UK riots: disorder spreads to Manchester and West Midlands

Dozens of shops ransacked and Miss Selfridge store set alight as masked gangs in Manchester wage battles with police Central Manchester and Salford saw serious looting and disorder as gangs waged running battles with police, ransacking dozens of shops. Similar, if less widespread, trouble flared in Birmingham and elsewhere in the West Midlands. The most serious disorder came in Manchester. Groups of young people consistently evaded police attempts to stop them from the late afternoon onwards, breaking into a series of upmarket shops and setting a branch of the Miss Selfridge clothing chain ablaze. As evening fell, up to 200 youths raided an off-licence and other shops in the main shopping precinct of Salford, a couple of miles to the west. The violence ebbed in Manchester city centre around midnight and police regained control. One of the few remaining signs of trouble was a gang of masked youths looting a branch of Jessops on the corner of Albert Square, beside Manchester town hall. The gang had posted a lookout and scattered as a police van swept past with blue lights flashing, then went back into the store a moment later. A woman who walked past shouted, “Disgraceful” at the gang. Assistant Chief Constable Garry Shewan of Greater Manchester police said Manchester and Salford had been badly damaged. “These are pure and simple criminals running wild tonight,” Shewan said. “They have nothing to protest against. There has been no spark. This has been senseless on a scale I have never witnessed before in my career.” By midnight police had made 47 arrests in Manchester and Salford. One suspected looter turned himself in after seeing his picture on Facebook, police said. Shewan said Manchester and Salford had been shamed by the criminals committing “wanton acts of violence and criminality”. Earlier in the day Greater Manchester police sent 100 officers – four public order units – to assist in London. While Sir Hugh Orde, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, who organised the reinforcements, said such assistance had been planned to ensure other forces could cope with violence in their own areas, it was clear that the city could have used the extra officers. Masked gangs in central Manchester’s New Cathedral Street targeted a series of high-end outlets, among them Louis Vuitton, Selfridges, and Harvey Nichols. In nearby King Street, a branch of the clothes store Diesel had its windows smashed. Some looters were seen carrying away window dummies. Cheers went up as the crowd broke through the front window of a Bang & Olufsen store. Two looters carried away a widescreen TV. Another shop seen ransacked was Pretty Green, a fashion boutique set up last year by the former Oasis singer Liam Gallagher. Several hundred young people, many masked or wearing hoods, baited riot police before trying to storm the entrance of the huge Arndale shopping centre on Market Street. It was then that the branch of Miss Selfridge was set alight. As police brought in more riot squads and vans, later backed up by officers on horseback, the looting moved to the upmarket St Ann’s Square area, targeting a T-Mobile store, Links jewellery store, and a branch of Starbucks. The mood turned tense, with rioters threatening photographers and journalists. There was a melee as the crowd turned its attention to the Swarovski crystal shop on St Ann’s Square. Three cars carrying plainclothes police drove up and the officers waded in using batons. Youths were wrestled to the ground; one appeared to have an injured leg as he lay among the broken glass. The police were then forced to guard their prisoners – and themselves – from a screaming crowd of rioters. One young bystander said the violence was because young people felt they had no voice. “Things are really hard at the moment; there is a lot of frustration and tension. This is our way of making a point in as direct as way as possible. People don’t believe the government anymore since the Iraq war. Now, because of the internet, they are able to think for themselves. This is a response to their frustration.” As night fell the crowds moved on again, looting other stores including a branch of Sainsbury’s, with rioters openly carrying away bottles of alcohol and bags of groceries. Graham Stringer, the Labour MP for Blackley and Broughton, which includes parts of both Salford and Manchester, was heavily critical of police for not being better prepared. He said: “It was known that this was coming to Salford and Manchester, and now shops have been looted and set on fire. Businesses have been seriously damaged. There are a lot of questions that the chief constable needs to answer. The police need to get control of the streets, which they have failed to do. “This was predicted. The police knew it was coming. It was co-ordinated and organised by well-known criminals and gangsters. They were taking the opportunity because of the publicity. It wasn’t spontaneous, it was organised.” The trouble in Birmingham was sustained, if slightly less serious than that experienced in the city on Monday night, although West Midlands police said an officer believed he had heard a shot in Aston outside the city centre. It was not clear if it was linked to the rioting. A police firearms team was despatched to investigate. West Midlands police said they had arrested 80 people as a number of shops were looted and cars set alight. In central Birmingham a mob of up to 300 youths gathered, dispersed and regrouped, attacking shops. Chased by police, groups tried to get into the Mailbox shopping and office centre near the city’s rejuvenated canal basin, and the Pallisades shopping complex above New Street station before staff brought shutters down. Windows were damaged at a Marks & Spencer and a car was set on fire in Albert Street by a large gang. House of Fraser was attacked along with a nearby jewellery shop before a line of riot police with batons drove the crowd away. Riot police cornered 60 youths in part of Wolverhampton after five hours of sporadic violence that left the town centre empty of residents and visitors, with shops shuttered and pubs closing early. Two vehicles were set ablaze in West Bromwich as large crowds gathered in the town centre. West Midlands police said the force’s officers had been “managing” several groups of people causing trouble. A spokeswoman said: “Police have been dealing with disorder in Birmingham city centre, Wolverhampton city centre and West Bromwich town centre. The disorder has been on a smaller scale today than was seen on Monday evening in Birmingham, and police have been working throughout the afternoon and evening to calm the situation and target the offenders in all three areas.” UK riots Manchester Birmingham Crime Police Martin Wainwright Sandra Laville Peter Walker Jeevan Vasagar guardian.co.uk

Posted by on August 9, 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.