Violence spread out from London to elsewhere in Britain on Tuesday and the three days of unrest claimed their first fatality as a man, who was shot in a car during riots in the British capital, died in hospital from his injuries.
The 26-year-old man was found with gunshot wounds late on Monday in Croydon, a south London suburb where several buildings were burned down during the riots, London’s Metropolitan Police said. Police said they had arrested 138 people in Birmingham, Britain’s second biggest city with around a million residents, after a night of rioting there as well. At least 30 shops and other premises were attacked in the city overnight Monday.
Up to 800 masked rioters smashed and looted shops in the city’s main shopping centre and a police station was also set on fire in an inner city area, West Midlands police said. About 400 police in riot gear were deployed to deal with the disturbances, with more officers supporting them. Chief Constable Chris Sims, head of West Midlands police, said: “And let me say this; this was not an angry crowd, this was a greedy crowd. What we were dealing with was dishonesty and disorder.”
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister David Cameron recalled parliament on Tuesday and ordered thousands of extra police onto the streets to quell Britain’s worst rioting in decades, which has left parts of London and other cities in flames. Some 525 people have been arrested in London in the last three days, Scotland Yard said. Cameron warned: “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 punishments.” The violence also spread to the northwest city of Liverpool, where hundreds of rioters rampaged through the streets for several hours, setting cars and dustbins alight, while police in the western city of Bristol battled to contain a mob of 150 youths.
Britain burns as riots spread
