents, John and Irene Temple, were visibly shocked when informed of her arrest at their Fife home and also declined to comment.
A glimpse of the world Laura inhabited, or at least her family thought she inhabited, is revealed on a website where she once advertised her services as a tutor.
Her entry says: ‘My name is Laura Johnson, a sixth form student studying English Literature, classical civilisation, geography and French at St Olave’s Grammar School.
‘One of my A*s is in English which I intend to carry on at university level.’
But for how long? The University of Exeter, where Laura has just finished her first-year exams, said they would await the outcome of criminal proceedings before ‘deciding on whether to take any action.’ dailymail.co.uk
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Terima kasih telah memberi komentar.