Hundreds arrested as riots spread to other UK cities

[News_Editor]

Hundreds arrested as riots spread to other UK cities

2011-08-09 12:35:08 GMT+7 (ICT)

LONDON (BNO NEWS) -- The British capital of London was the scene of riots and looting for the third day in a row on Monday as violence spread to other regions of England. Hundreds of people have been arrested.

The unrest began on Saturday in the Tottenham area of London in protest over the death of 29-year-old Mark Duggan, who was shot and killed by police on Thursday when they attempted to arrest him. A gun belonging to Duggan, who was an alleged cocaine dealer, was reportedly recovered at the scene.

Although the unrest initially focused on the fatal shooting of Duggan, the riots quickly escalated when youth and criminal opportunists joined in. A total of 35 police officers were injured and more than 160 people were arrested during violence on Saturday and Sunday.

On Monday afternoon, groups of rioters returned to some areas of London despite a heavy police presence which had been called for in an attempt to prevent new incidents. More rioters joined during the evening amid reports of buildings and cars being set on fire and shops being looted on a large scale.

Footage from the scenes showed stores being looted before the buildings were set on fire, often with residential houses on top of them. Emergency services were struggling to contain the riots, looting and fires and mutual aid was received from across the country. More than 1,700 extra officers were deployed in London on Monday evening,

In the Hackney area of London, up to 300 rioters gathered in Pembury Estate, setting cars on fire and throwing petrol bombs at police. In Mare Street of the same area, businesses were looted as officers attempted to contain the situation, resulting in three officers being injured.

Looting was also reported in the Newham and Lewisham areas of London, and more than 100 people looted a Tesco building in Bethnal Green, injuring two further police officers. None were believed to have life-threatening injuries.

Numerous fires were burning in the Croydon area of London, including at the soda factory The House of Reeves. The factory and store was a family business established in 1867, and the owners said their lives and their business had been destroyed by the blaze, putting some 20 people out of a job.

"The violence we have seen is simply inexcusable," police commander Christine Jones said on early Tuesday morning. "Ordinary people have had their lives turned upside down by this mindless thuggery. The Met will ensure that those responsible will face the consequences of their actions and be arrested."

Police also found a 26-year-old man with multiple gunshot wounds in a car in London's Croydon area. "He was taken to a south London hospital where he remains in a serious condition," a police spokesperson said, adding that the man had not been shot by police.

Hours later, at 2.50 a.m. local time on Tuesday morning, two police officers were injured when they were struck by a fleeing vehicle. "It is believed the injury occurred when police stopped some cars, not known how many, as their occupants were suspected of being involved in looting of a nearby electrical store," a police spokesperson said. "It is believed the driver of one of the cars drove away injuring the police officer in the process."

The vehicle was later stopped by other officers who arrested the three occupants of the car on suspicion of attempted murder. The injured officers were both in a stable condition at a north London hospital.

In total, police in London said they had arrested a total of 334 people including 69 people who have since been charged. Two others have been cautioned. "Please be advised that this is a constantly changing picture," a police spokesperson said.

But riots also spread to other parts of England on Monday evening and early Tuesday morning. West Midlands police said around 100 people, many of them young people, had been arrested in Birmingham for various offenses such as violent disorder and aggravated burglary.

"We want to protect the people of Birmingham by restoring order and returning the city to normality as soon as possible," said West Midlands Assistant Chief Constable Sharon Rowe, adding that there were no reports of major injuries in Birmingham. "We will not tolerate mindless violence anywhere in the West Midlands and are working to hard to ensure that the offenders are identified and caught as soon as possible."

Rowe said an operation was ongoing to restore calm in the city center and to protect local people and businesses, but she also called on parents to check on their children. "A significant number of the arrests have been young people, so I would urge parents to get in touch with their children and get them home to ensure they are safe," Rowe said.

Paul Tilsley, Deputy Leader of Birmingham City Council, also appealed to the people of Birmingham for calm and to allow police and others to do their job. "To help achieve this it is important that as many people as possible leave the streets. We urge all parents within the city to get in touch with any children or young people not currently at home asking them to return," Tilsley said.

Riots were also reported in some parts of Liverpool where hundreds of rioters set ablaze cars and threw stones at people and through windows. There were no immediate reports of casualties in Liverpool, but an unknown number of people were arrested.

Disorder further broke out in the city of Bristol where looting took place and cars and buildings were damaged. "There has been a series of sporadic and volatile incidents throughout the night with a small number of people intent on causing violence and criminal damage to property," said Avon an Somerset Constabulary Chief Superintendent Jon Stratford. "This sort of behavior will not be tolerated in our city (Bristol)."

Minor incidents were also reported to have taken place in Manchester, but a spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police denied this on their Twitter profile: "BBC reports of rioting/disturbances in Greater Manchester inaccurate. No rioting whatsoever, no major disturbances. All quiet at moment."

