Privileged daughter of millionaire found guilty of riots burglary
The millionaire’s daughter who transported looters around London throughout the summer riots was convicted of burglary today.
Laura Johnson, aged 20 and of Orpington in south-east London, previously denied her charges and claimed that she had been acting under duress. While at Inner London Crown Court, Miss Johnson, a student, also had herself convicted of handling a TV looted from Currys – although she did not steal it herself.
The judge warned Johnson, who was cleared of a charge of stealing and handling both cigarettes and alcohol from a BP garage, to expect jail time. Her co-defendant, who is a 17-year-old male who can’t be named yet for legal reasons, may have been cleared of one burglary but was convicted of another.
Addressing the two defendants, Judge Patricia Lees commented that they had been convicts of incredibly serious offences that appear worse than usual considering they were committed during a time of civil unrest in the UK capital London during last summer. The court was told that University of Exeter student Johnson is extremely intelligent and well-educated by solicitors representing her.
The millionaire’s daughter explained her fear of refusing to join Emmanuel Okubote – aged 20 and a convicted dealer of the harmful drug crack cocaine dealer referred to by his nickname, T-Man – on a cross-city mission of theft.