Waltham Cross jewellery looters 'would be shot in US'
A judge watching CCTV footage of looters raiding a jewellery shop during the August riots said they would have been shot in the US.
Judge Stephen Gullick, sitting at St Albans Crown Court, viewed footage of a raid on Ozcan in Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire.
People in hoodies were seen pulling back shutters and taking jewellery and watches from the High Street store.
Judge Gullick said: "In some states of America they would have been shot."
He made his comments as Paul Baughan, 41, of Sark House, Enfield, north London, appeared at the court and admitted burglary at Ozcan.
His plea of not guilty to violent disorder was accepted by the prosecution.
'Shaking with fear'
Prosecutor Peter Shaw said: "This was in the context of the nationwide disorder this summer.
"On Sunday 7 August several people entered the shop and embarked on large-scale looting.
"Twenty thousand pounds worth of jewellery was stolen."
The shop manager Tugba Temel had been called out with her husband to deal with the alarm, the court heard.
She later told police she was "shaking with fear" as she was trapped inside the shop when the shutters were forced back.
Twenty or more people with hoods covering their faces smashed the glass and snatched items from the display, the court heard.
Cried in dock
The shop's owner Okay Amasyali arrived, armed with a branch which he swung to ward off the looters.
Mr Temel armed himself with a broom and joined in, the court heard.
Baughan handed himself into the police after a still from the CCTV footage was shown in newspapers.
His barrister asked for sentencing to be adjourned for a psychiatric report to be carried out on Baughan, who cried in the dock.
Judge Gullick agreed and bailed Baughan, but told him: "I want to make it absolutely clear you are going to prison.
"The psychiatric report may affect the length of the sentence."