London riots police 'prepare to use plastic bullets' if violence continues

Plastic bullets have been considered by police chiefs as a tactic to bring the unprecedented rioting in London under control.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stephen Kavanagh said Scotland Yard was "not going to throw 180 years of policing with the community away" as the prospect of using the ammunition for the first time at a British disturbance was raised.

"The use of any tactics will be considered carefully," he said. "That does not mean we are scared of using any tactic."

Meanwhile, CCTV images capturing people police want to speak to in connection with the riots have been released by Scotland Yard.

Detectives leading the operation against the wave of disorder across London vowed to bring those caught on camera who were proven guilty of crimes to justice.

Images showed some young men and women did not even bother to hide their identities as they allegedly looted areas of Croydon and Lambeth.

Asked about other tactics, such as plastic bullets or baton rounds, Mr Kavanagh said: "Through the night the Commissioner did absolutely consider that as one of the tactics available to use, a tactic used if deemed necessary.

"These are very fast-moving mobs - by the time we get baton guns there, they will have moved on.

London riots: Mark Duggan 'died of gunshot wound

Shops such as Tesco and some banks in the Jewellery Quarter decided to close from mid-afternoon.


The decision follows a night of violence in the city with a police station set on fire and stores looted.


About 130 people were arrested, some of whom West Midlands Chief Constable Chris Sims described as "astonishingly young".


Retail Birmingham, a group which looks after shopkeepers' interests, said it was down to the individual retailers about whether or not they closed.


A spokesperson said they had held a meeting with police earlier on Tuesday.


"Following meetings with West Midlands Police today, Retail Birmingham has been advised to inform you that there is no direct request for shops to close early today, however many may choose to," the spokesman.


It was really scary to be honest and I just left straight away”


Store owner Lucian Antoin
"We have been advised that it is 'business as usual' in the city centre and there will be a significantly increased police presence within the city centre until further notice, to reassure the public and businesses."


Some staff at Birmingham City Council were allowed to leave for their homes early.


Business owners along Colmore Row in Birmingham were cleaning up with some, such as Sainsbury's and Tesco closing early on Tuesday.


Newsagents Mills City Express, which was attacked on Monday night, closed early.


Mr Duggan was killed by armed officers in Ferry Lane, Tottenham, after a minicab he was travelling in was stopped as part of a pre-planned operation.


Colin Sparrow, deputy senior investigator for the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), told the hearing that the 'complex investigation' could go on for six months.
Coroner for the Northern District of Greater London Andrew Walker adjourned the hearing to December 12th and offered his sympathies to the family of Mr Duggan and his fiancee Semone Wilson.
'I would like to reassure members of the family that we will be working closely with Mr Duggan's family and the IPCC throughout the process,' he added.
It has recently been revealed that a 26-year-old man shot in a car during riots in Croydon has died in hospital.

Glasgow Teen Held Over 'Riot' Facebook Message

16-year-old was held during an operation in the city's south side at 12:40 on Monday.

It comes after rioting and looting in London at the weekend spread to other English cities.

Police said they were monitoring social networking sites closely and would take "decisive action" to prevent violence.

The Strathclyde force said there was no intelligence "at this time" to suggest that there was any trouble planned.

'Disgraceful scenes'

Assistant Chief Constable Fiona Taylor said: "This detention shows that we are monitoring the situation closely and we will take decisive action to prevent anyone inciting violence of any kind in Glasgow or anywhere else in the force area.

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The action we took today should act as a strong warning to anyone who is thinking of causing trouble here”

Ass Ch Constable Fiona Taylor

Strathclyde Police

"Communities in London and other cities in England have been outraged at the disgraceful scenes of destruction and looting that they have witnessed and we are sure that communities here would be just as horrified to think that anyone was trying to incite similar acts of mindless criminality.

"Let there be no mistake, we are ready for any eventuality and will take any action necessary to prevent this kind of abhorrent behaviour.

"The action we took today should act as a strong warning to anyone who is thinking of causing trouble here."

Earlier, Assistant Chief Constable Fiona Taylor, of Strathclyde Police operational support, said: "This detention shows that we are monitoring the situation closely and we will take decisive action to prevent anyone inciting violence of any kind in Glasgow or anywhere else in the force area.

"Communities in London and other cities in England have been outraged at the disgraceful scenes of destruction and looting that they have witnessed and we are sure that communities here would be just as horrified to think that anyone was trying to incite similar acts of mindless criminality.

"Let there be no mistake, we are ready for any eventuality and will take any action necessary to prevent this kind of abhorrent behaviour.

"The action we took today should act as a strong warning to anyone who is thinking of causing trouble here."

London Riots 16,000 officers to police on streets

Government's emergency committee, Cobra, met in the wake of Monday's violence, which spread across London and prompted unrest in other cities.

PM David Cameron pledged to restore order, recalling Parliament on Thursday in response to the "sickening scenes".

