A procession of people – including a woman who works with children with learning difficulties, an 18-year-old on bail over a gang murder and a lifeguard – appeared at Westminster and Camberwell magistrates courts
The decision to hold the emergency sessions came as Scotland Yard revealed it had arrested 1,457 people – including 305 aged under 18 – in connection with the disturbances, with 810 charged.
A series of delays, missing files and absent defendants and lawyers brought low-level chaos to the proceedings. At one point, district judge Deborah Wright, sitting in court one at Westminster, expressed her frustration: "It is now one-and-a-half hours into sitting time and we have done nothing in this court."
Next door, district judge Susan Williamson, similarly exasperated by the delays, said: "I don't know how we have ended up in this rather parlous state."
The two courts were due to hear 79 cases. Several defendants had been dealt with by late afternoon.
A 15-year-old from Walthamstow, north-east London appeared with his stepfather after the court heard that his mother was too angered by his actions to attend. The court heard he had been at a bus stop with a friend in the early hours when they saw a gang of youths run past and enter the Costco store in Chingford. east London. Seeing the shop had been broken into, the teenager and his friend went inside.
The boy, who is awaiting his GCSE results and plans to start sixth-form college, took an MP4 docking station, which he dropped as he was leaving the building. He was arrested after his friend's foster mother reported her concerns to a social worker and police were contacted.
Williamson asked: "What I want to know is, what is a 15-year-old doing out and about at one in the morning? You need to go away and think very carefully about your behaviour in the future if you don't want to find yourself in this situation again."
The teenager admitted burglary and was given a nine-month referral order, which Williamson said was "one last chance".
Another 15-year-old boy admitted breaking into Zee & Co, a fashion retailer in Bethnal Green, east London, three times on Monday night and Tuesday morning.
The magistrate asked the boy's mother, who was in court, what she thought he was doing at 3am, the last time he went into the store. She answered: "He was at home at 3am." "Well, he clearly wasn't because he has pleaded guilty to two offences," said Wright.
The teenager, was bailed to appear at Thames magistrates court on 30 August. Wright said: "Mum needs to be looked at with a view to making a parenting order, bearing in mind at 3am she didn't know where her son was."
Tracy O'Leary, 35, was jailed for 16 weeks for receiving stolen goods. O'Leary, who works as a carer at the Beatrice Tate school for children with severe learning difficulties, was arrested when detectives discovered a bag of looted clothes – including Ralph Lauren hooded tops and Paul Smith socks – hidden in her flat.
She said was walking home through a park after visiting her mother on Tuesday evening when she saw a gang drop a bag under a bush, and took it home. Judge Williamson said: "It is outright greed. We are not talking about necessary items here, these are designer goods – something for nothing … What a pity you didn't think first. You are a mother of children, someone who works with children with learning difficulties, 35 years of age – you jolly well ought to have known better."
Shane Johnson, 20, from Islington, north London, who admitted attacking police vehicles and shops during the riots in Hackney on Monday, was remanded in custody to appear for sentencing at Wood Green crown court, north London, on 22 August.
The court heard he had attacked police cars and a Ladbrokes betting shop with "wooden poles" during the riots. Judge Wright said his actions had "inflamed an already volatile situation".
In court one, Thomas Miller, 20, from Wapping, east London, denied taking £700 worth of clothing from Zee & Co in Bethnal Green. Miller, a lifeguard, is due to appear at Highbury Corner magistrates court on 26 September.
Later, an 18-year-old described as a talented footballer, already on bail over a gang murder, was accused of smashing his way into a Carphone Warehouse shop in Brixton, south London, with a gang of youths. He will next appear on 22 August at Highbury Corner.
Police stumble across drugs haul in raid
Detectives searching for stolen goods looted in last week's riots stumbled across drugs worth £80,000, Scotland Yard said.
Officers carrying out a search of a flat on the Kipling estate in Bermondsey, south London, which they thought had links to the unrest, found large amounts of ecstasy, cannabis, crystal meth and more than a kilogram of cocaine.
A CS gas canister and £34,000 in cash were also seized, while nine PlayStation 3 consoles and 40 other computer consoles were discovered in a nearby lock-up linked to the premises. Police have charged a 45-year-old man with possession with intent to supply class-A drugs, money laundering and possessing a prohibited weapon.
Hundreds of officers are scouring CCTV footage of the riots trying to identify those involved. Magistrates have been sitting over the weekend so they can grant search applications to help the police operation.
Teenagers arrested after looted goods recovered
Four properties in south London are among the latest to be raided by police investigating the looting that hit the capital last week.
The raids were carried out in Brixton and officers arrested two 15-year-old boys and a 17-year-old male on suspicion of violent disorder, burglary and handling stolen goods.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said police had recovered clothing from JD Sports and H&M. The items are believed to have been taken during looting in Brixton on 8 August when hundreds of people attacked several shops on the high street, before moving on to a Currys superstore.
Detective Inspector Spencer Barnett said: "If you know who was out there on the night or where any stolen property is, I would urge you to call the police so that we can take action. We want to reassure residents of London we will bring these offenders to justice and restore property to its rightful owners."
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