London riots – live blog

Unrest and looting spreads across London following the fatal shooting of Mark Duggan in Tottenham – 10.32am: My colleague Jasmine Coleman has this dispatch from Brixton: The pavements all along Brixton road are closed as police officers and shopkeepers try to deal with what happened last night. Shops windows have been smashed — especially those of fast food restaurants such as McDonalds, KFC and Nandos. One shop, which I’m told was once a JD Sports, has been torched. Shakir Alam, 21, arrived at work at McDonalds on the corner of Acre Lane and Brixton Road this morning only be sent away again. He said: It just doesn’t feel right. Look at this street, it’s all smashed up. “I think the reason is the same as in Tottenham where that guy was killed.” Sam Gafre, 16, heard the violence at around midnight last night from his home nearby: I heard lots of smashing glass and lots of sirens. But I didn’t know how badly it was up until now. “I came here to shop but it’s all closed. “From what I’m hearing it is just because of what happened in Tottenham, people are just using it as an excuse to rob stuff.” 10.26am: Over in Wood Green, one bookshop owner is very, very angry about the weekend’s events . Here’s some of what he wrote last night: We are not at all happy about this. The people who did this are not representative of how Wood Green (and Tottenham) feel … They have used a controversial and tragic incident and turned it into an excuse to steal things and smash things and ruin things. They have no interest in anything other than what they can gain from this situation and I am furious. I had a text message at 5.30am from one of our most wonderful and precious customers. She lives above a shop on the High Road. She texted me to tell me about how horrible things were and to give me a warning in case I didn’t know. Now here’s the thing. She is pregnant, and was due to give birth yesterday. The high road has been cordoned off. All the police and ambulances are in Tottenham. Not a good situation when the looting and rioting in Wood Green has been going on for 2-3 hours without any police intervention (they are all still in Tottenham) and the likelihood of a taxi to take you to a hospital is zero. This is just one example of the short sighted, ignorant, self indulgent and greedy nature of the actions in Wood Green and Tottenham. There are many many more.” 10.21am: Huge thanks to the people of Brixton, who are helping us build up a pretty thorough picture of what happened there last night. Latest snapshot comes courtesy of Rahul Verma, a freelance journalist who’s live in Brixton for 12 years: It seems remarkable that big businesses and chains including KFC, McDonalds, WH Smith, Currys and JD Sports were targeted while the Ritzy cinema a venue that’s visible, has lots of windows and is in the heart the trouble is untouched.” 10.16am: A dispatch from a Brixton bus last night (thanks to Matthew Turner for this): I was on the No 3 bus last night going through Brixton right on midnight. We were 100m from the tube station when the road was blocked of by rioters using the newspaper recycling bins as blockades. Fires were being started in phone booths about 10m from where the bus was stationed. The bus was stationary for about 10 minutes before the driver decided to smash through the recycling bins. I was very surprised by the lack of police given that Brixton police station is only 100m down the road. I called the police to alert them to the situation but didn’t see any police in the space of 10 minutes. Footlocker was being looted and bricks were flying everywhere. 10.09am: Laura Kudrna has just sent in this saga from Brixton: I’ve just woken up on my friend’s sofa this morning which is not where I expected to be. Around midnight last night I tried to get to my door on Coldhabour Lane after my friend drove me back from Telford where I had attended a wedding. She dropped me off at the top of Coldhabour Lane near the Ritzy because there was traffic and I quickly saw why, as police were blocking my road. I assumed there had been a stabbing and I would receive an escort to be my door as has happened in the past. Instead, when requesting to get to my door, I was shouted at by a female police officer and told to leave the area. Upon asking why, she told me five people had been stabbed and someone was running around with an axe so I needed to go the police station. This was all I was told and had no idea what was going on. I saw my friend, a local shop owner, and he told me to wait for the police to calm down and it was just some youths causing trouble. I started to head to the police station after requesting numerous times to get to my door and being blocked from going through. I tried walking down Electric Lane and Electric Avenue to get to the high street and first saw broken glass all over the high road, then saw a woman screaming and running top speed after a man headed towards the KFC. I turned my head to look right towards the station, and saw a huge crowd moving my way. I turned around and started running down Electric Avenue (full sari and heels and suitcase!) unable to call anyone because my phone was out of battery. I was truly terrified. Fortunately I have a friend on the street and rang his bell until he answered. He let me in and we could see a fire burning from his roof – we thought it was the Marks and Spencer but I guess it was Foot Locker. I could see riot police and hear shouting and breaking glass. I can understand the frustration of the people looting and rioting – our political and economic climate is pretty bad and it sounds like the police should have engaged in more open communication with Mark Duggan’s family. I am disappointed this will contribute to stereotypes about Brixton being a dangerous place to live because it’s really not, I love living here and it has a wonderful, normally very safe community. 10.04am: The home secretary, Theresa May, is thought to be in her way back to the country today to talk to police and take charge of the situation 10.02am: My colleague Jasmine Coleman, who’s just arrived in Brixton, sends this: Brixton tube station is still closed due to ‘a police investigation’. There was a handful of officers at Stockwell station but no sign of unrest so far. 9.42am: We’ve got a team of reporters in — or heading down — to last night’s hotspots. If you’ve got any information on what happened in your area, do get in touch on the thread below or by emailing sam.jones@guardian.co.uk 9.38am: Interesting technological observations here from the Urban Mashup Blog: In recent public disturbances such as the Student protests, commentary has focused on the role that social networks such as Twitter and Facebook have played in the planning of demonstrations and coordination of protesters. By contrast in this riot it appears the social network of choice is one provided by none other than BlackBerry. Blackberry’s have been produced by Research In Motion (RIM) since 1999. They were originally associated with busy office executives who needed to access their emails on the move, but in recent years they have become increasingly popular within youth and urban cultures. I have to admit that I found this puzzling. It took my far cooler 17 year old nephew to explain that the main reason for their popularity is due to BBM – BlackBerry Messenger. BBM as it is known, is an instant messenger system that has become popular for three main reasons: it’s fast (naturally), it’s virtually free, and unlike Twitter or Facebook, it’s private. So what has all this got to do with the riots in Tottenham? Well, it appears that BBM messages have been circulating since Thursday’s shooting of Duggan by the police. These have fuelled the anger of the youths that have taken to the streets. BBM was also the channel used to spread the word that the riot had started, and from what I can tell on Twitter, it appears to be the means by which communications continue to be shared. 9.33am: Amid the chaos, PA brings some cheer: In front of the KFC on the corner of Coldharbour Lane in Brixton, which also had its windows smashed, the proprietor of a local bakery was giving out free cupcakes. The owner, who would only give her name as Ms Cupcake, said: “Brixton is about love. Who cares if people didn’t show love last night? We wanted to show there is kindness in Brixton.” 9.26am: Malthouse has also denied that the resignations last month of Met Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson and Assistant Commissioner John Yates in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal had contributed to gaps in decision-making at the top of the force. He defended the Met against allegations that too few officers were sent to tackle the rioters, adding: We can’t just maintain a standing army sitting in vans all over the place just in case something might kick off. “We have to employ those officers as efficiently as possible.” 9.24am: The deputy mayor for policing in London, Kit Malthouse, has told Sky News that the capital is one of the “safest big cities on earth”. He’s also suggested that some people are using the shooting of Mark Duggan as an excuse to steal “a new set of trainers or whatever it is”. He added: I think it is worth stressing that this is quite a small group of people within our community in London who have decided to perpetrate violence and who, frankly, are looking for stuff to nick. “They’re picking particular kinds of stores, whether it is because they want a new set of trainers or whatever it is. “What we have to be careful to do, in the media and in politics, is not create some kind of atmosphere of excuse for their behaviour.” Malthouse said police would be “unrelenting” in pursuing people who took part in criminal activity over the weekend, adding that they would be “hoovered up” by police in the next few weeks. He defended Boris Johnson’s decision to stay on holiday during the crisis in the capital, saying: “Should he be reacting to these criminal provocateurs in that way by coming back? I think that is kind of rewarding them. “Modern communications mean he can stay in touch and participate in meetings from around the globe.” 