Building set alight by youth in England in the aftermath of the police killing of Mark Duggan, a Black youth from Tottenham who was shot dead by the Metropolitan Police., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
Lockdown in London, while trouble flares in Manchester and Midlands
Two cars set on fire in West Bromwich, shops attacked in Wolverhampton and police vans pelted with stones in Salford
There was looting in Manchester on Tuesday night and trouble in Birmingham and other parts of the West Midlands, while in London Scotland Yard attempted to put the capital in lockdown with 16,000 police on the streets, in contrast to 6,000 on Monday.
Scotland Yard ordered its officers to use every available force including the possible deployment of plastic bullets to tackle widespread rioting and looting as the capital was flooded with the biggest police presence in British history.
Sporadic looting was taking place across Manchester city centre; there were also disturbances in Salford and tense scenes there around Shopping City, where a large group of youths had gathered.
Earlier, in the centre of Manchester, rioters set fire to a Miss Selfridge shop on Market Street.
Later, around 100 youths looted Foot Asylum in the Arndale Centre after two raiders smashed open the glass entrance with a large stone slab. Once the glass was shattered, youths rushed in and carried out clothing and shoes.
A Diesel clothing shop and a Bang & Olufsen store were broken into.
Rioters threw stones and other missiles at shop windows, whooping and shouting as they ran from police. A cafe on Deansgate also had its windows smashed.
Riot police in vans chased large groups of youths wearing ski masks and hoods as they rampaged through the city streets. Earlier two cars were set on fire in West Bromwich where shops closed early in the afternoon after rumours of trouble circulated online.
In central Birmingham late on Tuesday, a fluid mob of up to 300 youths gathered, dispersed and regrouped, attacking shops.
Chased by police, groups tried to get into the Mailbox shopping, office and restaurant centre near the city's rejuvenated canal basin, and the Pallisades shopping complex above New Street station before staff brought shutters down.
Marks and Spencer's had windows damaged and a car was set on fire in Albert Street by a large gang retreating from the Dale End part of the centre. House of Fraser was attacked along with a nearby jewellery shop before a line of riot police with batons drove the crowd away.
West Midlands police appealed to families with teenagers out and about to get in touch with them and persuade them to go back home. Three men had been arrested by 8pm.
Riot police pinned 60 youths in part of Wolverhampton after five hours of sporadic violence which left the town centre empty of residents and visitors, with shops shuttered and pubs shutting early. As in Birmingham, a core of several hundred troublemakers continually gathered, dispersed and then picked new targets.
The atmosphere also remained very tense in Handsworth with groups of Afro-Caribbean youths gathering, while Asian shop-owners and security staff stood outside their heavily-shuttered stores.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2011
Violence erupts for fourth night in UK
2011-08-09 22:23
Birmingham - Youths smashed their way into stores and torched cars in central England on Tuesday, police said, as Britain's worst riots for decades entered a fourth night.
A gang of about 200 hurled missiles at police in riot gear, set vehicles alight and smashed shops in the town of West Bromwich, near Birmingham, Britain's second-biggest city, according to police and a BBC report.
Television pictures showed a gang lined up behind a barricade in a stand-off with scores of police in front of vans.
Violence also erupted in the nearby city of Wolverhampton, where youths broke into shops.
Meanwhile in Salford in Manchester, northwest England, a 20-strong gang targeted police cars with bricks before being dispersed, police said.
Rioters have repeatedly targeted police and 111 officers have been injured during three nights of rioting in London, where the violence started on Saturday before spreading to other parts of the country.
"In Wolverhampton, some stores have been broken into. In West Bromwich, there is currently some disorder and two cars have been set on fire," said a statement from West Midlands Police.
"Police officers are at both scenes dealing with the incidents."
20 youths riot
A police spokesperson refused to say how many people were involved in the disturbances.
West Midlands Police have already arrested more than 130 people after rioting late Monday in Birmingham, which saw shops smashed up and looted in the city centre and a police station set on fire.
A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police said officers came under attack at around 17:00 (16:00 GMT) at a Salford shopping centre.
