Latest news with #disorder
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Fireworks set off in 'memorial' for dead teenager as police called to 'disorder'
Fireworks were set off as 'hundreds' of youths gathered at a 'memorial' for a teenager who tragically died after a crash in Middleton. Police were called to reports of 'disorder' on the Langley estate on Tuesday night (July 22) where people gathered in tribute to the boy who died. Devon Simmonds, 15, lost his life in the collision on Rowrah Crescent. Police said it involved an e-bike and a car. Flowers, balloons and candles have been left in tribute to the teenager outside shuttered shops on a precinct in Longthwaite Close. Dozens of youths were still gathered at the precinct on Wednesday afternoon (July 23) with some spraying graffiti onto the walls. Sign up to the MEN Court newsletter here Greater Manchester Police attended the scene overnight following reports of 'disorder' while four fire crews were also in attendance. Pervaiz Iqbal, who works at a shop on the precinct, said that 'hundreds' of youths were gathered on the estate from around 6pm. He told the Manchester Evening News that some people climbed on top of the precinct but said that this was not uncommon. His colleague said that fireworks were being set off throughout the night, as late as 11pm, and claimed some were thrown at cars. However, another shopkeeper said that she was not aware of 'trouble', explaining that the youths had gathered for a 'memorial'. Mr Iqbal said: "A lot of people obviously, the customers are scared coming into the shop, especially old people. "They are very scared of coming into the shops because a lot of the boys, teenagers, are here and they did fireworks and stuff." Despite the best efforts of the emergency services, Devon Simmonds was sadly pronounced dead at the scene on Tuesday (July 22). A 59-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder and remains in custody for questioning. Another 15-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of theft as part of the investigation. One resident who knew of the teenager said: "He was a top, top lad. Lived on this estate all his life and a lot of people knew him. "He was very respectable, obviously it's a horrible thing to happen to him and his family." Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service confirmed that four crews were sent to the scene in Middleton after midnight. GMP were also in attendance following reports of 'disorder'. Local officers remain in the area, working with Rochdale council. Chief Inspector Nicola Hopkinson, of our Rochdale District, said: 'What happened yesterday was a tragic event that saw a young boy lose their life and our thoughts remain with Devon's family at this time. 'Officers are aware of antisocial behaviour taking place in the local area following this incident. This will not be tolerated and is completely unacceptable. 'We understand the emotions of the wider community and their need to grieve, but we will take action against anyone found to be involved in criminality. 'As part of our investigation, officers will be on hand to deal with any queries members of the public have. Feel free to raise any issues and speak to them if you have any concerns. 'We continue our appeal for information that may assist our enquiries and any information can be submitted through the major incident portal, linked here: 'Information can be provided through our MIPP portal, or by contacting the investigation team on 0161 856 1995, quoting log number 1364 of 22/07/2025. 'The independent charity Crimestoppers can also be contacted anonymously on 0800 555 111.'
BBC News
8 hours ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Police condemn 'thugs and vandals' at Epping asylum seeker hotel protests
Update: Date: 14:48 BST Title: 'This is a powder keg situation,' says council leader Content: Neil Hudson, the Conservative MP for Epping, and Alex Burghart, the Conservative MP for Brentwood and Ongar, have called for The Bell Hotel to be closed due to the disorder. Chris Whitbread, the Tory leader of Epping Forest District Council, has described it as a "powder keg" situation. In an interview with BBC Newsnight's Victoria Derbyshire, external, he said: "Fair-minded people within the local community, initially protesting peacefully, want the hotel closed. "I have to say, as the leader of the council, that's always been my position and the council's position. This is just not a suitable location. The sooner it's dealt with, the better." He said he sympathised with the "vulnerable" asylum seekers at the hotel but stressed locations that had "less impact on established communities" needed to be found by the Home Office. Update: Date: 14:39 BST Title: 'Categorically wrong' to say officers were driving people to protest - Essex Police Content: Essex Police has also just shared this statement with us regarding claims made on social media, which were echoed by Nigel Farage. "There are claims on social media that Essex Police officers 'bussed' protesters to the protest outside The Bell Hotel on 17 July," a spokesman says. "This is categorically wrong. "Officers did provide a foot cordon around protesters on their way to the protest, where they and others were allowed to exercise their right to protest. "Later some people who were clearly at risk of being hurt were also escorted by vehicle away from the area for their safety. "To reiterate, we categorically did not drive any counter-protesters to the site on