9.19am: This comment from @simonlondontown is worth a read: I was in Tottenham on Saturday, the police had petrol bombs and bricks and concrete thrown at them all night however they were still really polite with people who weren’t involved. They were chiefly concerned with trying to protect the fire brigade who were rescuing families from flats that were on fire in the High Road. This has nothing to do with a local gang member criminal who was shot while shooting at police, this is sadly just the typical sort of excuse adopted to try and add some shred of credibility to the actions of the unemployed lawless criminal low-lifes who, when they’re not stealing — and now apparently looting — are swindling honest hard working people out of their taxes through the benefits system. Until we make people work for their benefits in this country this type of lawlessness will continue. Let’s stop criticising the police — who the media and particularly the BBC now blame for everything — and start facing up to dealing with the real problem. What have you seen and heard where you live or work? Post below or drop me an email: sam.jones@guardian.co.uk 9.11am: Elsewhere, we’re getting reports that the Bike Shack shop in Leyton has been looted and that the windows at Currys Leyton Mills have been smashed. And thanks to pjlayer (on the thread below) for this: Peacocks in Harringay Arena Shopping centre got looted last night. Possibly sports direct too, judging by the number of their hangers strewn across the car park this morning. Meanwhile, here’s what JD Sports in Streatham looks like today 9.04am: More info on the affected areas from colleagues. One, who lives in south London, writes: Been told by a couple of neighbours that T Mobile & JD Sports in Streatham were broken into last night, possibly rammed Another, who lives in Walthamstow, writes: I was woken up at just before 12.30am to the sound of cars speeding, loud banging and lots of people talking. I looked out my window and a crowd of about 40 youths had gathered at the top end of the High Street and were just milling around, with their attention focused down the High Street towards where the shops are, including BHS and Argos. At just gone 12.30am, three police vans pulled into the top end of the High Street, and the youths began to be questioned by officers, but it seemed reasonably calm so I went back to bed. The sirens continued in the area into the early hours of the morning. 8.44am: Nick Clegg has a busy day ahead of him and is expected to phone and meet top police officers and ministers to talk about the weekend’s violence. It also appears that the Met’s Tottenham borough commander, Chief Superintendent Sandra Looby, is cutting short her US holiday to fly back to the UK and address the situation in her area. Looby has been criticised for jetting off to Florida in the runup to Saturday night’s violence. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Steve Kavanagh told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: The local chief superintendent, when she went away, actually handed over to a senior officer … and had two superintendents working on the borough constantly. “She’s now coming back because she is very committed to that borough.” He admitted there were too few officers in Tottenham on Saturday night, but blamed Twitter for fuelling looting and violence, saying: “Social media and other methods have been used to organise these levels of greed and criminality.” Kavanagh pledged that more officers would be on London’s streets tonight to prevent or tackle further outbreaks. He added: “There will be even more officers out, even more committed and brave then they have been thus far, to make sure London stays as safe as possible.” 8.36am: More on the trouble in east London last night, courtesy of Twitter and Stella Creasy, MP for Walthamstow: for clarity areas affected locally – walthamstow high st, green man tescos, leyton tescos, chingford mount & leyton mills. Police aware. Ok update as at 8.30 – in waltham forest 51 arrests made, 5 active crime scenes ( may be more as people go to their shops etc) … 3 officers injured- 2 run over by looters- and there was a stabbing in early morning. Person went 2 hospital & injuries not life threatening 8.23am: There appears to be some confusion over what happened in Islington last night. Despite reports on Twitter that a police officer was dragged from his car and beaten — and that Islington police station was surrounded by dozens of angry youths — the Met have just told me they’re not aware of anything other than the broken police car windscreen and the group causing a disturbance. 8.14am: Here’s a little more on events last night in the north London borough of Islington — which seem to have lacked the fury and violence of those elsewhere. According to the Met: In Islington there were reports of a group causing a disturbance and a police vehicle windscreen was smashed.” 