06:26
POLICE AND businesses in London prepared for a fourth night of unrest last night as widespread violence spread from north, to east, west and south.
Ger Donaghy, originally from Antrim, watched from his home above retail outlets on Ealing High Street in west London, as at least 200 youths, some as young as 16, ransacked businesses and attacked police.
He said rioters smashed and looted properties along the high street and set fire to a local convenience shop under a row of second-storey residential flats.
Mr Donaghy said he saw about five cars ablaze during the two-hour attack on Monday night, and witnessed the looting of two children’s clothes shops, an Oxfam charity shop and numerous cafes and restaurants.
“The rioters were kicking in windows of all the shops along the street and coming out of restaurants with chairs, bottles and whatever they could get their hands on to use as weapons to throw at the police.”
The crowd dispersed to other areas of Ealing at about midnight, and when local residents ventured out to assess the damage they found “children’s clothes littered all along the street” and “glass everywhere”. In Lewisham, a multi-ethnic area in southeast London, youths set fire to cars and bins and had running clashes with police outside a shopping centre, with unrest reported on Monday afternoon.
Looters broke into a jewellery shop and the windows of a local McDonald’s were smashed. The local bar had all its windows broken and was looted.
Rioters smashed their way into the Dirty South bar at about 7pm on Monday evening, tearing out fruit machines and fridges while also grabbing cash and alcohol. Bar manager Laura Warby said she was not on the premises when the looting took place and asked why the police were powerless to prevent the incident from happening.
“I am so shocked. I really have no idea why they would attack our place and why we weren’t protected by the police. This is going to cost thousands of pounds to repair,” she said.
There was a large police presence in Lewisham and in the neighbouring area of Catford yesterday evening, which also experienced some small pockets of copycat violence on Monday.
Further southeast in Bromley, the city’s biggest borough, police cordoned off the high street and train station yesterday afternoon, following sporadic flashes of violence in the area on Monday night.
Tensions were high in the area yesterday with many shops closing and some retailers boarding up amid fears of looting.
Sid Bussey, a local business owner in the nearby area of Downham, said shops were advised by police to close early with rumours that surrounding areas would be targeted by rioters.
“I’m refusing to close up early. Why should I?” he asked. “It’s the job of the police to protect us and our livelihood, and if they can’t protect us then we’ll have to protect ourselves.
“I’ve been here in this shop for the last 42 years and I’ll fight to the death before I let some kid loot it. This is nothing but kids with nothing better to do other than to cause trouble,” he said.
Posted in: VIGILANTES VIOLENCE
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