Aged 11 and just 4ft tall, Britain's youngest rioter... and his mother is ordered to pay his £300 compensation out of her benefits

A boy barely out of primary school yesterday became the youngest person to be convicted of taking part in the August riots.

The 11-year-old, slightly-built and just 4ft tall, admitted being part of a mob who threw stones and smashed windows, causing £20,000 worth of damage.

But despite already having one police warning for criminal damage when he was just ten and another for burglary shortly after his 11th birthday, the youngster avoided being locked up yesterday.

After admitting violent disorder, he was freed with a referral order and told to pay compensation – which will be deducted from his mother's benefits.

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is the third 11-year-old convicted of taking part in the rioting, but the youngest by several months.

A boy of the same age admitted theft after stealing a bin from a branch of Debenhams in Romford, Essex, while a girl aged 11 pleaded guilty to criminal damage by throwing stones in Nottingham.      More