any occasion." Update: Date: 14:35 BST Title: Farage calls for resignations over police response Content: At the press conference earlier, the chief constable was asked to respond to allegations that officers were favouring pro-asylum seeker protesters. It comes after Reform UK leader Nigel Farage called for Mr Harrington's resignation over claims made in the national press that police were ferrying those campaigners to the hotel. Mr Harrington said: "People have got the right to turn up and protest if they are peaceful and lawful. "We have not driven people to the protest, people made their own way there. "We did take people away for their safety, for the safety of people there. To defuse the situation we drove people away." Prior to the press conference, Farage accused Essex Police of being "absolutely disgraceful" in how it handled clashes between rival protesters. You can read more on this point of contention here. Update: Date: 14:32 BST Title: What did the chief constable say? Content: Ben-Julian Harrington, the Chief Constable of Essex Police, spoke to the media for about half an hour to discuss protests at The Bell Hotel in Epping. Here are some of the main points he made: Update: Date: 14:19 BST Title: Chief thanks reporters as he ends press conference Content: Mr Harrington thanks reporters as he ends the press conference. Stay with us as we bring you reaction. Update: Date: 14:19 BST Title: Some protesters are 'stoking up' tensions Content: One reporter asks how many of the protesters are from Essex. Mr Harrington replies "a large proportion", adding: "But there have, as well, been people who have come in from elsewhere to express their views." He continues: "What we have is those protesting the use of this hotel and we've got those who are pro-that." The chief constable says some have been "peaceful and legitimate", while others have been "inciting violence and stoking up" tensions. Update: Date: 14:16 BST Title: No certainty over when protests will end Content: When asked how long the protests could continue for, Mr Harrington was unsure. He says: "I'm expecting, because I am ever the optimist, there will continue to be a number of lawful and peaceful people. "Policing will make sure people, as best we can, can go about their business safely." Update: Date: 14:12 BST Title: Police will act on all crime, says chief constable Content: Mr Harrington is now reiterating that his officers will not hesitate to act on crimes allegedly committed by asylum seekers. "Where that happens, policing has and does intervene," he explains. "Like any other person in the community, we gather evidence. That's what we've done in this case and what we will do." He then referenced an incident last week that led to two hotel workers being "seriously assaulted", adding: "Two people who were there for a day's work." Update: Date: 14:07 BST Title: 'We aren't overwhelmed and outnumbered,' says police chief Content: Our reporter Stuart Woodward has just asked if Essex Police has the resources to staff future protests. He also repeated claims heard in court earlier this week that officers were "overwhelmed". Mr Harrington replies: "I don't think we were overwhelmed and outnumbered. "There are sufficient resources in place to make sure we can deal with any eventuality, supported by the rest of the country as required. "We will be here to enforce the law and allow people to carry out their rights. We will have the support of the government and the rest of policing in order to do that." Update: Date: 14:03 BST Title: Officers did not drive people to the protest - chief constable Content: People have got the right to protest if they are "peaceful and lawful", the chief constable is now saying. He stresses the majority of people turning up at The Bell Hotel have behaved responsibly - and he thanked them for that. When asked if officers drove pro-migrant protesters to the hotel, Mr Harrington says: "We have not driven people to the protest, people made their own way there. "We did take people away for their safety, for the safety of people there. To defuse the situation we drove people away." He goes on to ask people commenting online to "consider the consequences in the real world of your actions". Mr Harrington then says "irresponsible" protesters being violent is drawing officers away from other parts of Essex. Update: Date: 14:00 BST Title: 'We're giving protection to law-abiding people' Content: Mr Harrington is now taking questions from the media, having finished his speech. Asked if his officers are giving a "higher level of protection" to the pro-migrant demonstrators, he says: "I don't accept that. "The only protection our officers are giving is to the law-abiding people." He is then asked if he should resign after clashes between those demonstrators with rival protesters, but Mr Harrington says: "The issue is not about my resignation." Update: Date: 13:58 BST Title: Police warn of misinformation online Content: Addressing misinformation spreading online about the hotel and the policing operation, Mr Harrington urges people to be responsible in what they say. "There are real world consequences," he says. "Going forward we know there are a couple of protests that are advertised. We have a robust, and I stress robust, policing operation in place. "If you come here to commit crime, we will deal with that robustly." Update: Date: 13:56 BST Title: Essex Police say it is being 'absolutely impartial' Content: The senior officer now turns his attention to