The Met Police, which is drafting in support from 30 other forces, says it will consider using plastic bullets.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stephen Kavanagh said use of the ammunition - never before fired to deal with riots in England - would be "considered carefully".

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.

However, the force has cancelled all leave and called in Special constables and community support officers to ensure five times the usual number of officers for a Tuesday will be on duty.

Meanwhile, Scotland Yard said a 26-year-old man found shot in a car in Croydon, amid rioting in the south London town, had died in hospital.

This is a mindless minority of thugs who think it is acceptable to cause damage, to steal goods and property just because they want to.

"What we have seen on an unprecedented and unparalled level is looting and arson of those buildings, some of which have been burnt to the ground.

"What we should remember is that this was not just shops but people were living above them.

"These people have no regard at all for human life or the danger that they were putting those families in."

A large uniformed police presence was seen in Croydon to reassure the public and CCTV images were being sifted to identify culprits.

Mr Fisher said he hoped the courts would punish them by "locking them up and throwing away the key".

He added that the Metropolitan Police were "horribly stretched" but said they were "absolutely brilliant" in their response to the disorder.

Reinforcements from police were asked for and received but arrived too late to save some properties from being attacked.

Mr Fisher denied suggestions that there was a policy to sacrifice one part of Croydon to protect other more affluent areas.

He said: "There is no doubt that this has damaged the image of Croydon but we have bounced back from the Second World War.

"I'm confident Croydon will be rebuilt and that the community will work very well together."

It took years to build Croydon's businesses but only hours to destroy some of them, Mr Fisher said.

Council chief executive Jon Rouse warned against anyone thinking of joining any further riots.

He said: "You are attacking your community and, secondly, you are likely to get caught because we have got so many CCTV images that will be followed up that will result in you having a criminal record."

Commander Simon Foy said the man was found inside the car last night and taken to a south London hospital, where he died this morning.

Two others in their late 20s have been arrested for handling stolen goods and taken to a south London police station, he added.

Officers from the force's Trident unit are investigating.

Sony warehouse in London Large blaze engulfs

Sony has warned deliveries of CDs and DVDs will be affected after rioters set fire to a key warehouse in Enfield, north London.

The three-storey, 20,000 square metre site is Sony's only such depot for CDs and DVDs in Britain.

"There will likely be some impact on deliveries," said a Sony spokeswoman.

She added that the extent of the fire could not be assessed because it was still burning and it was not possible to enter the building.

:: Intercontinental Hotels Group says its profits have risen by 23% on the back of strong bookings in the US and China,

The chain also said revenue per available room (RevPAR - a key industry measure) grew 6.7% over the first half of the year.

"Whilst we continue to monitor the uncertain economic outlook, we look forward with confidence in the currently favourable hotel trading environment," said new Chief Executive Richard Solomons.

:: Bakery chain Greggs has admitted recent trading conditions have been "more challenging than expected".

Its pretax profit for the first half of the year fell to £17.3m from £18.6m in the same period a year ago.

Eyewitnesses described how they saw a gang of about 20 looters leaving the warehouse with electrical goods before the fire took hold.

A LFB spokesman said: "We were called just before midnight to a warehouse in Solar Way, Enfield.

"Eight fire engines are in attendance and around 40 firefighters have been fighting the fire.

"They are making steady progress and will remain on the scene into the morning.

"There was quite a lot of black smoke and the building has partially collapsed into itself."

Around 200 people staying at a hotel next door to the distribution centre were evacuated as the blaze took hold.

Paul Lewis, a journalist for the Guardian, told the BBC that large plumes of smoke could be seen coming from the 70-metre building which had partially collapsed.

"This is further evidence of the riot spreading in all directions really," he said.

A eyewitness, named as "Tommy", also told the BBC how he saw a number of looters leaving the warehouse with electrical goods before the blaze took hold.

He said he was punched by the culprits as the fled the scene.

Scotland Yard confirmed officers were working with colleagues from LFB at the scene of the fire.

Social Media Leaders Facebook and Twitter are?

The answer is more nuanced than that question makes it sound. It’s hard to say anything for sure about events in another country an ocean away, but it looks like what’s happening in England right now is a combination of sincere frustration and out-and-out hooliganism.

To start with, the tension has been building in North London, where police and the black community have been at odds for decades. The police have been trying to crack down on gun crime, but the trouble goes back as far as the ‘80s, when the Broadwater Farm riots broke out in response to a death in the black community stemming from a police incident.

Three days of rioting is astonishing, especially when the chaos has roots in a peaceful protest. But not all the rioters are expressing indignation. With the widespread looting of businesses a considerable distance from the epicenter of the initial uprising, you know there are opportunists at work. These are people with no connection to or concern about what happened when police shot and killed Mark Duggan; they’re simply hoods looking to cause trouble for fun and maybe steal some shoes while they’re at it.

The latest reports also say that the rioters have been organizing via Twitter and by using their Blackberry devices. These social technologies seem to be the latest way to help stir up trouble, and unfortunately, the kids using this tech seem to have a better grasp of how it works than the adults that are supposed to be policing them. However, social media has also proven to be an effective way to track down rioters and bring them to justice, as seen following this year's hockey riots in Vancouver.