"There were a number of bricks thrown at police vehicles," said the spokesperson. "There were 20 youths which have been dispersed by around a dozen officers."
Riots in British cities enter fourth night
LONDON, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Incidents of disturbance were reported in British cities of Manchester and Wolverhampton, as the riots originated from London enter the fourth night on Tuesday.
In the evening, the Greater Manchester Police reported disorder in city center and advised people to stay away. There were also disturbances in Wolverhampton, a city in the West Midlands of England.
In London, the authority said that some 1,6000 police officers would be on streets to calm the riots. All leave in the Metropolitan Police has been canceled.
British Prime Minister David Cameron on Tuesday said he would chair another emergency COBRA committee at 9 a.m. tomorrow.
UK riots could cost taxpayer £100m
Insurance bill for riot damage to shops and homes to be paid for by police authorities under 1886 act
Alex Hawkes, Juliette Garside and Julia Kollewe guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 9 August 2011 18.04 BST
Damage from the UK riots could cost the UK taxpayer £100m, with police authorities paying the bill.
Taxpayers could face a £100m bill for the riots in London and across the UK, with police authorities facing the prospect of picking up insurance costs for damage to property across the country.
Retailers and homeowners were contacting insurers on Tuesday over the huge damage done to their properties and businesses in three days of rioting. Shops around the capital were shutting early amid fears of further violence.
Damage to both domestic and business property is likely to be picked up by police authorities, in particular the Metropolitan police authority, under the provisions of the Riots (Damages) Act 1886, which specifies that where damage is caused by people "riotously and tumultuously assembled", local police authorities are required to compensate victims.
The Met has suggested in a statement to the Guardian that it would meet the cost from its reserves, which are funded by the taxpayer.
"No specific fund is maintained by the Metropolitan police authority to cover claims against such contingencies but we maintain general reserves to cover unexpected events. Such risks cannot be insured against," a Met spokesman said.
The bill could run to more than £100m, according to provisional estimates of insurance claims arising from the unrest. The Met authority's reserves stood at £70.6m at the end of March, the 2010/11 accounts show.
Nick Starling, the director of general insurance and health at the Association of British Insurers, said: "It is too early for us to have an accurate picture of total costs, especially business interruption costs, but insurers are expecting significant losses, of well over £100m."
Liability for riot damages is a contentious issue. The Association of Police Authorities (APA) and the Commons home affairs select committee have both called for it to be reviewed.
Bedfordshire police was sued for £42m over the riot at the Yarl's Wood immigration detention centre in 2002, but was insured against the cost.
Rob Garnham, chairman of the APA, said: "The potential implications of the Riot Damages Act have been of considerable concern for police authorities for a number of years. It is crucial that riot damage is quickly repaired and communities restored but in a context of cuts the public will see little sense in a shrinking police fund being diverted to pay for criminal damage."
Businesses and individuals were being urged to get claims in as soon as possible. Insurers require claims to be submitted within seven days, since they in turn have to claim on police budgets within two weeks.
Stuart White, a partner at Reynolds Porter Chamberlain, said: "The good news for some of the smaller retail units that have been damaged is that even if they do not have a property insurance policy they may be able to recover the value of any damage sustained because of the rioting directly from the police.
"However the compensation under the act will not normally extend to the financial losses of the business while it is unable to trade. Trading losses are likely to be recoverable only by businesses with business interruption insurance."
The ABI urged the government to allow affected businesses more time to prepare claims. The association met the home secretary on Tuesday, suggesting an extension of the claims period from the usual 14 days to the maximum 42.
Caroline Woolley, from insurance broker Marsh, said that the losses could be much larger than figures being put out by insurers. "Any figures quoted will be in relation to insured losses, [and not include uninsured losses]."
Shops closed early and were boarded up or emptied for the night on Tuesday in Wolverhampton, Coventry and many London neighbourhoods including Lewisham, Tooting, Camden, Hackney and Croydon. In London Whiteleys shopping centre closed at 3pm.
Carphone Warehouse in Clapham High Street posted a sign saying "All stock and money removed", and the company's Birmingham store was emptied of stock. Carphone Warehouse has reported that 20 of its stores around the country have been damaged or looted.