The riots are the worst in London since at least 1995.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-08-09

[zydeco]

"We want to protect the people of Birmingham by restoring order and returning the city to normality as soon as possible," said West Midlands Assistant Chief Constable Sharon Rowe, adding that there were no reports of major injuries in Birmingham. "We will not tolerate mindless violence anywhere in the West Midlands and are working to hard to ensure that the offenders are identified and caught as soon as possible."

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What if the violence is not "mindless"? Then, whatchyagonnado? This is all sort of like the captain of the Titanic were he to have been seen stomping his feet on the bridge and declaring that he would not tolerate the sinking of his ship.

[cardholder]

"We want to protect the people of Birmingham by restoring order and returning the city to normality as soon as possible," said West Midlands Assistant Chief Constable Sharon Rowe, adding that there were no reports of major injuries in Birmingham. "We will not tolerate mindless violence anywhere in the West Midlands and are working to hard to ensure that the offenders are identified and caught as soon as possible."

-----------------

What if the violence is not "mindless"? Then, whatchyagonnado? This is all sort of like the captain of the Titanic were he to have been seen stomping his feet on the bridge and declaring that he would not tolerate the sinking of his ship.

Drama Queen !

Of course it is "mindless".

What other adjective would you attribute to actions of these morons.

[CoCo55]

Water canons first, followed by rubber bullets followed by live rounds

[englishinsiam]

I'm still calling for the rioters to be shot.

They don't deserve to breathe the same air as decent human beings.

I am proud of being English but most certainly not proud of what has become of England.

[uptheos]

The problem is that so many can be notified via twitter etc, to be in a certain place at a certain time, that no police force on earth can keep up............this is only the tip of the iceberg!

[OJAS]

Water canons first, followed by rubber bullets followed by live rounds

Stop pussyfooting and cut out the first two stages and go straight to the third, say I. The Army should be sent in to liquidate these scumbags NOW.

[uptheos]

Water canons first, followed by rubber bullets followed by live rounds

Stop pussyfooting and cut out the first two stages and go straight to the third, say I. The Army should be sent in to liquidate these scumbags NOW.

The Army's thousands of miles away helping 3rd world countries become democratic and law abiding!

[Dag]

Water cannons should scare the hell out of em....just the sight of them would do it I imagine.

[uptheos]

Water cannons should scare the hell out of em....just the sight of them would do it I imagine.

Yeah, but they just get wet, dry off and are angrier.....then what?

[uptheos]

Thuggery knows no colour: White youths have joined in the attacks over the past three days, a reflection of the desire for instant gratification that transcends race and class

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2023922/London-riots-Apologists-thugs-hang-heads-shame.html#ixzz1UWIJj426

[baboon]

Water canons first, followed by rubber bullets followed by live rounds

You will get no argument from me. This is what our grandparents fought and suffered for?

Thailand has it`s share of problems, but by God I am happy to be here right now.

[KKvampire]

I'm still calling for the rioters to be shot.

They don't deserve to breathe the same air as decent human beings.

I am proud of being English but most certainly not proud of what has become of England.

hear hear, One of the reasons I left Uk was the low life and a generation of lowlife with no respect for themselves or those around them.

One aside I can never understand why shops in the Uk cities have glass fronts with no metal shutters, seems crazy in the 21st century.You can;t imagine that in Bangkok.

[baboon]

I'm still calling for the rioters to be shot.

They don't deserve to breathe the same air as decent human beings.

I am proud of being English but most certainly not proud of what has become of England.

hear hear, One of the reasons I left Uk was the low life and a generation of lowlife with no respect for themselves or those around them.

One aside I can never understand why shops in the Uk cities have glass fronts with no metal shutters, seems crazy in the 21st century.You can;t imagine that in Bangkok.

No. Put criminals behind metal shutters,not shops. Why should our cities have to be so blighted?

[Steely Dan]

There are complicated social issues behind the riots, however above all they are symptomatic of a moral decay, where nobody identifies themselves as belonging to a community. In lieu of parental guidance I think the only solution is to bring back national service.

[KKvampire]

I'm still calling for the rioters to be shot.

They don't deserve to breathe the same air as decent human beings.

I am proud of being English but most certainly not proud of what has become of England.

hear hear, One of the reasons I left Uk was the low life and a generation of lowlife with no respect for themselves or those around them.

One aside I can never understand why shops in the Uk cities have glass fronts with no metal shutters, seems crazy in the 21st century.You can;t imagine that in Bangkok.

No. Put criminals behind metal shutters,not shops. Why should our cities have to be so blighted?

Because soon Insurance companies will say they have to.

Edited August 9, 2011 by KKvampire

[DEVATSAR]

I blame the Police, they must have really upset these hard done by young girls and boys. the police must have done something wrong again

All above intended as pure sacrasiam !!!!

Shoot the ********* God help England IT WAS JUST A MATTER OF TIME.

THANK GOD FOR THAILAND

[rgs2001uk]

There are complicated social issues behind the riots, however above all they are symptomatic of a moral decay, where nobody identifies themselves as belonging to a community. In lieu of parental guidance I think the only solution is to bring back national service.

They dont have parents, it used to be called dysfunctional families, then the PC brigade decreed these people couldnt be stigmatized, so now its one parent families.

