Mom says daughter took part in UK riots

An ambassador for the London Olympics appeared in a British court Thursday accused of hurling bricks at a police car after she was reported to police by her own mother.

Chelsea Ives, who has helped to promote the 2012 games, was arrested after her mother said she spotted her on television during a news bulletin.

The 18-year-old "talented sportswoman" was alleged to have been filmed by the BBC during violent disturbances in Enfield, north London, on Sunday.

Becky Owen, for the prosecution, told London's City of Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday that Ives led an attack on a cell phone store and "was first to pick up masonry and hurl it at the window."

Ives denied violent disorder, two counts of burglary and throwing bricks at a police car. She was remanded in custody.

Her mother, Adrienne, 47, later described how she "had to do what was right" after she said she saw footage of her daughter among the rioters.

She said, "We were watching people lose their homes and businesses. She won't thank us ... but what else were we supposed to do?"

Appearing in the same court Thursday was a ballerina who handed herself over to police after spotting herself in newspaper photographs issued by police of a mob that looted an electronics store.

The 17-year-old, who is too young to be named in reports, is alleged to have been caught on security cameras as a mob stole £190,000 ($298,000) of goods from an electronics store in Croydon, south London, on Monday.

The court was told that seeing her picture in the media had "been a wake-up call" for the girl. She had been learning ballet since the age of 7 and fears she will now lose her place at dance school. She was remanded in custody to appear before a youth court.