By Ethan Davies – Local Democracy Reporter
POLICE have arrested 28 people involved in rioting across Greater Manchester last weekend, the Chief Constable has confirmed.
Several men have also been charged for their part in the disorder seen in Piccadilly Gardens and Bolton town centre, with one being fined on Monday (August 5).
More are appearing before judges this morning (August 6).
Late yesterday afternoon, the total stood at 23 arrests, according to deputy mayor for policing Kate Green. The increase of five overnight will be followed by more, Stephen Watson warned.
Speaking on a special BBC Radio Manchester programme, the Chief added: “I know there are seven offenders likely to be in our cells by the close of today.” Mr Watson called the scenes over the weekend ‘disgraceful’, and dismissed rioters as ‘criminals’.
“We ought not to credit them with more intelligence than they have got,” he went on. During the ‘In The Hotseat’ phone-in, he credited specialist resources for being the reason why fighting and looting did not descend into outright chaos witnessed in other English towns like Rotherham, where mobs attempted to fire to a hotel housing asylum seekers and block an emergency exit.
“This is something we do have a handle on,” Mr Watson explained. “We do have capability in Manchester that some forces do not.
“We have, over the last three years, invested in properly trained, capable and w2ell-equipped individuals. They are well led — we have some of the most experienced Bronze Commanders in the country. We are well-versed in the delivery of tactics in regards to disorder.”
However, he recognised officers ‘are tired’. The Chief continued: “We have cancelled leave. We have cancelled days off.
“It’s 12 hours on and 12 hours off. But ultimately this is the call of duty.”
His appearance on the radio comes after mayor Andy Burnham urged residents to remember ‘Greater Manchester is better than this’.
“I will personally ensure GMP will have all the resources they need to maintain control of our streets — and law and order in our communities,” he told a press conference. “All residents in Greater Manchester can be assured we can do everything within our power to keep you safe.”
Absolutely awful beyond belief. The way some people have taken advantage of the situation to push their hateful message is absolutely atrocious. It’s sad in many ways. There’s only one way to deal with such things, we all stand together, all of us no matter what you look like or believe, no matter where you come from, all of us on this planet stand together and exist in peace.
I don’t condone violent protests, nor have I taken part in any. I have better things to do.
Looking through the window as an impartial observer, one side won’t allow the discussion of a topic, so the other side feels as though it has no other option. The end result is racist, anti-religious hate (more than one religion) and violent acts being carried out by both sides – clearly more of that has been carried out by the ant-immigration side.
Without discussion, these nasty issues will exist in society, unfortunately. The failure to discuss immigration and protestors chanting intimidating and offensive chants at left wing marches – intentionally or not – has most likely triggered all this hate within the UK. Maybe I’m wrong, but this is my impartial opinion as an ordinary, non-religious, working-class person. I have no axe to grind. I say it as I see it.
The situation has cracked open a can of societal worms; so many problems exist in our society, but nobody is talking about them. Common sense isn’t common anymore.
I overheard a young woman recording at one of the protests, and she said: “But I like takeaways.” On another occasion, I heard someone talk derogatory about chavs. Like it or not, chavs exists in society. This is multiculturalism. You could learn a few things from the young ,budding, camera-woman chav. Perhaps you should give her a job as she summed it up nicely.
It’s stupid attacking the very people who could be delivering their take-aways the next day. They must have seen the videos of delivery drivers on e-bikes coming out of migrant hotels on youtube. The golden rule is: never insult a person who handles food.