Everything Everywhere, which runs the Orange and T-Mobile brands, saw 25 shops hit. The company was boarding up stores and calling in extra security personnel in some areas. Rioters smashed up fewer than 20 Vodafone and O2 shops.
Among the supermarkets, 16 Sainsbury's stores were attacked, and three remain closed. Morrisons reported four attacks. Tesco said a number of stores around the country were attacked and a handful had yet to reopen.
Peter Marks, chief executive of the Co-operative Group, the country's fifth largest food retailer, said: "There is no justification for this wanton and senseless violence, which has endangered people's lives and destroyed property. The safety of our staff and customers is paramount, and over 100 Co-operative branches, primarily food outlets in the London area, were temporarily closed last night (Monday) on police advice. Two members of staff were attacked during looting at one of our petrol forecourts in Streatham and staff in other locations narrowly escaped mob violence, which is completely intolerable.
"Although the vast majority of our stores have now re-opened, around a dozen remain closed due to damage incurred, including the three most seriously damaged food stores – London Road (Croydon), Hilton House (Brockley) and New Addington, which was completely destroyed by fire."
"We are liaising with the police and local authorities in each of the affected areas and, as the UK's largest community retailer, we are ready to play our part in helping affected communities to recover from these unprecedented attacks, and would urge the prime minister and the government to take firm and decisive action to quickly bring this appalling situation under control."
A Sainsbury's spokesperson said: "A number of our stores were closed earlier than usual yesterday as a precaution, in some cases on the advice of police. Sixteen of our stores experienced serious incidents during the disturbances last night.
"All of these stores have now reopened, except three of our convenience stores, which remain closed and will reopen as soon as possible. All our other stores are open for business as usual. As far as we are aware, no customers or store colleagues have been injured, and their safety remains our priority.
"We are assessing the situation on an hour by hour basis as the safety of our customers and store colleagues is paramount. We will continue to take advice from police and other authorities throughout the day."
A spokesman for Debenhams said the Romford store had suffered smashed windows but was open for business as usual. The Clapham store remains closed. "We don't know when it will reopen yet, the whole area is cordoned off by police. We don't know how much was taken. Thankfully no one was hurt. We are taking guidance with the police in all the areas we operate stores, and the safety of our staff is our main priority."
An Everything Everywhere spokesperson said: "We can confirm that 25 of our stores were affected, causing varying levels of property damage and some loss of stock. Most importantly, none of our team members have been hurt. We are putting additional security and safeguard measures into place in case there is further escalation of similar activities, with our top priority being the protection of our staff."
Security firms reported increased inquiries from worried businesses.A G4S spokesman said: "The current disturbances in London and other cities have resulted in an understandable increase in requests for increased security from our business customers and some disruption to our cash transportation services.
"We have been responding to requests for additional security personnel, as well as for security advice. We have also been contacting our customers to provide advice and, where needed, are helping them to develop contingency plans to deal with any incidents.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media Limited 2011
Police Pledge More Officers Across U.K. as Riots Escalate
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
(Updates with England-Netherlands soccer match called off in second paragraph.)
Aug. 9 (Bloomberg) -- British police made more than 200 arrests and pledged to put thousands more officers on the streets of London after rioting erupted for a third night and spread to other cities.
Prime Minister David Cameron cut short his Italian vacation to return home for an emergency meeting today on the violence that has seen petrol bombs thrown and vehicles and businesses set ablaze. Tomorrow's exhibition soccer game between England and the Netherlands at Wembley Stadium in northwest London has been postponed, England's Football Association said in a statement.
Cameron is chairing the COBR emergency response committee, as well as meeting Home Secretary Theresa May and Metropolitan Police Service Acting Commissioner Tim Godwin. The Metropolitan Police said on its Twitter Inc. feed that there would be 13,000 extra officers on duty in London over the next 24 hours. It asked all volunteer "special" constables to report for duty, and appealed to their regular employers to support that.
A statement from the Metropolitan Police Service reported "serious outbreaks of disorder," including looting, in a number of London boroughs, including Hackney, Newham, Lewisham, Bethnal Green and Croydon.
