Birmingham riots: City is swept by looting terror

Thundering through the streets at breakneck speed, hundreds of masked looters tore through Birmingham city centre, plundering shops and attacking police and civilians.

The second city was today waking up to the aftermath of its worst violence in years, with broken glass underfoot, debris strewn through the streets and stores boarded up.

The trouble began as a series of rumours on social networking site Twitter last night but soon spilled over into terror in the city centre and later Handsworth.

See also: Birmingham riots; The night in pictures.

See also: Birmingham riots: The morning after - in pictures.

Copycat thugs "inspired" by the violence and looting in London spied an opportunity to help themselves to goods from sportswear and electionics shop – even turning on each other as mob mentality and greed took over.

Tensions started to rise yesterday afternoon, with rumours circulating on Twitter and the BlackBerry instant message service about the planned looting spree from 6pm.

Shoppers were told to go home from the famous Bullring 90 minutes before its usual closing time of 8pm as police responded to reports that a mob was heading to the city centre.

West Midlands Police themselves took to Twitter at around 5pm in response to the ever-mounting rumours and gossip.

The message read: "West Mids Police are aware of unsubstantiated messages on Twitter, Facebook and BBM about disorder at 6pm in Birmingham this evening.

"We have not seen any incidents, but we will have extra officers on patrol in the centre and suburbs this evening."

But little more than an hour later, officers were forced to herd worried shoppers from the Bullring and form a cordon around it.

Shopping centre spokeswoman Emma Roberts said the Bullring's "primary concern" was the safety of its shoppers and retailers.

She said: "Following events in the city, Bullring has taken the precautionary measure to close the centre at 7pm this evening, one hour earlier than normal. As always Bullring's primary concern is for the safety of its shoppers and retailers."

Soon after the evacuation of the Bullring, the fast-paced chaos really started. The sounds of shattering glass, frantic cries and the police helicopeter engulfed the second city.

Shop windows and doors were smashed and thugs, many of them covering their faces with scarves, hoodies and masks, honed in on stores stocking desirable items.

Far from fighting for a cause, the mob simply went after designer clothes and expensive mobile phones.

Foot Locker, Adidas, Armani, Orange and Jessops were all targeted, with people turning on and attacking each other as greed and materialism literally ran riot.

As tensions mounted and more and more youths flooded into the city, the transport network began to close down.

Arriva spokesman Keith Myatt also said all buses into the city centre had been terminated on the advice of police to protect members of the public and stop more people from getting into the city.

On the train network, Moor Street Station was closed at 10.20pm as gangs gathered. Meanwhile, police blocked the main entrance to New Street through the Pallasades Centre. The Metro tram service ran as normal.

Each of the main shopping centres, The Bullring, Pallasades and Mailbox were circled and attacked by the frantic crowd.

The Emporio Armani store in The Mailbox was turned over by around 200 thugs and was today counting the cost of around half a million pounds of damage. General manager Max Harvey said windows had been smashed and stock plundered.

"There were about 200 people apparently," he said. "They have crawled under the security barriers after smashing the windows.

"We are talking half a million pounds of damage as well as the loss to the business while we wait to reopen. It's devastating."

Security guards employed to police the Mailbox even took to protecting the stores with fire extinguishers.

Harvey Nichols security guard Samir Hamizi said: "I was here about 10pm. A lot of guys came into The Mailbox and came upstairs looking for shops to loot. We were

standing next to the door with a fire extinguisher and when they couldn't see a way round us they went downstairs and started smashing on the window of Emporio Armani. It was terrifying, it's crazy."

When the police finally flooded into Armani, only one girl remained, grabbed by a riot cop as she wandered out of the shop.

"But I ain't done nothing," she protested.

"Ha. I grabbed you in the shop love," replied the arresting officer.

Back at the Pallasades, riot police stood in lines in front of the complex trying to keep the crowds at bay.

After failing to break through the rows of police, large numbers of people broke away, seemingly intending to get to shopping areas the police had yet to cordon.

In the upmarket Temple Row area of the city, home to several designer shops, suitmaker Austin Reed had its windows and door smashed in.

Looters left clothes racks and garments strewn across the floor of the shop and knocked over motorbikes parked outside.

Mike Golden, aged 44, the manager, said: "I got a call from the alarm company saying intruders had broken into the shop. When I got into town I saw the riot police and knew what had happened.

"They are using what happened in London as an excuse for this behaviour."

By 8pm, riot police filled the city centre, getting thugs and onlookers alike off New Street, which by now had seen several of its own shops smashed.

The flagship Adidas New Street store was one of the worst hit.

Rioters broke through the door and people streamed in, grabbing anything they could lay their hands on.

As soon as the police presence returned to the store, the large crowd fled. Six riot vans sped down Birmingham's normally-pedestrianised New Street, chasing at least 100 thugs toward the Bullring.

However, once that burst of disorder calmed down, the looters immediately surged back into the large Adidas store, packing bags with their loot. A call went up of "police" and they again fled.

As the thugs stampeded through the streets, onlookers watched in horror as they brandished knives and assaulted one watching photographer, who also had his camera stolen.

By now, the original larger group of youths had splintered into smaller gangs, all intent on wreaking havoc across the city.

Innocent passers-by were also dragged into the violence. One young man was set upon by a mob which punched and kicked him before taking all his possessions.

University student Joe Duffy, aged 21, who lives off Hagley Road in Bearwood, also ran into the trouble in Corporation Street.

He said: "It was really scary. There were lads in hoodies pouring into the Phone4U shop in Corporation Street and coming out with bags of stuff. They were kicking and shouting. There was a line of police with shields nearby but they couldn't really do anything because there were so many of them."

One 30-year-old worker at Barclay's in Colmore Row, said: "I went to leave work when there was an alert saying no-one could leave the building.

