Two boys plead guilty to rooftop wrecking spree in WallaseyTWO teenagers who caused £100,000 of damage during a rooftop siege laughed and smiled as they were locked up by the courts.
The 15 and 16-year-olds, who cannot be named because of their age, were sentenced to detention and training after pleading guilty to the drunken Wallasey wrecking spree which saw slates hurled at police cars.
Reacting to being told he would most likely serve just 11 months of his sentence, the younger youth smiled and asked the judge: “Is that all?”
Despite an application by the Daily Post, district Judge Nick Sanders decided not to lift an order guaranteeing the boys’ anonymity.
Wirral Magistrates Court heard that police were first called to Hillcroft Road on April 15 at 7.45pm when a man reported four youths near his back gate.
When he went outside, he was hit by one of the youths with a pair of bolt cutters, drawing blood from his arm and prompting two of the boys to run into a nearby friend’s house, hiding in the loft space.
Prosecuting, Jeremy Decker said: “When the police came to find the boys, they got out on to the roof, leaving police below effectively in a stand-off.
“Slates and coping stones were pulled from the terraced houses and thrown down on to the street.
“A number of cars, including police cars, were damaged and there remain a number of claims for compensation; the full cost is estimated to be at £100,000.”
During the four-hour stand- off their main demand to police negotiators was for more alcohol.
The boys were charged with criminal damage, endangering life and separate offences of burglary and assault.
The boys’ solicitor, Matthew Reynolds, who constantly tried to stop them talking and giggling, said both “could visualise a life outside crime”.
The judge sentenced the younger boy to 22 months in detention and training, likely to result in 11 months custody with good behaviour.
The older boy received an 18-month sentence.
Liverpool Daily Post