A 13-year-old girl who cried as she was sentenced for rioting says she’s been left fearing for the future after a whirlwind justice process left her with a criminal record for life.

In an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk, the youngster, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admits she made a mistake and regrets getting mixed up with adult strangers attacking an asylum seeker hotel on July 31.

The girl, who only turned 13 a month before the incident, said: “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.”

Her mortified parents only discovered their child was caught up in the chaos after the police issued a photo of her alongside grown men as part of an appeal into the disturbance.

Fearing for the safety of their daughter, the frantic parents contacted officers to remove the image and marched her to the station.

Thinking the fright of a police interview would be punishment enough, they said they left with the impression it would probably be a “slap on the wrist”.

“We rang up and told the police our daughter was involved, and they said we need you to come in for a voluntary interview,” the step-dad said.

But far worse was to come when days later the stunned couple were told cops were suddenly heading to their house to issue a charge of violent disorder for their daughter.

“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.

In a move a child legal charity has called “extremely concerning” the family were then hauled before court first thing the next day without any time to prepare.

Flung into a courtroom and with only a duty solicitor to advise them, the terrified family made the decision to plead guilty.

The youngster, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to violent disorder, and was sentenced at Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court to a 12-month referral order on September 30. Three months was added to the order due to what was deemed the racially aggravated nature of the offence.

The girl told Express.co.uk: “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.”

The court heard the girl was taken to the protest outside the Potters International Hotel, which houses asylum seekers, by a parent of a friend.

Police body-worn video showed the teenager briefly bang and kick at a door of the hotel while voices could be heard telling her to stop. Sentencing her, the district judge told the girl it was a “serious and very nasty offence”.

For the family, who live in a new-build house in a small town, the shockwaves of what has happened to them are still vividly raw.

“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,” the girl’s mum said in an emotional interview.

The family’s peace was shattered when just days later they received a phone call from officers one afternoon as they enjoyed a day out at a swimming pool.

The mum revealed: “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 said he was shocked at the apparent change of attitude when the police came to the family home. He claims they said the decision to bring the more severe charges was made by people “way above their pay grade”.

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.

“They told us, ‘it’s strange times we’re living in’.”

Having entered the court process the family then had to navigate the unknown territory of receiving a visit from social services. In a startling revelation, the mum explained during this investigation one entry was submitted to their report saying, “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.”

The mum was with her daughter, who enjoys art, pottery classes, swimming and the computer game “Roblox”, when she burst into tears during her sentencing at the end of last month.

She said: “The whole thing has been surreal reading about my daughter’s case in the newspapers, if I had read that story I would have thought, ‘bl**dy hell, what kind of parents does she have?’.

“I don’t condone what my daughter did, but the sentence is so strong, it was a six second clip played in court.

“I’m angry about it to be honest, it feels like such an injustice. Do I think she did something wrong? Of course I do, but punish it for what it was, a caution or similar.

“It feels like they just wanted the statistics, right, we’ve charged these people and charged these people, ok now sentence, sentence, result, result.

“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.”

‘They’ve cherry picked the people who won’t fight back’

When asked if he is angry with how Sir Keir Starmer and the CPS dealt with his daughter the step-dad says “massively”, adding: “I am massively angry at Starmer. I understand he’s trying to deter people, but I think he has bullied the outcome of this.

“I personally think they have cherry picked the people that they know won’t fight the system.”

As a parent he also said he has little time for the court who sentenced his daughter. He said: “The judge asked her if she knew what the adults had been sentenced to and when she replied no, he seemed shocked she didn’t watch the news.

“And I’m thinking, ‘she’s thirteen years old? What thirteen-year-old girls watch the news every night.”

In a statement released after the sentencing Hampshire Assistant Chief Constable Paul Bartolomeo said: “While we appreciate her age, the girl’s behaviour was still completely unacceptable, and her actions caused fear of violence to those inside the hotel and our officers.”

The parents both reject the suggestion police officers were “scared” of their daughter, with the mum adding: “So they are saying the police were scared of a 13-year-old girl? It’s ridiculous.”

Mum and the step-dad said they had been offered no counselling for their child and she had been asked to “write a letter of apology” to the immigrants at the hotel.

Both parents seem stunned at what has happened to their daughter as both joke making mistakes when they were young and received far less punishment.

The mum recalled: “When I was 13, I was a bit naughty, but she’s a good kid, she does pottery, she does art classes, she has friends’ round.”

Agreeing earnestly with her mum’s defence, the child points out that “mum stole a lamb” when she was 13.

Smiling at the revelation the mum admits fleecing a local farmer of the livestock with a friend with a plan to keep it in a garage. The farmer later retrieved the animal unharmed, she explained.

She said: “All kids do something wrong and make mistakes, but I don’t think for something like this she deserves to be paying for it for the next ten years.”

The step-dad said both parents were still hopeful for their child’s future despite the crushing blow of the unexpected sentencing.

He said: “Our hope is eventually, sentences like those given to our daughter will be overturned, but it’s an expensive process and I feel like they’ve targeted us because they feel we won’t complain.”

Girl’s conviction ‘concerning’

According to the Home Office, violent disorder is a specified offence and any conviction will be disclosed on a Standard of Enhanced DBS criminal record check.

The Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, a former head of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), has been robust in his statements regarding the summer riots which saw mindless thugs loot, set fires and carry out racist attacks, as well as destroy property and assault police officers.

Speaking during the madness, the PM said “we will do whatever it takes to bring these thugs to justice as quickly as possible”, adding that, “we can get arrests, charge remanded in custody and convictions done very quickly”.

A Crown Prosecution Service spokesperson said: “We prosecuted cases swiftly during the riots to restore law and order to our streets.

“Our lawyers look carefully at the circumstances of children who are referred to us to make sure it is in the public interest to bring charges.”

But Aika Stephenson, Legal Director, Founder and Co-Lead of the charity Just for Kids Law, said: “This case sounds extremely concerning, particularly given the young age of the child involved.

“It underlines how imperative it is for all children in contact with the criminal legal system to be able to access specialist legal advice and representation from those who have expertise in children’s rights and youth justice.”

A statement from Hampshire Police said the CPS made the “charging decision” and their “officers informed the family of the charges”.

It continued: “During her voluntary interview and, in accordance with the Police & Criminal Evidence Act 1984, the teenager was supported by an appropriate adult and had a solicitor present.

“As part of our enquiries, we issued pictures of eight people we wanted to speak with in connection with reports of disorder outside the hotel. We did not know the details – including the ages – of each of the people we were looking to speak to.

“Once it was confirmed the girl had been identified, the communications team immediately removed her image from all our channels and updated media outlets to confirm that this individual had now been identified and as part of our policy, requested that her image was removed from all publications.

“We followed this up by directly contacting any outlets who were still circulating the image and ensured it was removed.

“As the court heard, the teenager, who pleaded guilty, was part of a larger group that was involved in violent disorder during the protest.

“Everyone has the right to free speech and peaceful protest. However, officers will take action against those who choose to act outside of the law and use it as an excuse to demonstrate violence and disorder.

“If you commit crime, as the public would rightly expect, you will face the consequences of your actions, regardless of your age.”