Tottenham Shooting
Sixty-nine people have been charged, according to police. May told BBC radio today more than 450 people have been arrested so far. The unrest began in the north London suburb of Tottenham on the night of Aug. 6, after a local man of Afro-Caribbean descent, Mark Duggan, was killed in a shootout with police. There was sporadic rioting and looting in other parts of the capital on Aug. 7. At least 35 police officers have been injured.
Police deployed armored vehicles in the Lavender Hill area of the capital to "push back in excess of 150 people," as "disorder and damage was being caused to shops and local businesses, London police reported in a separate statement today. The success of the tactic means that its use will be considered in other areas of the city, the statement said.
May refused to rule out deploying water cannons, which have never been used in the U.K. outside Northern Ireland. She said her message to police would be: "you've had these three nights of violence, you have been changing your tactics, what do you think you now need to do to bring this under control?"
Asked whether troops could be deployed on the streets, May refused to rule it out, saying she preferred the model of "police by consent," with a focus on arrests and prosecutions.
Petrol Bombs
In Hackney, 250 to 300 people gathered in Pembury Estate, setting cars alight and throwing petrol bombs, while in Mare Street, businesses were looted and three officers were injured, police said in a statement. Widespread vandalism included fires at several premises in Croydon, including a "very large blaze at a sofa factory," the statement said
Tokyo-based Sony Corp. said a London warehouse containing Blu-ray discs and DVDs may be on fire. The blaze may have started at about midnight London time, and the company is still assessing the situation, said spokesman Jin Tominari.
More than 1,700 extra police officers were deployed, with support provided by nine police forces from areas around the capital, the statement said.
"There is a significant disorder breaking out in a number of our communities across London," Godwin said in an e-mailed statement last night. "What I have seen is pure violence and pure gratuity. We are seeing communities blighted by the actions of a few."
Store Looted
In Tower Hamlets last night, around 1 mile (1.6 kilometers) from London's Olympic Park, looters smashed windows and raided a retail store. Men and women were seen carrying armfuls of clothes wrapped in cellophane to parked cars.
"Those responsible for this violence and looting will be held responsible," May, who cut short her vacation to return to London, told reporters yesterday. She described the unrest as "sheer criminality."
London Mayor Boris Johnson broke off his vacation in North America to fly home and will be back in the capital today, City Hall said.
"I understand the need for urgent answers into the shooting incident that resulted in the death of a young local man," Johnson said in a statement as he joined leaders of the black community in calling for calm. "But let's be clear: these acts of sheer criminality across London are nothing to do with this incident and must stop now."
Provincial Cities
The BBC reported that violence had spread to three other English cities: the central city of Birmingham, Liverpool in the northwest and Bristol in the southwest. Police in Birmingham confirmed that 35 people had been arrested amid disorder in the city center and police in Bristol urged residents to avoid the city center where about 150 people rioted.
The Press Association said Merseyside Police reported "a number of isolated outbreaks of disorder" in the south Liverpool area, while in north Liverpool, police were trying to contain a crowd of about 300 people, the PA cited a witness as saying.
The witness in Liverpool said rioters were stopping cars, pulling people out and setting fire to the vehicles, according to the news agency.
English soccer club West Ham United said today's Carling Cup match against Aldershot has been postponed following a request from the police.
"The club was contacted this evening and told that all major public events in London were to be rearranged because of the need to focus police resources elsewhere," the club, which plays in England's second-tier Championship, said in a statement on its website last night.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission is investigating the Aug. 6 Tottenham shooting.
"The IPCC awaits further forensic analysis to enable us to have a fuller and more comprehensive account of what shots were discharged, the sequence of events and what exactly happened," the commission said in a statement on Aug. 7.
--With assistance from Christopher Spillane, Ben Livesey and Bob Bensch in London and Mariko Yasu in Tokyo. Editors: Andrew Atkinson, Eddie Buckle
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/08/09/bloomberg1376-LPLRPX6TTDS101-4629GMLD4P9FU0010GI3F6944E.DTL
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