Two murders among 3,296 crimes in London riots, police say

A total of 3,296 crimes including two murders were committed in London during rioting that rocked the city from Aug. 6 to Aug. 9.

Offenses included 1,101 burglaries, 399 cases of criminal damage to vehicles and 310 thefts of personal property, London’s Metropolitan Police Service said in a statement today. The 1,875 arrests made in the U.K. capital so far include 396 juveniles, the release said. More than 3,300 people have been held across the U.K., according to the government’s Directgov website.

“We have brought a significant number of people to justice,” Commander Simon Foy, head of Homicide and Serious Crime Command, said in the statement, adding that the “disorder” affected 22 of London’s 32 boroughs. “There are many more people who must answer for their actions.”

The worst wave of violence since 1980s forced the authorities to deploy 16,000 police in the streets of London by Aug. 9 to prevent a fourth night of rioting. Prime Minister David Cameron returned early from his Italian vacation and Parliament was recalled to hold an emergency session on Aug. 11.

Sky News yesterday broadcast pictures of a rioter in Birmingham shooting at a line of officers and said 11 shots had been fired at a police helicopter during the disturbances. There was “evidence of several gunmen,” West Midlands Police Chief Constable Chris Sims said in broadcast remarks.

Divide Over Crackdown

As many as 30,000 people may have been involved in looting, arson and criminal damage during London riots, with between five and 10 people linked on average with each crime, the Sunday Times said today, citing unidentified police officials.

The response to the violence has revealed splits in the governing coalition. Cameron and other Conservative ministers favor severe penalties for the perpetrators, while Liberal Democrats have complained about the harshness of the crackdown.

Arrests connected with the riots have pushed up the number of people behind bars in England and Wales by more than 100 a day in the past week, to a record 86,654 on Aug. 19, the Guardian reported, citing the Ministry of Justice.

There will probably be a large number of successful appeals, given the severity of the sentences being handed down, the Daily Telegraph said, citing lawyers and legal experts. Some judges have been told not to order pre-sentencing reports in rioting cases, the newspaper reported, without saying where it got the information.

Appeal Prospects

Lord Carlile, president of the Howard League for Penal Reform, told the newspaper that bypassing the reports could lead to successful appeals or judicial review. “This is not hand- wringing liberal stuff, it is the practical side of sentencing,” he said, according to the Telegraph.

Ursula Nevin, a 24-year-old mother of two, became the first person jailed in connection with rioting to be freed on appeal and given community service, the Telegraph said. Nevin was sentenced to five months for accepting a pair of shorts her lodger stole during rioting in Manchester, the paper said.

The Metropolitan Police have responded to the riots with Operation Withern, which involves officers from the Specialist Crime Directorate working with detectives, uniformed police and staff from other branches of the service, the release said.

The specialist directorate will handle some of the major incidents, while local police will pursue people responsible for rioting in their areas, according to the statement. The police have about 20,000 hours of closed-circuit television pictures to view, a total that will probably increase, the statement said.

Offenses included 162 cases of arson, 80 assaults with injury and 32 common assaults in London, the police said. So far, 1,073 people have been charged in London.