As for the riots themselves, there may be a point to be made about the actions of the police, but when violence like this erupts, the dialogue gets strained. The best-case scenario is that the government puts time and energy into fixing the situation and the relationship between police and the black community in Tottenham and around London, but you can’t help wishing there was a more positive process to that goal.

As for the shooting of Mark Duggan, there’s still a lot of information left to surface. For now, it seems as if the man was carrying an illegal firearm, but didn’t discharge it. In other words, the police were probably wrong to use lethal force, even though they had targeted a dangerous person.

Facebook, Twitter and other social media have inspired protests in Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Iran, Algeria, Morocco, Yemen, Jordan and even faraway China.

Social media is unleashing movements for peace, democracy and freedom in a region of the world that essentially seemed like it was content to live without them.

Social media is changing the Middle East – perhaps it will have a similar positive effect on politics in the West – promoting a more vibrant democracy that includes participation of a younger generation – one that does not currently vote enough to sustain a true democracy.

In the end, violence and death are regrettable; we all hope for peace and justice. Whatever the final outcome of the 2011 riots in London, moments like these leave everyone frustrated and saddened. Here’s to a swift restoration of peace on the streets of London.

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London riots: breakdown of Monday night's violence

Rioting and looting spread across and beyond London overnight as hooded youths set fire to cars and buildings, smashed shop windows and hurled bottles and stones at police in a third night of violence in Britain's worst unrest in decades.

Prime Minister David Cameron cut short his holiday to fly home to tackle the violence, which appeared to be led by mobs of young people who coordinated their attacks through mobile phones, and spread to the cities of Birmingham, Liverpool and Bristol late last night.

Many of the looters came from areas of high unemployment that are also suffering from cuts in social services and said they felt alienated from society. Police and politicians said they were simply criminals.

"It's been building up for years. All it needed was a spark," said on young man in a baseball cap surrounded by other youths in Hackney in east London. "We ain't got no jobs, no money. . . . We heard that other people were getting things for free, so why not us?"

The violence erupted late on Saturday in London's northern Tottenham district when a peaceful protest over the police shooting of a suspect two days earlier was followed by outbreaks of looting and arson.

Croydon, south London

A string of cars and buildings were set alight by gangs of youths. A 26-year-old man was injured in a shooting, while Reeves, a family furniture business that has stood in the area for more than 100 years, was gutted following a massive blaze. A woman was filmed jumping from a building which had been set on fire by rioters

Ealing, west London

Locals reported similar scenes of violence with groups of youths congregating in Haven Green park opposite Ealing Broadway Tube, throwing bricks at local shops, starting fires in the street and torching cars.

Fulham, west London

Youngsters threw a bicycle under a bus to block a road while they looted Curry’s, the electrical store. Helicopters circled the area throughout the night.

Hammersmith, west London

Further reports of looting. Shopkeepers in Shepherd’s Bush barricaded their businesses to try to keep out troublemakers.

Clapham, south London

Up to 1000 looters preyed on shops causing widespread disruption. Youths raided a Debenhams store and a number shops in Lavender Hill, while some broke into a fancy dress store near Clapham Junction stealing masks to conceal their identities. Looters were heard shouting “I’ve got jewellery, what have you got?” Scotland Yard said armoured police vehicles were used in Lavender Hill to push back more than 150 people in the area.

Bethnal Green, east London

More than 100 people looted a Tesco premises and two officers were injured. Police said there had also been looting in Stratford High Street, Newham.

Lewisham, south London

The Metropolitan Police said roaming groups of youths were also involved in disorder in a number of locations in the area.

Woolwich, south London

A large gang gathered outside the Stone Lane Retail Park branch of PC World last night, trying to force open the doors. Within minutes of gaining entry, large flat screen TVs and other electronic goods were being carted out.

Camden and Chalk Farm, north London

A number of officers were also called to Camden in north London to deal with troublemakers. Rioters smashed windows of a bicycle shop.

Enfield, north London

Around 40 firefighters tackled a large blaze, reported to have been started by looters, at a Sony warehouse in Solar Way.

Liverpool

Violence flared in Liverpool overnight for up to five hours as hundreds of rioters marauded through the streets to the south of the city centre. Cars and wheelie bins were set alight on a trail of destruction which stretched from the city centre to Toxteth, Dingle and Wavertree. The first reports of disorder came in at 10pm and calm was not restored until about 3am.

Birmingham

West Midlands Police said around 100 arrests were made after rioters rampaged across Birmingham city centre and some surrounding areas. Hundreds of youths gathered in the city's main retail area close to the Bullring shopping mall, which closed its doors early in anticipation of violence, while there were reports that a police station in Handsworth was set on fire.

Bristol

More than 150 young rioters also caused disruption in the areas of St Paul's and Stokes Croft in Bristol, with police urging members of the public to stay away from the city centre.