A 13-year-old boy from Wolverhampton today pleaded guilty to handling stolen goods taken in the summer riots which brought chaos and violence to the city centre.

The Lanesfield youngster took a Fred Perry polo shirt from another youth, who was part of a 50-strong gang which smashed its way into Le Monde in Victoria Street and looted the store.

The teenager appeared at the city’s magistrates court today along with a 17-year-old, who admitted three charges of burglary during the trouble on August 9.

The court heard how the 13-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was handed the Fred Perry polo shirt outside Le Monde as scores of yobs looted the designer clothes store.

The youngster told the court he had gone into the city centre to drop a friend off and claimed he was planning to give the shirt back later.

But District Judge Graham Wilkinson said: “The nearer your are to the riots, the highter the culpability.”

The judge said he could not sentence the boy without parental assessment and adjourned the case until December 19.

He also did not lift a banning order preventing the identity of the youngster being reported, despite a request from the Express & Star.

The Crown Prosecution Service, Home Secretary Theresa May and Prime Minister David Cameron have all urged the courts to identify juveniles convicted of riot-related offences. The teenager’s solicitor Ravi Dev said the boy was only 13 and he did not actually enter the store along with the others in the gang.

But Judge Wilkinson said: “It was clear the riots were going to happen in Wolverhampton. There were rumours of them happening during the day.”

Meanwhile, the 17-year-old from Eastfield pleaded guilty to three charges of burglary.

The youth admitted taking a laptop from the Sunitek computer store in Broad Street, other items from jewellery store EV Beckett in Queen Street plus designer clothes store Zhapp, also in Queen Street.

Zhapp suffered £5,000 damage and up to £30,000 property was stolen during the disorder.

The 17-year-old will also be sentenced on December 19.