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Wednesday, 10 August 2011

UK riots: 16,000 officers policing London's streets

UK riots: How the night of violence unfolded
Some 16,000 police officers are being deployed on London's streets in a bid to prevent a fourth night of rioting, with support drafted from 30 forces.
Businesses in some areas closed early in a bid to avoid the kind of violence that spread through London on Monday.
David Cameron has recalled Parliament for Thursday in response to the "sickening scenes", which prompted unrest in other cities.
Tuesday evening saw  and Greater Manchester.
West Midlands Police were dealing with sporadic disorder in Wolverhampton, while youths had smashed shop windows and set cars alight in nearby West Bromwich.
Riot police were also surrounding Birmingham's Mailbox high-end shopping building. Five hundred officers are on duty in the city centre on Tuesday evening.
Greater Manchester Police were involved in a where a building was set alight. A Miss Selfridge store was set on fire in Manchester city centre, where some outbreaks of violence and looting are still being reported.
Salford MP Hazel Blears said local police had assured her that officers' shifts had been extended and that "every effort" was being made to get all available police on the streets.
She also told the BBC that the "wall-to-wall" coverage of the violence may have encouraged more lawlessness.
The BBC's Ben Sidwell describes scenes of rioting in West Bromwich
The Metropolitan force  of rioting suspects, while 32 people have appeared in court charged with offences such as burglary and criminal damage during the previous riots.
Among them were a graphic designer, college students, a youth worker, a university graduate and a man signed up to join the army. Some gave non-London addresses. Eighteen were remanded in custody.
So far 563 people have been arrested and 105 charged in connection with violence in the capital.
Wounded officers Some 111 Met officers have suffered injuries including serious head and eye wounds, cuts and fractured bones after being attacked by rioters wielding bottles, planks, bricks and even driving cars at them. Five police dogs have also been hurt.
However, Scotland Yard has drafted in special constables and community support officers to ensure five times the usual number of officers for a Tuesday will be on duty. Similar staffing levels will be maintained over three days.
Meanwhile, Scotland Yard said a 26-year-old man , amid rioting in the south London town, had died in hospital.

In court

Highbury Corner Magistrates Court has dealt with a large number of cases arising from the riots in north London.
Those who appeared this afternoon were all male and generally in their 20s, although there were some youths.
Charges were most commonly burglary and criminal damage. There were a large number of guilty pleas entered.
The magistrates said that their powers of punishment were insufficient in the light of the fact that the offences were committed during a riot, which amounted to a "substantial aggravating feature".
A significant number of those charged were said in court to be of previously good character and had simply been drawn in to the offending.
In one defendant's case, a lawyer described his client as offending in "a moment of madness".
Mr Cameron met officers in the Met Police's Gold command in Lambeth on Tuesday afternoon, before speaking to emergency service personnel in Croydon.
He condemned the "sickening scenes of people looting, vandalising, thieving, robbing".
He told rioters: "You will feel the full force of the law. And if you are old enough to commit these crimes, you are old enough to face the punishment."
The recall of Parliament will allow MPs to "stand together in condemnation of these crimes and to stand together in determination to rebuild these communities", he said.
The prime minister returned early from his holiday in Tuscany to discuss the unrest, which first flared on Saturday after a peaceful protest in Tottenham over the fatal shooting of Mark Duggan, 29, by police.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said on Tuesday that  that a handgun found at the scene where Mr Duggan was killed had been fired at officers.
London has seen a wave of "copycat criminal activity" since the initial disturbance, the Met Police said.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stephen Kavanagh said the use of plastic bullets - never before fired to deal with riots in England - would be "considered carefully" in the event of further disorder.
'No Army' But he added: "That does not mean we are scared of using any tactic."
Acting Commissioner Tim Godwin had earlier ruled out calling in the Army.
Police officers check each others kit as they prepare for a possible fourth night of rioting across the capital The Met, which has called in support from 30 forces, said Monday's rioting was the worst in memory
Officers believe some rioters have used BlackBerry Messenger - a service allowing users to send free real-time messages - to organise violence.
Meanwhile, two 18-year-olds were arrested in Folkestone, Kent, and a 16-year-old was being questioned in Glasgow on suspicion of inciting violence through internet social networking sites.
Around London, stores in Peckham, Rotherhithe, Ealing and Hackney were reported to have closed early on Tuesday. Some small although West End productions were scheduled to go ahead.
Developments related to Monday's disturbances included:
The Association of British Insurers says the damage is likely to cost insurers "tens of millions of pounds".
Monday's violence started in Hackney, north London, at about 16:20 BST after a man was stopped and searched by police, who found nothing.
Groups of people began attacking officers, wrecking cars with wooden poles and metal bars, and looting shops. Violence then flared separately in other parts of the capital.
Boris Johnson meets angry residents in Clapham Junction
'No justification' Mayor of London Boris Johnson, who also cut short a holiday to return, was heckled by the members of the public while viewing damage in Clapham Junction on Tuesday.
Some people have complained there have been too few police to deal with the violence.
Mr Johnson told those gathered that those responsible for the violence "face punishment they will bitterly, bitterly regret".
However, when challenged to do more for communities, Mr Johnson rejected "economic or social justifications" for the violence.
Map showing riot locations

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