One in eight of the rioters who have appeared before the courts was on incapacity benefits and unfit for work, figures revealed today. A total of 100 of the suspects were claiming disability living allowance and there were a further 60 on incapacity benefits. So far 1,344 people have appeared before the courts over the looting and widespread disorder which swept across Britain in early August.

40 per cent of the suspected rioters were on benefits, figures have revealed. 1,344 people have appeared before the courts. Total suspects on benefits: 530 (some are on more than one benefit)
Jobseekers Allowance: 280
Income Support: 110
Employment and Support Allowance: 100
Disability Living Allowance: 100
Incapacity Benefit: 60
Carer's Allowance: 10

The official figures revealed 530 people - or 40 per cent - were on some form of benefit compared with just 15 per cent of the population. However, for all serious crimes committed last year, 48 per cent of defendants were on benefits.

The four nights of violence in August were sparked by police shooting dead father-of-four and suspected gangster Mark Duggan in north London.
There were calls for those involved in rioting and looting to have their benefits taken away from them and an e-petition attracted more than 240,000 signatures.
Amid calls for rioters to lose their entitlements, Iain Duncan Smith said at the time: 'We already accept that if people who are receiving benefits do not, are not prepared to seek work, take the work that's available to them, we take the benefit off them.
'And if you go to prison we take your benefit off you.

Thug: A rioter hurls a missile at police in Peckham, London, during four nights of disorder in August
'So what we're looking at is, for criminal charges, should we take the benefit? And the answer is yes.'

BREAKDOWN BY ETHNICITY
46% Black or mixed black background
42% White
7% Asian
5% 'Other'

Of the 1,344 people to go before the courts, the Ministry of Justice could only match 1,046 of them to people on Department of Work and Pensions databases.
This raises the possibility that many more of the defendants were also claiming benefits.
Policing and criminal justice minister Nick Herbert said: 'These figures confirm that, in the vast majority of cases, existing criminals were out in force during the disturbances in August.
'The fact that half of recorded crimes were for offences like stealing and looting shows that most of what we saw was motivated by opportunity and greed.

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'The tough sentences that have rightly been handed down to rioters, and subsequently upheld on appeal, send out a strong deterrent message that society will not tolerate the appalling behaviour we saw on our streets.'
Most police forces found that fewer than one in 10 of those arrested over the August riots were gang members and gangs 'generally did not play a pivotal role' in the disturbances, figures revealed.
Even in London, where gang membership among those arrested was highest at 19 per cent, most of those held were not in gangs, the Home Office figures showed.
'In terms of the role gangs played in the disorder, most forces perceived that where gang members were involved, they generally did not play a pivotal role,' officials said.

Youth trouble: Although less than one in ten were part of a gang, 53% of suspects were under 21
But more than a third of young people aged 10 to 17 who were involved in the riots had been excluded from school during 2009/10, other figures released by the Ministry of Justice showed.
This compared with just six per cent of all Year 11 pupils.
Two-thirds of young people in the riots also had special educational needs, compared with a fifth of all pupils.
And two-fifths were in receipt of free school meals, compared with less than a fifth of secondary school pupils, the figures showed.
Official figures showed that 36 per cent of young people - some 139 10 to 17-year-olds - appearing before the courts had received one or more fixed-term exclusions in 2009/10, compared with just 5.6 per cent of all pupils aged 15.
The findings appear to contradict Mr Duncan Smith's claim earlier this month that gangs played a 'significant part' in August's riots.
The Work and Pensions Secretary said tackling Britain's 'violent gang culture' was vital, and restoring the economy went 'hand in hand with restoring society'.
He told the Conservative Party conference in Manchester he believed the riots 'provided a moment of clarity for us all, a reminder that a strong economy requires a strong social settlement, with stable families ready to play a productive role in their communities'.


Today's figures showed that most of those involved in the riots were aged under 20, with 26 per cent aged 10 to 17 and 27 per cent aged 18 to 20.
In terms of ethnicity, 46 per cent of those appearing in court were from black or mixed black backgrounds, 42 per cent were white, seven per cent were Asian and five per cent were classified as 'other'.
In Haringey, north London, Nottingham, and Birmingham - three key scenes of August's riots - the proportion of those brought before the courts over the riots who were white was significantly lower, and those from a black and mixed black background significantly higher, than the proportion in the resident population.
However in other areas, such as Salford, the ethnicity breakdown mostly reflected that of the resident population.
In Haringey, 55 per cent of defendants were from a black or mixed black background and 34 per cent were white, compared with 17 per cent and 62 per cent respectively of the resident population under 40.
In Nottingham, 62 per cent of defendants were from a black or mixed black background and 32 per cent were white, compared with nine per cent and 71 per cent respectively of the resident population under 40.
And in Birmingham, 46 per cent of defendants were from a black or mixed black background, 33 per cent were white and 15 per cent from an Asian background, compared with nine per cent, 58 per cent and 30 per cent respectively of the resident population under 40.