Police in London flooded the streets yesterday in a move to prevent a repeat of England’s worst riots in decades, which left city neighbourhoods smouldering and five people dead.
The number of officers in the British capital was more than doubled to 16,000 earlier this week, and Home Secretary Theresa May said the extra police would stay in place until further notice amid concerns that violence could flare up this weekend.
Britain has had two quiet days following four nights of rioting and looting, which led to 1,500 arrests across the country, but politicians and police are taking no chances.
Speaking on a visit to a Sony-owned distribution centre in north London which was torched during the riots, Ms May said: “We will be sustaining the numbers for a period of time.
“We have had some quieter nights but we’re not complacent.”
Police meanwhile said a 68-year-old man died in hospital late on Thursday from injuries sustained confronting looters in west London, becoming the fifth person killed in the violence.
Police have arrested a 22-year-old man on suspicion of the murder of Richard Mannington Bowes who was set upon in the affluent London suburb of Ealing on Monday as he tried to put out a fire started by a gang of youths.
The other victims of the unrest were three men in Birmingham who were run over as they defended local businesses, and a man in Croydon, south London, who was shot.
Inquests were due to open into the deaths in Birmingham, England’s second city, which saw three young men of South Asian origin mown down by a car as they stood guard against looters.
As fears of new violence remained high, a row escalated between police and politicians as both sides sought to deflect blame.
The police have been criticised for their reluctance to crack down hard on the first riot in the north London district of Tottenham on Saturday. Critics say the cautious approach encouraged unrest to spread across the capital and then to other English cities.
In an emergency session of Parliament on Thursday, Prime Minister David Cameron said police would be given extra powers to prevent future trouble but also voiced criticism of their tactics.
Ms May, Britain’s interior minister, has also said there were not enough officers on duty on Monday, the worst night of the unrest during which police in London arrested more than 300 people.
But senior officers hit back yesterday in rare public attacks on political leaders.
Tim Godwin, the acting head of the Metropolitan Police, pointedly noted that “people will always make comments who weren’t there”, and defended the policing of the riots in which dozens of officers were injured.
He said in the face of “unprecedented scenes”, his force had “some of the best commanders that we have seen in the world... that showed great restraint as well as great courage.”