LONDON’S EMERGENCY services were on full-scale alert last night as rioting, fires and pitched battles with police erupted around the city from late afternoon.
The Metropolitan police poured hundreds of extra officers onto the streets as trouble flared in the north, south and east of the capital.
In Hackney, east London, masked and hooded youths smashed up shops and threw missiles, planks of wood and wheelie bins at riot police.
Several abandoned vehicles were set alight. There were also violent scenes in Lewisham, south-east London, where petrol bombs were reportedly thrown at officers and shops looted. A bus was burned in nearby Peckham.
Witnesses said a 100-strong mob cheered as a shop in the centre of Peckham was burned and one masked man shouted: “The West End’s going down next!”
One onlooker said: “The mob were just standing there cheering and laughing. Others were just watching on from their homes open-mouthed in horror.”
The unrest had spread beyond London, with West Midlands police confirming outbreaks of disorder in Birmingham city centre. Shops, including a branch of Louis Vuitton, had windows smashed and were looted. Extra officers were being sent into the streets of Britain’s second city.
British home secretary Theresa May broke off her holiday to return to London. Late last night it was announced that the prime minsister, David Cameron, would return overnight from his holidays in Tuscany.
Metropolitan Police deputy assistant commissioner Steve Kavanagh said the force was putting more officers on the streets in Hackney and other areas last night. “Let me make it clear that people who are using current events as an excuse or cover to break the law, steal, attack police officers and cause fear to Londoners will not be tolerated by the vast majority of Londoners and us,” he said.
A small group of people said they had barricaded themselves inside the 110-year-old Hackney Empire theatre to escape the violence. “We are stuck inside,” said one person, who did not give her name, in a telephone conversation with the Reuters news agency. “We dont want to be near the windows. They seem to be targeting shops at the moment. Its very scary. We are in the back of the building, staying away from the front. We have barricaded the doors and put chains on the doors.”
The number of arrests from three consecutive nights of violence rose to 215, with 27 people charged.
It was also announced that London mayor Boris Johnson would be returning early from his holiday.
“It was needless, opportunistic theft and violence, nothing more, nothing less. It is completely unacceptable, said deputy prime minister Nick Clegg.
Officers from Thames Valley, Essex, Kent, Surrey and City of London were drafted in to support the Met. But apparent “copycat” riots continued to spread in the wake of Tottenham’s riots on Saturday precipitated by the fatal shooting by police of Mark Duggan (29) a father of four last Thursday.
In a bid to contain them, Scotland Yard introduced special powers in four areas – Lambeth, Haringey, Enfield and Waltham Forest, allowing stop and search without reasonable suspicion. The section 60 powers were invoked at midnight on Sunday. One incident of stop and search in Hackney was reportedly the catalyst for violence which erupted in Mare Street shortly after 4pm.
It is understood senior officers are prepared to add more areas to the list. The special powers have been perceived as targeting certain ethnic groups, thus fuelling tensions.
Croydon, Barnet, Streatham, Clapham and Islington were among a number of areas of London where shops were being advised to close early amid fears of violence.
After meeting Metropolitan Police commissioner Tim Godwin, Mrs May said: “Those responsible for this violence and looting will be made to face the consequences of their actions. So far there have been at least 215 arrests and 27 people have been charged. But as the police take statements from witnesses, as they look at CCTV evidence, more arrests will be made.”
Brixton bore the brunt of Sunday’s violence. The Lambeth council leader, Steve Reed, said: “We are asking the mayor’s office for additional police for tonight and the next few nights.”
Condemning the “copycat activity”, he added: “Somebody described it as gangs of kids doing supermarket sweep. It was Curry’s where they were after plasma screen TVs, and HM and Foot Locker where it was clothes and trainers. It wasn’t about social issues, it was an opportunity to go on the rob.”
An inquest into Mr Duggan’s death was due to open today, though there seemed to be conflict between Scotland Yard and the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) over complaints by his family over “lack of contact” following his shooting.
On behalf of Scotland Yard, Mr Kavanagh said: “I want to apologise to the Duggan family because I think both the IPCC and the Metropolitan police could have managed that family’s needs more effectively”.
But Rachel Cerfontyne, who is in charge of the investigation, said she believed the family’s concerns were “not about lack of contact or support from the IPCC. Their concerns were about lack of contact from the police in delivering news of his death to Mark’s parents.”