Tottenham riots – live reaction

Eight police officers were injured during riots in Tottenham overnight. Violence erupted after protests at the fatal police shooting of Mark Duggan, who was killed on Thursday 10.46am: Awaiting a statement from Commander Adrian Hanstock, of Metropolitan police. Will bring it as it happens. 10.35am: Google map showing the scene of some of the fires and looting in the early hours of this morning. Click on the blaze icons for more information. We’d like to carry on adding to the map throughout the day to try and get a fuller picture of what happened and where. If you witnessed something that might be worth adding get in touch on Twitter @AdamGabbatt , or email adam.gabbatt@guardian.co.uk 10.12am: Tottenham MP David Lammy: @DavidLammy In n17 withs Nims Obunge, classford Stirling and Sharon grant. Devastating scenes. 9.58am: In the comments vic15 , who lives opposite Tottenham police station, has given a detailed account of their experience of the rioting. “This wasn’t just about a policing, this was about mindless violence and aggression by disaffected and alienated youth,” vic15 says. I live in Tottenham – actually I live directly opposite the main police station. This is basically what I saw. I didn’t know there was going to be any demonstration and heard a bit of noise but honestly, it’s quite a noisy area so didn’t think anything of it. Then at about 8/8.30pm things started to get quite frightening. We saw the police move into a line and police on the streets were throwing things at the police. It looked like stones and rocks although later became flaming wheelie bins and what looked to be shop fittings (my partner claims he saw a fridge being thrown or part of one). Then we saw the cars go up in flames, they were quite near us. That’s when I realised that this was getting really out of hand and the police moved around where we are and more and more kept arriving. We saw the bus and the buildings around us go up in flames like an inferno. That was probably one of the most frightening parts. People below the flat were shouting out to the police. I can’t remember their exact words but quite abusive and dismissive. We were worried that the fires on the high street were not being tackled and they were really gutwrenching. We didn’t see much of the looting first hand because we didn’t leave the property (of course) but at one point, early on, I called a friend of mine because I was scared and asked if we could come round. I wanted out of the area. She pointed out with much more clarity than me that the best thing we could do want not leave where we were. At least we were surrounded by police but it didn’t feel that safe when the fires were raging down the streets. We heard lots of dogs barking at one point and weren’t sure if they were police dogs or the dogs of the rioters because the accompanying shouting was too aggressive and angry. Then the fire engines got through and the horses and the armoured black riot vans. It seemed to quieten down nearer to us but it seemed to volatile and I didn’t sleep last night. Last night I was so angry with people who choose this way to destroy my community. I live in Tottenham and I have been sick of the sneery ways that people regard us. Some of the ‘twitter jokes’ last night were really really sad and almost broke my heart with the way that some people thought this was a big joke or that Tottenham isn’t ‘worth saving’. There are a lot of very good people here. The looting wasn’t a part of the demonstration. People came from all over London to ‘join in’ and the community I live in has been ruined. Now, beyond the anger, I’m sad, desperately sad. This wasn’t just about a policing, this was about mindless violence and aggression by disaffected and alienated youth and not just in Tottenham. Meanwhile the people I know, the shops I visit, my neighbours have had their lives ripped apart and the community which is wracked by poverty and joblessness is further labeled and further disadvantaged. I don’t want people to think that Tottenham is a hopeless place. It is my home and my community and I love living here but I really truly despise people who have destroyed it. 9.48am: Paramedics treated a total of 11 people, ten of whom were taken to hospital, according to the London ambulance service. A spokeswoman added that two of the eight injured police officers needed attention from ambulance crews, but it is not yet clear whether the other officers were dealt with by the ambulance service. 9.42am: Some official reaction from Downing Street: The rioting in Tottenham last night was utterly unacceptable. There is no justification for the aggression the police and the public faced, or for the damage to property. There is now a police investigation into the rioting and we should let that process happen. 9.31am: Paul Lewis was reporting from Tottenham overnight and reports that “sustained looting spread from Tottenham to other nearby areas of Haringey”. By midnight police managed to secure a 200-metre stretch of the Tottenham High Road, scene of some of the worst rioting on Saturday night. But as fire engines entered the street, and began putting out blazing cars and buildings, the rioters spread north and east through back-streets. To the north, at Tottenham Hale, Aldi supermarket was ransacked and set on fire. So too was a nearby carpet shop, causing a huge blaze. Looters turned up with cars and shopping trolleys to carry away stolen goods. Nearby, large groups of youths congregated in the surrounding streets with sticks, bottles and hammers. Some wore balaclava masks, preventing cars from accessing streets as buildings were broken into. Others used large rubbish bins to form burning barricades across the road. However some of most dramatic looting took place further west, in Wood Green, and continued into the early hours of the morning. 9.24am: This video by MriRudi on YouTube shows a building engulfed by flames. “Apparently this is a jeweller’s store,” someone is heard saying on the footage. An alarm can be heard sounding in the background. – 9.15am: Good morning, and welcome to the Guardian’s live reaction to the riots in Tottenham last night. Two police cars, a bus and ­several shops were attacked and set ablaze in north London as violence and looting erupted following a protest demanding “justice” over the fatal shooting of Mark Duggan. Eight police officers were injured during the violence, which continued into the early hours of Sunday morning. Duggan, 29, was killed on Thursday after police stopped the minicab he was travelling in. The IPCC are investigating the incident, which also saw a police officer shot – the bullet reportedly lodging in his radio and leaving him with minor injuries. Several colleagues were reporting from the scene of the violence in Tottenham, here’s the Guardian’s main news story : Officers on horseback and others in riot gear clashed with hundreds of ­rioters armed with makeshift missiles in the centre of Tottenham after Mark Duggan, 29, a father of four, was killed on Thursday. On Sunday morning police said there remained isolated incidents in the Tottenham area involving “a small number of people” and officers were still dealing with those situations. Eight officers were being treated in hospital, one with head injuries, following the violence overnight. The London Fire Brigade said all fires were now “under control” after trouble spread overnight from Tottenham High Road to Tottenham Hale Retail Park and a Lidl supermarket was set on fire. On Saturday night, rioters broke through police ranks and attempted to storm Tottenham’s police station, pelting officers with bricks, bottles and eggs. As a police helicopter flew over Tottenham High Road, youths in masks and hoods added combustible material to two burned out police cars, included a bundle of documents and an awning ripped down from one of the shops. Some attempted to persuade the rioters to disperse, one young man shouting: “Go home now people.” But others filled bottles with petrol to throw at the police lines. Many lined up with makeshift weapons including metal bars and baseball bats to confront the line of police, but others seemed more interested in looting. At one stage a safe was dragged out of a book­makers, while others were seen with a television set and an electric guitar. Several arrived with shopping trollies to take away what they had stolen. “It wasn’t like this before,” said one woman standing close to one of the two burned-out police cars. “It started out as a peaceful demonstration. The police shot a guy here last week and they lied about what happened. They said he pulled a gun but he wouldn’t have done that with armed police. They shot him so badly that his mother could not recognise him.” A Metropolitan police spokesman said the trouble began when missiles were thrown at parked patrol cars at 8.30pm. He said one was pushed, blazing, into the middle of Tottenham High Road. Neither of the two officers who had been driving the cars was injured. As violence spread, a double-decker bus was set upon. Witnesses said the vehicle exploded in flames after attackers threw homemade bombs through its windows. Nearby shops were also set ablaze. Were you in Tottenham last night? Get in touch on Twitter @AdamGabbatt or share your stories below. London Metropolitan police Protest Adam Gabbatt guardian.co.uk

Posted by on August 7, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.