A MAN HAS been arrested during the investigation into the death of a man who was attacked during the London riots.
Richard Mannington Bowes (68) was taken to hospital after suffering serious head injuries when he was attacked on Monday night in Ealing while trying to put out a fire.
The BBC reports that a 22-year-old man has been arrested in connection with his death.
A murder investigation has been launched into Bowes’ death and police have released an image of a man they say is the main suspect.
Police raids on the homes of suspected rioters continue to be carried out around the UK.
With more than 1,200 people already arrested over the past few days of rioting in England, police are working on identifying more of those involved using CCTV footage and have been calling to homes around the clock.
The police are also continuing to release photographs and footage of suspects so that the public can help identify these people.
Meanwhile, David Cameron spoke during the Commons debate on the riots about what he termed the police’s “insufficient” tactics.
The Guardian reports that although he praised their work, he said that initially the police treated the situation “too much as a public order issue – rather than essentially one of crime”.
Home secretary Theresa May said that the police failed to put enough officers on the streets of London until Tuesday night while the Government refused to reconsider plans to cut £2bn from police funding over the next four years.
But senior police sources told the Guardian that Cameron was essentially blaming police for “not having a crystal ball” and anticipating the scale of the violence.
It also emerged during the Commons debate that home or business owners whose property was damaged during the riots could apply for compensation under the Riot Damages Act – if if uninsured.
During his speech, Cameron hit out at social media for its role in the riots.
Everyone watching these horrific actions will be struck by how they were organized via social media.
Free flow of information can be used for good. But it can also be used for ill. And when people are using social media for violence, we need to stop them.
While he did not give any specific means through which the police were going to do this, he did say that government is working with authorities “to look at whether it would be right to stop people communicating via these websites and services when we know they are plotting violence, disorder and criminality.”
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