While anti-migrant misinformation played a “potential role”, it "did not appear to drive children’s actions”, says Children’s Commissioner for England Dame Rachel de Souza, who interviewed young rioters as part of the research, published in the report ‘Children’s involvement in the 2024 riots’.
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Analysis: Youth workers will be crucial for healing communities affected by riots
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Special Report: Reducing Youth Violence
Social media posts suggesting the murderer was an immigrant was shared millions of times online before being taken down, triggering riots and leading to the arrests of at least 147 children.
Of these, 84 were charged, with 73 cases having concluded by 31 October 2024, with de Souza’s interviews taking place between November and December. Further arrests are anticipated as police continue to review evidence.
De Souza used unique statutory powers to speak to 14 children - around a fifth of the children with finalised outcomes - including some in young offender institutions.
Further analysis in the report highlights a “postcode lottery” of outcomes depending on where child rioters lived, with the government’s response resulting in "unusually severe charges and sentences, often overlooking children’s potential for rehabilitation”.
There was also “inconsistent application of child-first principles and underutilised expertise of the Youth Justice Service (YJS)”, the report finds.
Many children said they had no previous criminal history, which was also noted by YJS managers.
Hundreds of children, some as young as 11, were caught up in the riots sparked by Cardiff-born teenager Axel Rudakubana’s knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class.
Unrest spread across 26 areas, with children following the lead of thousands of adults, targeting locations known to house asylum seekers.
Rudakubana, who had downloaded an Islamist terror handbook, made the biological toxin ricin and was obsessed with genocide, left three girls dead, and 10 other children and adults injured following the attacks at Hart Space dance school on 29 July 2024.
De Souza said: “Like everyone I was truly horrified and heartbroken by the deaths of those three little girls in Southport last July.
“The initial response from the community to their deaths brought out some of the best of humanity, as people shared their collective grief and shock. But within a day, violent unrest started to unfold across the country in an apparent response to claims made about the girls’ attacker.
“The involvement of children in those riots and the reasons they told me they got involved raise some really serious questions about childhood in England and why our children feel so disaffected and disempowered.”
Key findings:
Spontaneous participation: Children’s actions were often impulsive and unconsidered, driven by curiosity, a sense of animosity towards the police, or the thrill of the moment – not primarily driven by far-right ideologies as widely speculated.
Distrust of the police: Many children cited previous negative interactions and deep-seated mistrust of the police within their community, which fuelled their actions during the riots, viewing them as an opportunity to retaliate against the police.
Calls for change: Children identified poverty, a lack of youth activities and limited employment opportunities as underlying vulnerabilities that must be addressed to protect young people from crime and exploitation.
De Souza said: “These conversations were striking, and often unsettling. Many described impulsive decisions, driven by disaffection or distrust of the police as factors for their involvement.
“This report does not excuse criminality. The harm caused by these children’s actions is undeniable. Many – but not all – of the children acknowledged the need for accountability and consequences for their actions.
“Today’s findings offer no simple solutions but paint a more complex picture than has been debated following the riots. However, it is one that we must grapple with in order to create a more positive experience of childhood than one this report sets out.”
Rudakubana was jailed for life on Thursday (23 January) after admitting murder on the day his trial was due to start. The judge imposed a minimum term of 52 years before he can be considered for parole.
