Boy, 11, arrested on suspicion of arson after police automobile set alight
An 11-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of arson after a police vehicle was set alight during a protest in Hartlepool on Wednesday.
The police car was torched during riots which spread from Southport to other parts of the UK last night in the wake of the knife rampage which claimed the lives of three young girls.
The violence, also seen in London and Manchester, has been sparked by false speculation online that the suspect in the stabbing frenzy is an illegal immigrant who arrived in the UK on a small boat.
Murder suspect Axel Rudakubana, 17, was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents and lived in Banks – a Lancashire village less than 15 minutes from Southport.
Cleveland Police Assistant Chief Constable David Felton said: ‘This is very much a live investigation and we are continuing to work to identify those involved in the disorder yesterday evening and bring them to justice.
‘Disorder of this kind will not be tolerated and those found to be involved will be robustly dealt with.’
An 11-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of arson after a police vehicle was set alight during a protest in Hartlepool on Wednesday
Riot officers on the streets of Hartlepool following a violent protest on Wednesday night
Firefighters tend to a burning police car burns as officers were deployed on the streets of Hartlepool last night
Officers continue to have a visible presence in the area to reassure and protect the community.
Confrontations continued late into the night in Hartlepool, where rioters set pelted officers with missiles, including glass bottles.
A lone Asian man was also punched in the face in footage which was captured on a live stream.
Cleveland Police have so far made eight arrests, with more expected.
Sir Keir Starmer has condemned ‘far-right hatred’ in the wake of the Southport stabbings and today announced a new ‘national’ response to the violent disorder linking police forces across the country.
The Prime Minister said ‘thugs’ involved in the scenes of unrest should not ‘pretend they are speaking’ for the grieving families of the three young girls killed in the initial attack.
At a press conference following riots in which bricks were hurled at police officers and a local mosque targeted, Sir Keir warned: ‘The far right are showing who they are – we have to show who we are in response to that.’
In a televised address from Downing Street after the disorder in London, Hartlepool, Manchester and Southport, he announced a new ‘national capability’ to tackle the disorder across police forces in England.
Police officers and dogs were deployed to the streets of Hartlepool amid fresh violence
A police car burns in the distance as riot police officers line up nearby
Firefighters attempt to put the intense blaze out as violence escalated in Hartlepool
The remains of the police car can be seen as riot police officers walk past
This will involve sharing intelligence, wider deployment of facial recognition technology and criminal behaviour orders to restrict the movement of those involved, Sir Keir said.
He said: ‘These thugs are mobile, they move from community to community.
‘We must have a policing response that can do the same.’
The Prime Minister also sounded a note of caution to social media companies after misinformation spread online about the identity of the 17-year-old suspect, including false claims that he was an asylum seeker.
‘Let me also say to large social media companies and those who run them: violent disorder, clearly whipped up online, that is also a crime, it’s happening on your premises, and the law must be upheld everywhere,’ he said.
‘That is the single most important duty of government, service rests on security. We will take all necessary action to keep our streets safe.’
Sir Keir, a former director of public prosecutions, also warned that speculating about the attack could risk prejudicing the active criminal proceedings against the suspect and impeding justice for the bereaved families.
Asked what his message was to Muslims who may be concerned after a mosque was targeted in the violence in Southport, he said: ‘In relation to the Muslim community, let me be very clear: I will take every step that’s necessary to keep you safe.
Police officers outside a damaged butchers shop on Murray Street in Hartlepool the morning after the riots
‘Mosques being attacked because they’re mosques – the far right are showing who they are. We have to show who we are in response to that.’
The press conference was held shortly after police chiefs from Scotland Yard, Merseyside and West Yorkshire were summoned to Downing Street for crisis talks with the PM and his ministers following the violence.
Sir Keir said the meeting was held to ‘pull together our response, response both to the immediate challenge which is clearly driven by far-right hatred, but also all violent disorder that flares up whatever the apparent cause or motivation’.
He hit out at a ‘gang of thugs’ who descended on Southport to riot following the initial attack, saying that as a result the community had been forced to suffer twice.
‘Let’s be very clear about this. It’s not protest. It’s not legitimate. It’s crime. Violent disorder. An assault on the rule of law and the execution of justice,’ Sir Keir said.
In London on Wednesday, more than 100 people were arrested after protesters in Whitehall launched beer cans and glass bottles at police, and threw flares at the statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square.
Police in Manchester confronted another demonstration outside the Holiday Inn on Oldham Road before dispersing the crowd after protesters started throwing beer bottles at officers and members of the public.
The string of violent incidents followed similar scenes in Southport on Tuesday, where demonstrators attacked police and set cars on fire.
