Fourteen-year-old among those due in court for 2020 Halton Moor riots

The 11 male defendants, who range from age 14 to 50, are charged with threatening violence in the Leeds estate on November 7, 2020. Some are charged with arson and burglary.

They are due to appear at Leeds Crown Court on Tuesday, February 21, for a plea and trial preparation hearing. They all appeared at Leeds Magistrates’ Court last month but due to the serious nature of the offences, the case was moved up to the crown court.

The long-running investigation by Leeds District CID began in the wake of chaotic scenes in Halton Moor that started with damage being caused to a car and house. The trouble continued for two nights, with riot police being drafted in to bring the situation under control.

At the time, community leaders moved to reassure the public that action would be taken, with council deputy leader Debra Coupar saying "the most robust response is taking place behind the scenes".

She said: “Halton Moor is a really good community area and there are so many good law abiding citizens on that estate who have had to suffer from ridiculous behaviour by a small minority of individuals who have brought the area's name into disrepute.”

On the Saturday evening, a large group of youths caused damage to a car and a house in Kendal Drive before missiles were thrown at officers and their vehicles. Public order units were deployed to the area to disperse groups of youths and maintained a visible presence to deter any further incidents.

Then on the Sunday evening, police vans were targeted with bricks and fireworks as a large crowd gathered around the junction of Rathmell Road and Ullswater Crescent. Public order units were again deployed to disperse those involved and to support fire crews as they dealt with further incidents. It included an arson attack on a person’s car in Kendal Drive and a garden fence in Rathmell Road being set on fire.

Detectives have been carrying out extensive enquiries since then to identify the suspects, including examining hours of footage from Leedswatch CCTV.