Police charge seven men with violent disorder after Hartlepool riot (2024)

Police have charged seven men with violent disorder offences after riots broke out linked to the Southport stabbings and have made more arrests - including an 11-year-old boy detained for allegedly setting fire to a patrol car.

The vehicle was torched during riots which spread from Southport to other parts of the UK in the wake of the knife rampage which claimed the lives of three young girls.

The violence, also seen in London and Manchester, has been sparked by false speculation online that the suspect in the stabbing frenzy is an illegal immigrant who arrived in the UK on a small boat.

Murder suspect Axel Rudakubana, 17, was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents and lived in Banks - a Lancashire village less than 15 minutes from Southport.

Cleveland Police's Assistant Chief Constable David Felton said: 'This is very much a live investigation and we are continuing to work to identify those involved in the disorder yesterday evening and bring them to justice.

'Disorder of this kind will not be tolerated and those found to be involved will be robustly dealt with.'

Confrontations raged late into Wednesday night in Hartlepool, where rioters set pelted officers with missiles including glass bottles.

A lone Asian man was also punched in the face in footage which was captured on a live stream.

Police are continuing to hunt for the man who carried out that attack.

Cleveland Police said all seven men who have now been charged face counts of violent disorder.

A 42-year-old man was also charged with assault by beating of an emergency worker.

A 28-year-old man was charged with violent disorder and possession of an offensive weapon in a public place, as well as violent disorder.

All seven men have been remanded in custody and are due to appear at Teesside Magistrates Court later today, while an11-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of arson after a police vehicle was set alight.

Cleveland Police said 11 other people were arrested on Wednesday evening in connection with the disorder during which officers were attacked with missiles, glass bottles and eggs in the County Durham town.

The arrests included seven men, one juvenile and one woman, with ages between 14 and 54, on suspicion of offences including violent disorder and assaulting an emergency worker, according to the force.

During the violence, which involved about 150 people meeting at the Cenotaph and descending on Murray Street and the surrounding area, four police officers suffered minor injuries.

Before the protest, officers identified the suspected organiser and arrested a 51-year-old man from Hartlepool on suspicion of distributing written materials to stir up racial hatred.

He has been released on conditional bail while inquiries continue.

A woman aged 28, also from the Hartlepool area, was arrested on Wednesday before the demonstration.

She was detained on suspicion of unlawfully obtaining or disclosing protected information and distributing written materials to stir up racial hatred relating to personal information placed on social media, and has been released on conditional bail.

Speaking outside Hartlepool Police Station yesterday afternoon, Chief Constable Mark Webster said the events in the town were 'mindless thuggery' and that experienced officers had never seen such disorder there before.

Asked what the motivation was for the disorder, he said: 'There is an opportunity to go out and damage things, and just exhibit a bit of violence.

'I don't think there is a principle at stake, this was not a legitimate protest or demonstration.

'I think there is some mindless thuggery and that's why we are being really proactive to go out and arrest people. There's no excuse for last night.'

Also yesterday, Sir Keir Starmer condemned 'far-right hatred' in the wake of the Southport stabbings and today announced a new 'national' response to the violent disorder linking police forces across the country.

The Prime Minister said 'thugs' involved in the scenes of unrest should not 'pretend they are speaking' for the grieving families of the three young girls killed in the initial attack.

At a press conference following riots in which bricks were hurled at police officers and a local mosque targeted, Sir Keir warned: 'The far right are showing who they are - we have to show who we are in response to that.'

In a televised address from Downing Street after the disorder in London, Hartlepool, Manchester and Southport, he announced a new 'national capability' to tackle the disorder across police forces in England.

This will involve sharing intelligence, wider deployment of facial recognition technology and criminal behaviour orders to restrict the movement of those involved, Sir Keir said.

He said: 'These thugs are mobile, they move from community to community. We must have a policing response that can do the same.'

The Prime Minister also sounded a note of caution to social media companies after misinformation spread online about the identity of the 17-year-old suspect, including false claims that he was an asylum seeker.

'Let me also say to large social media companies and those who run them: violent disorder, clearly whipped up online, that is also a crime, it's happening on your premises, and the law must be upheld everywhere,' he said.

'That is the single most important duty of government, service rests on security. We will take all necessary action to keep our streets safe.'

Sir Keir, a former director of public prosecutions, also warned that speculating about the attack could risk prejudicing the active criminal proceedings against the suspect and impeding justice for the bereaved families.

Asked what his message was to Muslims who may be concerned after a mosque was targeted in the violence in Southport, he said: 'In relation to the Muslim community, let me be very clear - I will take every step that's necessary to keep you safe.

'Mosques being attacked because they're mosques - the far right are showing who they are. We have to show who we are in response to that.'

The press conference was held shortly after police chiefs from Scotland Yard, Merseyside and West Yorkshire were summoned to Downing Street for crisis talks with the PM and his ministers following the violence.

Sir Keir said the meeting was held to 'pull together our response, response both to the immediate challenge which is clearly driven by far-right hatred, but also all violent disorder that flares up whatever the apparent cause or motivation'.

He hit out at a 'gang of thugs' who descended on Southport to riot following the initial attack, saying that as a result the community had been forced to suffer twice.

'Let's be very clear about this. It's not protest. It's not legitimate. It's crime. Violent disorder. An assault on the rule of law and the execution of justice,' Sir Keir said.

In London on Wednesday, more than 100 people were arrested after protesters in Whitehall launched beer cans and glass bottles at police, and threw flares at the statue of Winston Churchill in Parliament Square.

Police in Manchester confronted another demonstration outside the Holiday Inn on Oldham Road before dispersing the crowd after protesters started throwing beer bottles at officers and members of the public.

The string of violent incidents followed similar scenes in Southport on Tuesday, where demonstrators attacked police and set cars on fire.