POLICE IN LONDON say they have been carrying out a number of raids overnight on properties across the city in connection with several days of civil unrest.
Violence was reported for a fifth night last night, though English cities were much quieter overnight in comparison with the previous nights.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Steve Kavanagh said today:
In the early hours of this morning, we started knocking on doors to arrest people. We have got more than 100 warrants which we will be working our way through over the coming hours and days.
Over 1,300 people have been arrested so far over the disturbances in London, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and other parts of England. Around 16,000 police officers have patrolled the streets of the capital for the past two days as the government seriously scaled up its security response to the outbreak of unrest at the weekend.
Police have been studying CCTV footage of the riots and looting in order to identify those involved, and have appealed to the public for their help with this. The Metropolitan Police has been releasing images of people allegedly involved in the rioting via their Flickr account.
They are still recommending that members of the public remain vigilant and take ‘sensible precautions’ to ensure their safety in case of further disturbances. However, police have warned against ‘vigilantes’ taking the law into their own hands.
An investigation into the deaths of three men in Birmingham, killed when they were struck by a car in the early hours of yesterday morning, continues. Friends have said that the men, all aged in their early 30s, were guarding their business against potential looters. A 32-year-old man is being questioned by police in connection with the murders.
Courts have been working around the clock as people are brought to face public disorder, robbery and assault charges. Enda Brady of Sky News tweeted this photo of police vans qeueing up outside a Manchester court this morning:
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