English courts to stay open through night to hear rioting cases

Courts in parts of England are to remain open all night to deal with people charged in connection with the recent unrest.

Morethan 1,000 people have been arrested for rioting, looting and arson since the street violence broke out on Saturday evening.

Police have been authorised to use plastic bullets and water cannon to bring rioters under control if the trouble persists.

An 11-year-old boy was among scores of rioters and looters to appear before magistrates today.

The boy, from Romford, Essex in England, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared at Highbury Corner Youth Court where he admitted being part of a gang of youths who looted the town’s Debenhams store on Monday night.

His appearance came as court staff ploughed through the massive influx of cases from recent riots in London.

Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court, in north London, sat throughout last night to deal with cases, and is likely to again tonight.

Defendants ranged in age, from different parts of London, but the boy stood out as the youngest defendant to appear in Highbury today.

Wearing a blue Adidas tracksuit, the youngster spoke only to confirm his name, age and date of birth.

He pleaded guilty to burglary, after stealing a waste bin worth £50 from Debenhams. A charge of violent disorder was dropped.

Meanwhile a murder investigation has been launched in Birmingham after three men were hit by a car and killed.

It is claimed they were protecting businesses in their community from looters.

Ireland's Department of Foreign Affairs is advising Irish citizens to avoid areas where civil unrest is occurring in Britain.

Water cannon sanctioned if needed

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister David Cameron declared a fightback against looters and rioters today as a community mourned the deaths of the three men killed while trying to protect its shops and businesses.

Police forces across the country called in reinforcements tonight in an attempt to stop another night of the riots that have now claimed four lives.

As looting and mob violence spread from London to the North West and the Midlands three men – named as Haroon Jahan, 21, and brothers Shazad Ali, 30, and Abdul Musavir, 31 – were killed when a car was driven at them as they protected shops in Winson Green, Birmingham, at 1am, their families said.

Mr Cameron described the deaths as “truly dreadful”. When asked what he would say to their families he said: “They have my deepest condolences. I think everyone in the country is going to be thinking about them and their families and what happened.”

West Midlands Police have arrested a 32-year-old man on suspicion of murder.

The apparent hit-and-run killing follows the death of a 26-year-old man who was shot in a car during riots in Croydon, south London, on Monday night.

Politicians and police sought to return calm to the cities affected by the disorder by flooding the streets with officers.

Six forces – the Metropolitan Police, West Midlands, Nottinghamshire, Avon and Somerset, Greater Manchester and Gloucestershire – have drafted in extra officers from other constabularies amid fears of a fifth night of violence.

Speaking in Downing Street after chairing a meeting of the Government’s Cobra emergency committee, Mr Cameron said: “We needed a fightback, and a fightback is under way.

“We have seen the worst of Britain, but I also believe we have seen some of the best of Britain – the million people who have signed up on Facebook to support the police, coming together in the clean-up operations.”

He said officers would be given the resources and legal backing to use the tactics they felt were necessary to deal with the riots.

“Police are already authorised to use baton rounds and we agreed at Cobra that, while they are not currently needed, we now have in place contingency plans for water cannons to be available at 24 hours’ notice,” he said.

In a major break with the Government, the Tory London Mayor Boris Johnson today demanded a rethink of plans to slash police budgets by 20%.

The mayor, who is seeking re-election to City Hall next year, told the BBC: “That case was always pretty frail and it has been substantially weakened. This is not a time to think about making substantial cuts in police numbers.”

But Mr Cameron brushed off Mr Johnson’s concerns, insisting forces had all the resources they required.

Thousands of extra police officers in London helped quell trouble on the capital’s streets last night, but ugly scenes of violence spread to other cities.

Elsewhere, hundreds of marauding thugs played cat and mouse with police in Manchester last night, smashing shops, looting goods and setting fire to one premises.

This afternoon police arrested an 18-year-old man on suspicion of arson over the blaze in the city’s Miss Selfridge store.

And two of those arrested have already been jailed in what Greater Manchester Police said was “swift justice”.

“Two men sentenced to 10 weeks and 16 weeks. First of many,” the force warned.

Trouble also broke out in Nottingham, Leicester, Wolverhampton, Gloucester, Bristol and Toxteth in Liverpool.

Despite the spreading violence, senior police officers played down the prospect of using water cannons against rioters.

Hugh Orde, president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, oversaw the use of the weapon when he was head of the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

He said: “They were vital in Northern Ireland. At the moment I don’t see a need in the rest of the United Kingdom.”