Sink estates full of 16 year old single mothers living on handouts and breeding more feral children, the cycle repeats itself.

No discipline at home, teachers powerless, these little brats are only "expressing themself", reap what you sow.

Town centres turned into no go areas on a Fri and Sat night because of knive weilding chavs on the piss.

Police dont bother anymore, go to court, wait for the social workers to show up armed with background reports, and litle Johnny gets another ASBO to add to his collection.

[bigbamboo]

An outbreak of recreational violence, nothing to do with political or social issues, carried out by a minority of mindless thugs with nothing better to do. Just be thankful that the men and women who fought for this country when it was worth fighting for aren't around to see it.

[Atmos]

it's ok, the politicians are going to have a jolly good meeting, and they're even interrupting their holidays to do it.

Debating, a little condemning, but any action?

Expect a special committee will be set up to investigate, and report back by 2013.

British Prime Minister David Cameron

has said he would recall parliament from its summer recess for a day on Thursday . . .

He said parliament would meet on Thursday ''so I can make a statement to parliament and we can hold a debate and we are all able to stand together in condemnation of these crimes".

[Maestro]

London riots: Croydon's historic House of Reeves store destroyed - video

London riots: Croydon's historic House of Reeves store destroyed - video

Croydon was one of the worst-hit areas in Monday night's rioting in London. One of the biggest blazes engulfed a family furniture business that had been based in Croydon for more than 120 years. The Reeves furniture shop was engulfed with flames, with nearby homes evacuated.

The 144-year-old House of Reeves, which gave its name to the street, Reeves Corner, burned to the ground, to the dismay of 80-year-old owner Maurice Reeves. House of Reeves employed 15 people

Read more: www.guardian.co.uk/uk/video/2011/aug/09/london-riots-croydon-reeves-video

[Ulysses G.]

What a shame.

[koheesti]

Times like these can make people emotional and irrational. For example, when I see the video of these punks chasing the police, robbing injured kids on the street, burning, looting and destroying the city, etc I can't help but wish that some psycho nutjob like we saw in Norway would pop out from around the corner and start mowing the thugs down with automatic weapon fire even though I know it's wrong.

[Moonrakers]

Kicking off in West Bromich now

[Goshawk]

reports that it's starting to kicking of in Salford right now..

[midas]

Does anyone on this forum get the feeling that this nationwide rioting in UK goes much deeper than

simply a response to someone being shot dead by London police?

It is being portrayed on the media as youths simply looting and engaging in " criminality " but

when you get computer hackers showing support for these people it is almost

as if it is an organised anarchy ( excuse the oxymoron ) !

Any views?

3.41pm: Computer hackers have defaced the official website of BlackBerry owner Research In Motion, in a retaliatory attack over the company's pledge to assist the police investigation into the London riots.

Inside BlackBerry blog was hacked into on Tuesday afternoon by a group calling themselves TeamPoison. In a statement posted on the BlackBerry website, the hackers said:

Dear RIM;

You Will _NOT_ assist the UK Police because if u do innocent members of the public who were at the wrong place at the wrong time and owned a blackberry will get charged for no reason at all, the Police are looking to arrest as many people as possible to save themselves from embarrassment ... if you do assist the police by giving them chat logs, gps locations, customer information & access to peoples BlackBerryMessengers you will regret it, we have access to your database which includes your employees information; e.g – Addresses, Names, Phone Numbers etc. – now if u assist the police, we _WILL_ make this information public and pass it onto rioters…. do you really want a bunch of angry youths on your employees doorsteps? Think about it…. and don't think that the police will protect your employees, the police can't protect themselves let alone protect others….. if you make the wrong choice your database will be made public, save yourself the embarrassment and make the right choice. don't be a puppet..

p.s – we do not condone in innocent people being attacked in these riots nor do we condone in small businesses being looted, but we are all for the rioters that are engaging in attacks on the police and government…. and before anyone says "the blackberry employees are innocent" no they are not! They are the ones that would be assisting the police.

The hackers said they defaced the website "in response" to this statement made by RIM on Monday: "We feel for those impacted by the riots in London. We have engaged with the authorities to assist in any way we can."

A spokesman for RIM said the firm was looking into the apparent website hack.

Edited August 9, 2011 by midas

[koheesti]

Hackers don't usually issue physical threats. At least they didn't in the good ol' days.

[Moonrakers]

Police trying to deal with a crowd in Swindon now

[midas]

Hackers don't usually issue physical threats. At least they didn't in the good ol' days.

this is the part that got me thinking..........................

" but we are all for the rioters that are engaging in attacks on the police and government "

and Moonrakers keeps naming new cities in which trouble is breaking out.

surely this is being coordinated and maybe planned for some time?

I would find it hard to believe gangs of youths across UK could have identified would-be troublemakers andorganised themselves within a few days?

Edited August 9, 2011 by midas

[Flatouthruthefog]

Water cannons should scare the hell out of em....just the sight of them would do it I imagine.

All depends what is added to the water.

Sad to say it, but conc. sulphuric acid might be a good start.