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UK Riots: Trouble Erupts In English Cities
BBC NEWS, UK
August 10, 2011: Sporadic violence has broken out in several cities around England, although London remained largely quiet with a heavy police presence on the streets. With 16,000 police officers deployed in London, the streets remained calm after three previous nights of rioting.
But there was unrest in cities including Manchester, Salford, Liverpool, Nottingham and Birmingham with shops being looted and set alight. Some 108 people have been arrested so far over trouble in Manchester and Salford where crowds of youths have set fire to buildings and cars while 87 have been arrested over disorder which has broken out across the West Midlands.
In other developments:
Greater Manchester Police Assistant Chief Constable Garry Shewan said his force had faced "extraordinary levels of violence from groups of criminals intent on committing widespread disorder" on Tuesday. Many police cordons that were around the area were lifted just before 02:00 BST
Some 23 people have been charged in the West Midlands with a total of 229 arrests following sporadic disorder in Wolverhampton, while youths have smashed shop windows and set cars alight in nearby West Bromwich
In Birmingham, riot police surrounded the Mailbox, the city's high-end shopping centre, following the disturbances seen in the area on Monday night.
A male gang firebombed Canning Circus police station in central Nottingham on Tuesday evening. In Liverpool, Merseyside Police have arrested 50 people in relation to disorder in the city. Three people have been arrested in Gloucester after police officers came under attack from youths throwing rocks and bottles from 23:00 BST. In Leicester, a group of up to 100 youths attacked shops and threw items at police
Metropolitan Police have arrested 768 people and charged 105 in connection with the violence in the capital, including a 21-year-old man who was arrested on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life following a fire, which took, hold of the Reeves Furniture store in Croydon on Monday night
Government minister Michael Gove has praised Met's response to the riots, saying bringing in an extra 10,000 officers helped to prevent further riots from taking place in London
Meanwhile, two 18-year-olds were arrested in Folkestone, Kent, and a 16-year-old boy in Glasgow was charged with breach of the peace while another man, aged 18, has been arrested. All relate to allegations of inciting violence through internet social networking sites
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said on Tuesday that ballistic tests presented "no evidence" that a handgun found at the scene where Mr Duggan was killed had been fired at officers
Wounded officers
Some 111 Met officers have suffered injuries including serious head and eye wounds, cuts and fractured bones after being attacked by rioters wielding bottles, planks, bricks and even driving cars at them. Five police dogs have also been hurt.
Trouble erupts in English cities
However, Scotland Yard has drafted in special constables and community support officers to ensure five times the usual number of officers for a Tuesday will be on duty. Similar staffing levels will be maintained over three days.
David Cameron, who will chair a meeting of the Cabinet's emergency committee Cobra for the second day running at 09:00 BST, met officers in the Met Police's Gold command in Lambeth on Tuesday afternoon, before speaking to emergency service personnel in Croydon. He condemned the "sickening scenes of people looting, vandalising, thieving, robbing". He told rioters: "You will feel the full force of the law. And if you are old enough to commit these crimes, you are old enough to face the punishment."
The recall of Parliament on Thursday will allow MPs to "stand together in condemnation of these crimes and to stand together in determination to rebuild these communities", he said.
The prime minister returned early from his holiday in Tuscany to discuss the unrest, which first flared on Saturday after a peaceful protest in Tottenham over the fatal shooting of Mark Duggan, 29, by police.
