G8 protestors due in court after day of violence

Up to 100 G8 protesters will today appear in court following violent clashes with police in the centre of Edinburgh.

Riot police were yesterday bombarded with paving stones, bricks and park benches by protesters who had descended on the city intent on causing disruption on the eve of the summit at Gleneagles.

Around 100 people were arrested including what police called “key” anarchist suspects who had travelled to Scotland from across Europe.

A spokesman for Lothian & Borders Police said the “majority” of those arrested would appear at Edinburgh Sheriff’s Court.

More than 20 protesters and police officers were injured in over six hours of running clashes, baton charges and mounted surges in and around Princes Street.

The city centre was brought to a standstill and businesses on one of Britain’s most famous shopping streets were forced to close with their staff locked inside.

Stand-offs between police and protesters continued late into the evening.

The violence followed an event under the banner of The Carnival For Full Enjoyment, said by organisers to be aimed at highlighting an anti-war and anti-wage slavery message.

Some protesters were dressed as clowns but others, black-clad and hooded, shouted “scum” and “You’re gonna die” at police. One managed to steal a police riot shield.

Several small children, including at least one in a pushchair, were caught up in the chaos.

Senior police officers condemned the organisers of the carnival, saying that some of those involved had been bent on violence from the start.

Tom Halpin, Assistant Chief Constable of Lothian and Borders Police, said: “The so-called carnival has been staged without discussion and clearly those involved were determined to cause as much disruption as possible.

“We have always said that we wanted to assist those who wished to make peaceful protests, but in our view it’s clear this was never on this group’s agenda.

“We are facing a hard-core of determined activists, supported by hangers-on. Large numbers have been facing up to the police, they are clearly organised and co-ordinated.

“We have recovered maps, radios, mobile telephones and weapons, including stones and staves and other missiles, which have been thrown at police officers.

“There is evidence of weapons being brought into the city centre by protesters, despite their apparent outward display of good humour.”

More than 1,000 police officers were on duty and he defended their actions, saying they had behaved in a “measured and professional way despite extreme provocation and indeed violence”.

Police employed tactics similar to those used during May Day protests in London, temporarily cordoning off pockets of the city centre and isolating groups of protesters from each other.

The massive operation included contingents from the Merseyside, South Yorkshire, West Midlands ad Lancashire forces.