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Riots in England
Brixton clears up after night of looting
By Raymond Whitaker
22 July 2001
Brixton in south London was counting the cost yesterday
after a demonstration over the fatal police shooting of
psychiatric patient Derek Bennett turned violent.
Community leaders were called to a meeting at Scotland
Yard to discuss increased security after about 100 youths
clashed with police, overturning four cars and looting
shops in the centre of Brixton on Friday night.
Twenty-six were arrested. One charge of assaulting police
was laid after what the police described as "sporadic
acts of violence". Three officers suffered injuries.
Security concerns were heightened yesterday by the start
of the annual Lambeth Country Show in Brockwell Park,
near the scene of the trouble. A Metropolitan Police
spokesman said high visibility patrols were continuing,
and more arrests were planned after the police had
studied closed-circuit TV footage.
Tension has been high in the area since Monday, when
police shot dead Mr Bennett, 29, a psychiatric patient
who had been brandishing a chromium-plated cigarette
lighter in the shape of a pistol. The following day 300
people attended an angry meeting at Lambeth town hall of
the local police-community consultative group, where
there were calls for a "hot summer".
On Friday afternoon 120 people demonstrated peacefully
outside Brixton police station before marching to the
scene of the shooting on the Angel Estate. The protest
was meant to end there but, according to community
sources, the organisers decided to march back into the
centre of Brixton. They were followed by several dozen
youths who began smashing shop windows and seizing goods.
Yesterday morning shopkeepers were sweeping up the
damage. "I don't know why we were picked on,"
said one of the women sifting through smashed display
cabinets at Claire's Accessories.
Apart from major disturbances in 1981 and 1995, Brixton
has experienced vandalism and looting on a number of
other occasions following confrontations between the
police and public. "We have managed to lure
investment and raise start-up funds, and house prices in
the area were rising," said a community leader who
did not want to be named. "But events like this do
not help."
By Raymond Whitaker
22 July 2001
Brixton in south London was counting the cost yesterday
after a demonstration over the fatal police shooting of
psychiatric patient Derek Bennett turned violent.
Community leaders were called to a meeting at Scotland
Yard to discuss increased security after about 100 youths
clashed with police, overturning four cars and looting
shops in the centre of Brixton on Friday night.
Twenty-six were arrested. One charge of assaulting police
was laid after what the police described as "sporadic
acts of violence". Three officers suffered injuries.
Security concerns were heightened yesterday by the start
of the annual Lambeth Country Show in Brockwell Park,
near the scene of the trouble. A Metropolitan Police
spokesman said high visibility patrols were continuing,
and more arrests were planned after the police had
studied closed-circuit TV footage.
Tension has been high in the area since Monday, when
police shot dead Mr Bennett, 29, a psychiatric patient
who had been brandishing a chromium-plated cigarette
lighter in the shape of a pistol. The following day 300
people attended an angry meeting at Lambeth town hall of
the local police-community consultative group, where
there were calls for a "hot summer".
On Friday afternoon 120 people demonstrated peacefully
outside Brixton police station before marching to the
scene of the shooting on the Angel Estate. The protest
was meant to end there but, according to community
sources, the organisers decided to march back into the
centre of Brixton. They were followed by several dozen
youths who began smashing shop windows and seizing goods.
Yesterday morning shopkeepers were sweeping up the
damage. "I don't know why we were picked on,"
said one of the women sifting through smashed display
cabinets at Claire's Accessories.
Apart from major disturbances in 1981 and 1995, Brixton
has experienced vandalism and looting on a number of
other occasions following confrontations between the
police and public. "We have managed to lure
investment and raise start-up funds, and house prices in
the area were rising," said a community leader who
did not want to be named. "But events like this do
not help."
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