11-year-old arrested as Police carry out raids linked to Teesside disorder

An 11-year-old child is among those arrested during raids on Teesside on those believed to be involved in recent disorder.

Officers made 14 arrests, taking the total number of people arrested in connection with unrest in both Middlesbrough and Hartlepool to over 100.

Ten strike teams set out from Cleveland Police's Middlesbrough headquarters to make arrests.

This is the second time the force has held an 11-year-old over disorder, after another boy aged 11 was arrested on suspicion of arson after a police car was set alight in Hartlepool during the disorder in the town on 1 August.

Ahead of the raids, Superintendent Marc Anderson briefed the teams saying: “I was Silver Commander on Sunday August 4 and never in my 30 years’ service have I seen anything like that in Middlesbrough.

“What the community had to put up with that day was completely unacceptable.”

One strike team arrested a man aged 23 and a woman aged 43 on suspicion of violent disorder at an address in the Berwick Hills area of Middlesbrough. The man was led away covering his face with a hoodie, while the woman shouted at the media to stop filming her as she was put into a police van.

The team then moved on to an address in Stockton where a 25-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of violent disorder. He swore at the media, calling reporters “muppets” and saying: “Go and get some proper news.”

Following the raids, Detective Chief Inspector Sarah Robinson said: “The message is ‘You haven’t got away with it’.

“We can identify you and we will arrest you, you will be arrested and you will be put before the courts.

“Behind every crime there is a victim and some of the stories that we have been told have been really harrowing.”

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