The children and teenagers involved in the violence represented a 'lost generation' faced with a life devoid of hope and aspiration, and 'written off by society'.
LONDON: As the pictures of burning and looting tarnish Britain’s image around the world, the mostly young rioters and social analysts agree on one thing: This was an event waiting to happen.
“I’ll keep doing this every day until I get caught. When I get home nothing is going to happen to me,” a teenager laden with looted goods told a BBC reporter in Manchester early yesterday.
“The prisons are overcrowded. So what are they going to do?” he added for good measure.
Children as young as 10 were seen carrying off looted goods in plastic bags from shops in the northern city, laughing and joking as they threw the items in the air with delight before disappearing down side streets and alleyways to escape the police.
Britain’s riots – a reflection of social malaise