"The next thing I know there were more than 100 lads kicking the windows throwing bottles at the bank, whatever they could find. It was terrifying."

Another worker, this time in Bull Street, who also wished to be anonymous, said she looked out her window just after 7pm and saw a gang of lads running from Corporation Street towards Bull Street. She said she saw one person hitting another person with a baton."

A different anonymous worker said he had seen a group of looters set upon another looter because they had seen him holding an Adidas bag. He said the men surrounded the single man before pushing him to the floor and then kicking him while he was on the ground.

By around 11pm, the out-of-control nature of the gangs in the city centre began to die down.

However, the trouble was far from over, and instead moved on to Handsworth.

Cars were burnt out, banks damaged and shops turned over in the Handsworth trouble, which lasted from the early hours until around 5am today.

In Grove Lane, looters attempted to raid the Lloyds TSB bank at the junction with Soho Road. It is not believed they got away with any cash but the branch remained closed today.

Surinder Kumar, aged 51, is the manager of Regon Auto Car Parts shop also in Grove Lane.

His Suzuki Vitara car was totally destroyed after the mob set fire to it last night. The smouldering remains of the car were still parked outside the shop this morning.

"I have never seen anything like this," he said. "I was here in 1985 when the Handsworth riots were going on. Even then, I never had a problem like this before. My son came in at 7am and let me know what had happened."

A few doors along from the car workshop, a 2007-reg Ford Fiesta had its driver's window and rear windscreen smashed in. A discarded plank of wood and smashed glass was visible from the pavement.

Handsworth's William Hill bookmaker at the junction with Leyton Road had its doors smashed in. The lower panel of glass was missing and rioters had been inside the shop overnight.

A gaming machine was pulled to the ground and chairs were scattered around the bookies.

Florence Costello, aged 59, from Leyton Road stayed up to 3.30am watching the violence unfold.

She said: "There were 40 or 50 young men wearing scarves over their faces and with their hoods up.

"They were going from shop to shop trying to get whatever they could.

"At least six or seven shops had their shutters attacked, but the William Hill does not have shutters. The door they smashed is only three weeks old, after they had another problem.

"The car they set fire to burned from 1am until 3am before the fire brigade arrived.

"There were riot police, halfway up the road, but they seemed to be hanging back and not wanting to make the situation worse. It was crazy."

The trouble began to ease off at around 5am today as rampant crowds started to empty the streets.

When all was said and done, more than 100 thugs were arrested and at least 34 people injured.

The damage is believed to run into the millions and devastated businesses were today beginning the slow recovery process.

West Midlands Police was already beginning the appeal for witnesses and the trawl of vital CCTV footage had started.

People were also recovering from injuries in hospitals around the region.

West Midlands Ambulance Service said staff were called to 34 incidents in total, the last of which came in at just after 3am this morning.

The majority of calls were to reports of people being assaulted.

Crews tended to 28 patients, of whom 13 went to hospitals across the city.

Injuries included lacerations and bruising to the head, a dislocated knee, general cuts, bruising and swelling.

Assistant chief ambulance officer Tracey Morrell said: "The majority of incidents have been as a result of assaults, but thankfully most have not been too serious.

"However, the fact that over a dozen patients went to hospital gives you an indication of the levels of injury.

"This has been a challenging nights for our crews dealing with some often difficult incidents. Keeping our staff safe has been a key priority for us.

"We have achieved this by working closely with colleagues in West Midlands Police.

"Our contingency plans ensured that, despite these unfortunate events, we were able to operate a normal 999 service dealing with the types of patients that we would have expected to see."

Birmingham councillors were also in shock today over the brutal attack on the second city.

Councillor Paul Tilsley MBE said the clean-up operation had already begun and urged people not to avoid central Birmingham.

He said: "The City Council is making every effort possible to clear up any damage and bring normality back to the city.

"We'd stress to retailers, workers and shoppers alike that the city remains very much open for business and would encourage them to come in as normal today."

Councillor Tilsley refuted claims the trouble erupted due to racial tensions.

"Don't lose sight of the face on Sunday we had the Handsworth Carnival, one of the biggest carnivals in the country outside Notting Hill, and it passed off without any trouble at all," he said.

"So any idiot that starts telling me we have got racial problems in Birmingham, that is an example where we had harmony across the community.

"It was just mindless bother from kids out to cause as much trouble and rob as many stores as possible."

He added: "We are appealing to people within the city to remain calm and allow the police and others to do their job in bringing these incidents under control."

The deputy leader of the council even viewed the horror first hand.

"Last night I was down in the control centre watching the CCTV footage coming in and I was absolutely appalled by the mindless violence being perpetrated by kids as young as 13," he said.

"I was making appeals for parents to phone their children and get them home.

"Believe me the quality of the CCTV we were seeing was so good, the police are going to be able to put a lot of names to faces and there are going to be a lot of knocks on doors in the coming weeks.

"Towards midnight I was watching kids loading up cars with stolen property, the number plates were clearly visible.

"It was unbelievable.

"I would like to see a lockdown from mid-evening tonight.

"We had other forces in helping us last night, police from Warwickshire and Staffordshire and it may be that we have to go further afield.

"We have got to stamp on this very hard, we have got to take very very firm action to stop this happening again.

"Parents have got a responsibility to keep their children off the streets."

Meanwhile, West Midlands Police said all routes into the city, some of which had been closed to traffic as the violence flared, were open this morning.

However, detectives said a number of areas in the city centre would remain cordoned off as forensic officers examined the scenes of last night's disorder.

Assistant chief constable Sharon Rowe said: "The investigation into the disorder has already started and we are proactively reviewing the CCTV to identify other offenders and bring them to justice."