allegations made against an asylum seeker, who was living at The Bell Hotel, earlier this month. "Where people in these residences commit crime, we will deal with that as well," Mr Harrington says. "We are being absolutely impartial, policing according to the law." Mr Harrington praises the "bravery and commitment" of officers who he says have faced violence. Update: Date: 13:53 BST Title: Ten arrests made so far, police say Content: Mr Harrington thanks the "many peaceful" protesters who have attended to air their views. "What has been unacceptable has been the people who have come to Epping and committed violence," he continues. "Who have attacked people who worked at the hotel, who hurt officers and damaged the hotel." The chief constable says "thugs and vandals" have caused "fear and disruption" to the town, adding 10 arrests have been made so far. Update: Date: 13:51 BST Title: People cannot commit violence, says chief constable Content: We are now under way here in Boreham, hearing from Chief Constable Ben-Julian Harrington. "What's important to Essex Police are the communities of Epping, the communities of Essex and rights of everyone there to go about their business lawfully and peacefully," he begins. "What it is not about is allowing to people commit crime, violence or disrupt those communities. "It is important we police according to the law as it is, not how people want it to be." Update: Date: 13:45 BST Title: Police giving update - watch live Content: Police are now giving an update - press watch live above to follow along. Update: Date: 13:38 BST Title: Conference delayed due to volume of journalists arriving Content: Stuart WoodwardReporting from the press conference The press conference is a little delayed here at the moment due to extra journalists arriving, I've been told. There are about 20 or so reporters already here, gathering to hear what Assistant Chief Constable Stuart Hooper from Essex Police has to say. After we hear from ACC Hooper, Chief Constable Ben-Julian Harrington will speak to the media. Update: Date: 13:21 BST Title: Journalists gather ahead of press conference Content: Reporters from national and local media outlets have gathered at the press conference in Boreham, near Chelmsford. We're expecting it to get under way any moment now. Just a reminder, you can watch along live by clicking the "watch live" button at the top of this page. Update: Date: 13:03 BST Title: Watch press conference streamed live Content: You will be able to watch the press conference live by clicking the "watch live" button at the top of this page. We're expecting it to get under way in about 15 minutes, so stick with us. Update: Date: 12:54 BST Title: 'Chilled' town has been thrust into the national spotlight Content: Lewis AdamsLive reporter in Essex Epping has found itself at the centre of the national news agenda over the past 10 days. Controversy is not what the town is familiar with, being highly regarded for its ancient Epping Forest woodland and pleasant High Street. People living in Epping, who we spoke to this week, have described watching their "chilled" area turn into a hub of protests and tension. "It's not what you would expect really," said cafe owner Geoff Morris.
BBC News
12 hours ago
- BBC News
Sheffield man, 20, jailed for role in Harehills disorder
A man has been jailed for two years and eight months after admitting taking part in widespread disorder in the Harehills area of Leeds last Budai was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court on Monday and is the 24th person to be sent to prison over the disturbance, which happened on 18 July 20-year-old, of Spring View Close in Sheffield, pleaded guilty to offences of arson and violent trouble started when crowds gathered around a Harehills home where social workers were removing children on the orders of a family court. Police officers were attacked and public property was heavily damaged over the course of the night, with the overall cost of the disorder estimated to be around £300,000. Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Japan Times
12 hours ago
- Japan Times
What turning a blind eye to deviant behavior is doing to London
Every day London becomes a bit more disorderly. The police report that shoplifting increased by more than 50% last year, a far sharper increase than in other regions, and thefts such as pickpocketing increased by 41%, with mobile phones plucked like low-hanging fruit. Transport for London (TfL) calculates that fare dodging costs the transit system £400 million ($540 million) a year, but the real figure may be much higher. But these crime figures only capture a small proportion of the disorder. Delivery drivers cycle at high speed, often on the pavement, frequently scattering pedestrians in their path. The bikes have electric motors and thick tires; the drivers usually wear masks or balaclavas to conceal their faces, regardless of the heat. The sickly sweet smell of marijuana is ubiquitous in large parts of London (and certainly in Clapham where I live). Why is life in London deteriorating at such a pell-mell speed? And what can be done to improve it? The best answer to both questions can be found in a surprising place — an essay published 30 years ago in an obscure educational periodical by Daniel Patrick Moynihan, then the senior U.S. senator from New York, entitled "Defining Deviancy Down.' Moynihan argued that the supply of "deviant' behavior in the U.S. was increasing far more rapidly than our ability to