Child, 13, who kicked asylum hotel door in UK riots pleads she's not racist as she has Albanian pals

The girl, who turned 13 just a month before the incident, says she now worries for her future and regrets being mixed up in the crowd of adult strangers who unleashed the brutal attack

A 13-year-old girl who was handed a criminal record after kicking an asylum hotel door during the UK riots insists she isn’t racist because she has Albanian friends.

The girl, who turned 13 just a month before the incident, says she now worries for her future and regrets being mixed up in the crowd of adult strangers who unleashed a brutal attack on the hotel in Aldershot on July 31. The youngster pleaded guilty to violent disorder, and was sentenced at Basingstoke Magistrates' Court to a 12-month referral order on September 30.

Due to the racially aggravated nature of the offence, the teen, who can't be named for legal reasons, had three months added to the order. She told the Daily Express: "I made a mistake, but I don't deserve a criminal record. I am sorry and regret kicking the door. It was quite frightening at the time and there were men shouting outside and shouting inside the hotel."

"I was scared going to see the police and to court, I cried, it was horrible seeing my parents go through it with me. I'm worried about my future now and what jobs I might be able to get.

The court heard the girl was taken to protest outside the Potters International Hotel by a parent of a friend. Police bodycam footage showed the teenager briefly bang and kick at a door of the hotel, which houses asylum seekers. Voices were also heard in the footage of people calling on her to stop. The district judge has told the girl it was a "serious and very nasty offence".

The girl said: "The judge said it was racist but I'm not a racist, I don't know anything about that stuff, I have friends who are not the same race as me. My best friend is of mixed heritage, my friends who I visit are Albanian immigrants, they teach me cooking, and nail art. I use the nail designs to decorate my phone case."

Her parents were left horrified after finding out the teen was involved in the riots through an appeal made by police, which showed a photo of her alongside a group of grown men. Cops then suddenly visited their home to issue a charge of violent disorder for their daughter.

The girl's step-dad said: "The police were trying to settle it there and then at the station, but all of a sudden they said they would get back to us," the step-dad added. I personally think they have cherry picked the people that they know won’t fight the system."

Placed into a courtroom with only a duty solicitor to advise them, the family plead guilty. The girl's mum said in an interview: "The police were literally like this will be a slap on the wrist, the [duty] solicitor even said to us 'I'd be surprised if you even hear anything back or it will see the day in court', so we were relieved for our daughter at that stage."

Just days later the family received a phone call from officers as they enjoyed a day out at a swimming pool. The mum said: "They rang me and told us to go home and then came round to our house at 5pm that evening and read out the charge of violent disorder. And then more or less, 'oh by the way, you're in court in the morning at 9am'. They gave us zero time to prepare (for court)."

The step-dad has claimed the decision to bring the more severe charges against them was made by people "way above the pay grade" and that the family were left shocked by the apparent change in attitude when police came to the family home.

He added: "The CPS changed it I think, even the police when they came round and charged her, they said this (the decision) is way above our pay grade, it was like 'this is what we are being told', and that's it."

After entering the court process the family were then tasked with navigating the unknown territory of a social services visit. The mum explained during the investigation one entry was submitted to their report reading "both voted for Reform UK".

She said: "I think it was a prejudice thing, 'oh, you voted Reform, you're a racist', I think they were surprised the home wasn't covered in Hitler posters. I just found that really odd, I don't know why it's relevant. My political views are not relevant to how I look after my children. They were definitely very surprised when they heard one of our daughter's favourite things to do is visit friends who are Albanian immigrants." The step-dad added: "They wanted to check she wasn't being radicalised."

"They (the court) don't think of the consequences. We felt we had no choice but to plead guilty. I didn't have time to speak to a solicitor and sit and talk about what we could do, I only had a chance to speak to the duty solicitor."