Riots and looting in England: who were they?

Following the disturbances in the London and elsewhere, the legal system is now beginning to uncover who the looters were. From details in the Guardian here the overwhelming majority (from 150 of the 500 cases that have so far come before the courts) are young, male and unemployed. The BBC also has details here and here.

There are, however, some looters who are in employment including a teaching assistant in a London school, an estate agent, a freelance journalist and a scaffolder. One can argue that the unemployed may have felt they had nothing to lose by looting but why does someone in work put their job at risk for so little short term gain – offences include the theft of a £300 TV? The law is likely to deal with them harshly with a prison sentence likely in many cases. A criminal record will probably have long term consequences.



Without condoning for a moment what they did, I have to wonder whether these people got caught up in the hysteria of the moment. Did they set out to riot and loot or did they just get caught up in events? Did they think of the consequences of their actions?

Assuming that these disturbances were not just an example of spontaneous combustion, have the ringleaders and instigators been caught or are those before the courts the followers?