24 October 2011 Last updated at 07:53 ET

The most comprehensive statistics published so far on people charged over the August riots in England show that they were poorer, younger and of lower educational achievement than average.

Some 90% of those brought before the courts were male, and only 5% were over the age of 40.

The government figures show a quarter were juveniles – aged 10-17 – and a similar proportion were aged 18-20.

Of those arrested, 13% were identified as gang members.

Even in London, where gang membership among those arrested was highest, the figure was less than one in five.

Some 35% of adults brought before courts were claiming out-of-work benefits, which compares to a national average of 12%.

Of the young people involved, 42% were in receipt of free school meals compared to an average of 16%.

School exclusions

A government spokesman said: “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.”

Two-thirds of the young people in court were classed as having some form of special educational need. This compares to 21% for the national average.

More than a third of young people who were involved in the riots had been excluded from school during 2009-10. The figure for all Year 11 pupils is 6%, according to Department for Education records.

And more than one in 10 of the young people appearing before courts had been permanently excluded – the figure drops to 0.1% among all those aged 15.

Three-quarters of all those who appeared in court had a previous conviction or caution. For adults the figure was 80% and for juveniles it was 62%.

In terms of ethnicity, 42% of those charged were white, 46% black, 7% Asian and 5% were classified as “other”.

‘Pattern held’

Ethnic background ranged geographically from 77% white in Manchester to 32% white in London, and from 47% black in London to 11% black in Hertfordshire.

One in eight of all the crimes committed in the disturbances were muggings, claiming 664 victims.

More than 2,500 shops and businesses were victims of looters and vandals, and more than 230 homes were hit by burglars or vandals.

The figures were released by the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).

The MoJ said: “It is clear that compared to population averages, those brought before the courts were more likely to be in receipt of free school meals or benefits, were more likely to have had special educational needs and be absent from school, and are more likely to have some form of criminal history.

“This pattern held across all areas looked at.”

‘Opportunity and greed’

BBC legal correspondent Clive Coleman said: “One of the key, surprising statistics is the one relating to gang members because there was much talk of the involvement of gangs after the riots.

“These statistics seem to reveal that, relatively speaking, a small number of those involved were gang members, and most police forces are reporting that to be the case.”

Earlier this month, Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith told the Conservative Party conference that gangs had played a “significant part” in the riots.

Following the release of the statistics, 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.

“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.”

Water cannon

Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Police has published the initial findings of a review into its handling of the rioting and looting.

It said that so far there was no evidence of senior commanders ordering local commanders to not make arrests if offences were taking place.

However, it admitted that “with hindsight” the Met did not have enough officers available on the first night of the rioting.

The review will investigate the cost of making water cannon available to the force – although the report notes that such equipment does have limitations.

The Met is reviewing ways of “co-ordinating, assessing and prioritising social media content for intelligence purposes”.

Assistant Commissioner Lynne Owens said: “Thoroughly reviewing disorder that touched almost every part of London was always going to be a significant task and we are progressing this as quickly as we can.

“We are committed to being as open as possible so that we, our partners and the public can properly understand what worked, what didn’t and what we need to do differently.

“Today’s report provides some high-level emerging findings and we will publish more detailed findings as the review further progresses.”

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