8.09am: Brixton residents are waking up to an ugly Monday morning and what one police officer has described as “a mini-Tottenham”. Here’s PA’s report on the situation in south London: Several shops along the High Street, including WH Smith and McDonald’s, had their windows smashed, and the Tube station was closed as officers diverted commuters during the morning rush-hour. Firefighters were inspecting the burned-out remains of Foot Locker, next to the station. Inside, the blackened building looked to have been completely destroyed, with only charred remains visible from he street. Police officers on the edge of a cordon in Brixton Road were directing hundreds of commuters to a nearby bus stop amid chaotic scenes. One local, Mark Bray, 38, an IT consultant, said: “Police should have seen this coming. There was a festival here yesterday, it is no surprise with Brixton and all its history that the mood has turned sour. “The looting is pretty pathetic, to be honest – it doesn’t do anyone any favours.” The cordon prevented hundreds of commuters from getting to the overground station, which remained open. 8.07am: This is what the home secretary, Theresa May, has to say about the latest violence: Last night, police officers again put themselves in harm’s way to protect Londoners and their property. “Those responsible for the violence and looting will be made to face the consequences of their actions. Many have been arrested and further arrests will be made. “Londoners have made clear that there are no excuses for violence, and I call on all members of local communities to work constructively with the police to help them bring these criminals to justice.” 8.05am: Four months ago, my colleague Peter Walker marked the 30th anniversary of the Brixton riots with this piece . It makes fascinating reading after the weekend’s events: Just after 6pm on a mild Friday evening almost exactly 30 years ago, a young police constable inadvertently set in motion a wave of violent unrest that would, over the next three months, sweep through England’s inner cities. The catalyst for the riot that would reshape national attitudes towards deprivation, race and policing was innocuous enough: on a busy street in Brixton, south London, PC Steve Margiotta tried to stop a frightened young black man who was bleeding profusely from a stab wound; he called for help when the youth ran away. Community relations were at an all-time low amid an aggressive police crackdown that had seen 943 people searched on the street in a few days, and a rumour spread that Margiotta had prevented the youth getting treatment and – also incorrectly – that he had died. Within half an hour an angry crowd was pelting Margiotta and his colleagues with bricks and bottles. Before the weekend was over, more than 350 police officers had been injured and about two dozen buildings were gutted by fires. By the end of 1981′s summer of urban discontent, fuelled by mass unemployment and simmering resentment at oppressive, sometimes openly racist policing, similar scenes ravaged parts of Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham. More here … 7.59am: While we’re on the subject of leadership, my former colleague Kevin Maguire has tweeted this: Move along please. Nothing to see here. Crises over. Leadership restored. Clogg’s back in Britain. I’m guessing Clogg’s deliberate … 7.55am: The Labour MP and phone-hacking campaigner Tom Watson is at a loss to understand who’s minding the shop as violence erupts in the capital. He’s just tweeted this: Whatever happened to rotas? It’s remarkable the PM, DPM, Chancellor, Home Secretary and London Mayor are out of the country. 7.40am: Scotland Yard has just released this statement: Officers responding to sporadic disorder in a number of boroughs made more than 100 arrests throughout last night and early this morning. This is in addition to the 61 arrests made on Saturday night and Sunday morning.” According to the statement, there have been 16 charges over offences including burglary, points and blades, theft and violent disorder. Seventeen people have been bailed and one has been cautioned. One person has been sectioned under the Mental Health Act, 11 are awaiting CPS advice and 15 are ongoing inquiries. The statement concluded: Officers are shocked at the outrageous level of violence directed against them. At least nine officers were injured overnight in addition to the 26 injured on Saturday night. We will not tolerate this disgraceful violence. The investigation continues to bring these criminals to justice. 7.37am: Good morning, and welcome to the Guardian’s live reaction to London disturbances. A second night of rioting broke out across London last night, with violence erupting in several of the capital’s boroughs, from Brixton in the south to Enfield and Islington in the north and Walthamstow in the east. The fresh unrest – some of which appears to have been part of an orchestrated plan – has so far resulted in 100 arrests. The latest rioting followed disturbances on Saturday night in Tottenham, north London, which came after the shooting by police of Mark Duggan, 29, on Thursday. London Metropolitan police Protest Sam Jones guardian.co.uk

Posted by on August 8, 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.