RIOTING SPREAD TO new cities in England overnight as London was joined by Birmingham, Bristol and Liverpool in experiencing escalating violence.
About 100 people were arrested in Birmingham overnight after disturbances in the city centre. The incidents in Liverpool were described as “isolated outbreaks of disorder”, the Guardian reports.
Sky News reports that police struggled to contain rioting in certain areas of London, while so far 334 people have been arrested in the capital since Saturday. A further 69 people have been charged and two cautioned.
At 2.50am this morning, a male police officer was injured by a car in Fulton Road, Brent and was taken to a north London hospital where he remains in a stable condition. Three people were arrested following this incident on suspicion of attempted murder. A second male police officer was also injured in the incident. He was taken to a north London hospital with a minor injury.
The injury is thought to have occurred when police stopped some cars on the suspicion their occupants were involved in looting a nearby electrical store. The Metropolitan Police reports that it is believed the driver of one of the cars drove away, injuring the police officer in the process.
Prime Minister David Cameron, who was on his holidays in Tuscany, flew back to chair an emergency government committee and to meet police chiefs. The Guardian reports that the Metropolitan police brought in an extra 1,700 officers onto the streets to deal with the rioting.
The paper also reports that in the Pembury Estate in Hackney, east London, rioters hurled missiles at police and also lay debris across roads to “form a flaming boundary to the estate”. Shops were looted in Clapham Junction.
Buildings were set alight in Croydon, south London, including the Reeves furniture store, which was 100 years old.
Meanwhile, a website has been set up where people can arrange to meet and clean their local areas in the aftermath of the riots.
RiotCleanUp.co.uk says the clean up is about “Londoners who care, coming together to engender a sense of community” and gives a list of items they will need to undertake the cleaning.
The violence follows protests after 29-year-old Mark Duggan was fatally shot by police on Thursday last week. Peaceful protests were initially held following his death.
This audio-free video from Russia Today shows the scale of some of yesterday’s violence:
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