Eton pupil in May Day protest

Arrests were made after attack on McDonald's diner

A scholar from the elite Eton College could face criminal charges for taking part in the May Day anti-capitalism riots.

Police are investigating whether Matthew MacDonald, 17, was one of a group of anarchists who wrecked a McDonald's restaurant near Trafalgar Square.

He was among 29 people held for violent disorder on a day of destruction across central London.

No school can condone violent behaviour of the kind to which he has been connected

Eton headmaster Jonathan Lewis

After the arrest, Mr MacDonald's parents withdrew him from the £13,947 a year private school attended by princes William and Harry.

The teenager from Twickenham, south-west London, was released on bail and must return to a police station next month, pending further inquiries.

'Genuine' protest

Theodore MacDonald, 66, a professor of mathematics at Brunel University, said his son was not a troublemaker.

"My son went up there as a genuine protester. He is no thug.

"He is a young man who has got his own beliefs."

Mr MacDonald, who had been studying for English and History A-Levels, was one of 70 pupils known as King's Scholars who are selected to the top public school by exam.

MacDonald has been withdrawn from elite Eton College

Eton headmaster Jonathan Lewis said the pupil would have been expelled if found guilty of taking part in the violence.

"There could not have been any chance of his remaining in it. No school can condone violent behaviour of the kind to which he has been connected."

Nine police officers were injured as protesters attacked shops, restaurants, cars and monuments, including a statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square, and the Cenotaph war memorial during the protest which had been billed as a peaceful demonstration.

Some other anti-capitalist demonstrators, of the 95 arrested by police, have already appeared in court and have been fined or sentenced to short prison terms.

Meanwhile workers, including expert stone cleaners, continue cleaning up the aftermath.