cope with it. (By deviant he meant lawbreaking and public disorder rather than unconventional sexual behavior). Urban Americans, and particularly New Yorkers, were being subjected to such a level of lawlessness — littering, turnstile-jumping, drug taking, shoplifting and, later, mobile phone theft — that both the authorities and regular citizens were giving up trying to control the supply of disorder and were instead rationalizing it. Welcome to contemporary London! The blame for the growing disorder is widely spread. Londoners are too lazy to walk to the restaurant to get our take-away meals, so they tap their orders into an app. (And yes, dear reader, that includes me.) Supermarkets and food-delivery companies are too focused on serving their customers to monitor their "supply chains.' The police are too focused on serious crimes to bother about marijuana smoking. And London transport workers are too frightened of being assaulted to tackle the turnstile jumpers. Everybody has a good excuse for turning a blind eye. The most common excuse is that we are dealing either with victimless crimes or with the sort of social disorder that goes along with urban life. This is a convenient illusion. The cost of fare evasion or shoplifting isn't "eaten' by anonymous organizations but passed on to law-abiding citizens in terms of higher prices. Low-level crime also has knock on effects: Litter attracts yet more litter, broken windows produce yet more broken windows and petty criminals graduate to worse crimes. Look carefully at both the marijuana industry (for that is what it is) and the food-delivery ecosystem and you'll discover that turning a blind eye is in fact entrenching serious crime. Marijuana is no longer the innocent drug that today's policymakers remember from their inhaling youths. A review of 18 studies worldwide found that "average' marijuana smokers are twice as likely as nonusers to develop schizophrenia or other severe mental illnesses and the heaviest users are four times as likely. Pot dealers are eager to foist even stronger drugs on their hapless victims. The food-delivery industry rests on an infrastructure of crime and illegal immigration. Visit any flea-pit hotel that houses undocumented migrants and you will encounter youths hanging around in the street and shady figures recruiting them for jobs delivering fast food or groceries for supposedly respectable companies. The going rate for delivery drivers is so low that they have no choice but to ride at terrifying speeds — hence the number of accidents and hence the fact that the cyclists wear face masks. Spot checks in April 2023 discovered that 42% of delivery drivers were working unlawfully. The market in false identities, whereby legal workers with accounts on delivery apps register for jobs and then sublet them to "substitutes' who are frequently undocumented immigrants, is estimated to include at least 100,000 people. People traffickers have taken to advertising jobs as delivery drivers as part of a smuggling package. Once they've braved the Channel crossing, these migrants become modern slaves as they rush around London in a futile attempt to pay off the money they have borrowed. The Moynihan essay was unusual in that it contained a solution as well as an analysis: Take vigorous action against urban disorder. It was even more unusual in that it reinforced the case for 'broken windows policing,' a case that had first been made by political scientist James Q. Wilson and criminologist George Kelling in 1982. A generation of mayors led by Rudolph Giuliani in New York cracked down on minor disorders. The result was an urban revival in the 1990s and early 2000s which saw serious crime fall, along with general disorder, and middle-class people returning to the cities. Sadiq Khan, who has made it clear that he doesn't plan to stand for a fourth term, shows every sign that he wants to spend the rest of his time in office coasting toward retirement and enjoying his recent knighthood: His last contribution to crime policy was to suggest that the possession of small quantities of marijuana should be decriminalized. Yet this is politically risky as well as completely irresponsible. Londoners are losing patience with the do-nothing attitude of the authorities. Britain's shadow justice secretary, Robert Jenrick, won applause when he posted a video of himself confronting fare dodgers while TfL staff stood by doing nothing. And criminal gangs are sinking their tentacles into the food-delivery industry as well as reaping super profits from illegal drugs. Surely Sir Sadiq wants a better legacy than this? Adrian Wooldridge is the global business columnist for Bloomberg Opinion. He is author of "The Aristocracy of Talent: How Meritocracy Made the Modern World.'
RNZ News
16 hours ago
- Health
- RNZ News
Person taken to hospital after 'disorder event' in Auckland suburb of Beach Haven
Photo: ST JOHN NZ A person has been taken to North Shore Hospital after a disorder event involving a group of young people in the Auckland suburb of Beach Haven. Emergency services were notified of the event on Rangatira Road and Sunnyhaven Avenue at 4.20pm which police said involved a "group of youths". A person was taken to North Shore Hospital in a moderate condition. St John said that an ambulance, a rapid response unit and an operations manager attended. Police called it a disorder incident and remained at the scene. They said enquiries were underway. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
