Footballer facing jail for attack on fashion store
A semi-professional footballer who stoned police and looted a Hugo Boss store in Sloane Square is facing jail.
Mario Quiassaca, 18, who plays for Staines Town in the Conference South league, was part of a 60-strong mob who ran riot in the area.
He kicked in the windows and took clothing and accessories worth £1,133, including a puffa jacket that he wore to go home. At City of Westminster magistrates' court, he admitted burglary and violent disorder.
His friend Charlie Burton, 18, admitted violent disorder. Burton told how the gang smashed into the store "like a pack of animals", and he had admitted to police he had felt "up for it to cause havoc".
Both were remanded in custody for sentencing at Wood Green crown court. Prosecutor Malachy Pakenham told the court how a police car was greeted with stones and missiles and rioters overturned a wheelie bin in the road to block emergency services.
They smashed six windows at Hugo Boss, enabling youths to snatch 80 items of clothing. Police arrested Quiassaca and Burton at their homes in Pimlico on Wednesday.
In Quiassaca's bedroom they found new Hugo Boss items, many still with price tags on. Quiassaca, said to be a student at Kingston College, said his motive for taking part was resentment towards police. Burton, an apprentice, said he joined in the disturbances after seeing the Croydon riot on TV.
