0:00:05 > 0:00:07- DAVID CAMERON:- Now the fires have been put out
0:00:07 > 0:00:08and the smoke has cleared,
0:00:08 > 0:00:15the question hangs in the air - why? How could this happen on our streets and in our country?
0:00:17 > 0:00:22Last summer, England suffered the worst riots in a generation.
0:00:22 > 0:00:27In this series, we're going to get the dramatic first-hand accounts of those who were there -
0:00:27 > 0:00:29the police and the rioters.
0:00:29 > 0:00:33First, the rioters.
0:00:34 > 0:00:39- Just checking it's recording. - Mic check.
0:00:39 > 0:00:41What I'm trying to establish, right,
0:00:41 > 0:00:43I think what we're all trying to establish,
0:00:43 > 0:00:47is why it spread where it spread, and how it spread.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50Because it is easy...money,
0:00:50 > 0:00:52easy...money,
0:00:52 > 0:00:54easy money.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59Two months after those five violent days in August,
0:00:59 > 0:01:03researchers began interviewing rioters.
0:01:03 > 0:01:08The aim? To get them to explain in their own words what happened and why.
0:01:08 > 0:01:13These are some of those interviews, recreated using actors.
0:01:13 > 0:01:17- It was like Demolition Man. Have you seen Demolition Man?- No.
0:01:17 > 0:01:19Well, there's a higher class and a lower class.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23The lower class gained the power. That day, we had the power.
0:01:23 > 0:01:27Most of those interviewed had not been arrested
0:01:27 > 0:01:31and all spoke after being promised anonymity.
0:01:31 > 0:01:33Much of what they say is shocking.
0:01:33 > 0:01:38But it adds up to a unique insight into why our streets saw such violence.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41Anything gets the police out, I'll happily join.
0:01:41 > 0:01:45Just that rush, where you think, "Oh, my God, you can get anything."
0:01:45 > 0:01:49It was quite enjoyable. It was really enjoyable, actually.
0:01:49 > 0:01:52'Opportunist. I had to grab it.'
0:01:53 > 0:01:56You don't get to run riot like that every day.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01This is what happened, according to those who took part.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04The riots. In their own words.
0:02:04 > 0:02:10This programme contains strong language.
0:02:34 > 0:02:39'This evening, there is some unrest in the Tottenham area in North London.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41'Here's what we know so far...'
0:02:41 > 0:02:44'..followed protests about the shooting dead by police on Thursday
0:02:44 > 0:02:46'of a local man, Mark Duggan...'
0:02:48 > 0:02:50On 6th August last year,
0:02:50 > 0:02:55about 120 people gathered outside Tottenham Police Station in London.
0:02:55 > 0:02:57They had marched from Broadwater Farm Estate
0:02:57 > 0:03:01to protest at the shooting by police of local man Mark Duggan.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11- WOMAN INTERVIEWER: - All right, so what did you do?
0:03:11 > 0:03:16Basically, we went down to the... on the protest with the family,
0:03:16 > 0:03:18asking for answers.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21We went down there to talk to one of the head police officers
0:03:21 > 0:03:24and they said it would be a few hours.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27Ended up, we was waiting for about five hours, that's right, yeah?
0:03:27 > 0:03:32We was there for five hours, one of the head police comes out and says,
0:03:32 > 0:03:35"The police can't deal with this right now,"
0:03:35 > 0:03:36we have to come back another day.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39- D'you know what I mean? - People started to stand in the middle of the road
0:03:39 > 0:03:44to stop the traffic, so at that time, people was getting angry.
0:03:44 > 0:03:46Wait, why were people doing that?
0:03:46 > 0:03:49To show them we're serious, that we're not going to go away.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53'..100 protesters are currently
0:03:53 > 0:03:56'gathering outside the police station that's on the High Road
0:03:56 > 0:03:58'in Tottenham in north London...'
0:04:00 > 0:04:04I remember myself personally lying in the middle of the street
0:04:04 > 0:04:08spread-eagle, no traffic's not passing here, I don't care.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11I lie down in the road, then other mums joined me.
0:04:11 > 0:04:17Got to about maybe nine o'clock. Say after eight, nine o'clock.
0:04:17 > 0:04:21And I remember the chief of police, whoever it was, wasn't coming again.
0:04:21 > 0:04:25- INTERVIEWER:- What did you think when you first heard about it? - Go to war.- OK.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29- We're still being held down, home. You know what I'm saying?- Sure.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32- Still getting bullshitted. - Mm-hmm. What did you do?
0:04:32 > 0:04:35Did you... Did you go anywhere when you heard...?
0:04:35 > 0:04:38Yeah, jumped in a vehicle, about six geezers, went down there.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41- OK, where?- Where do you expect? - I'm thinking Tottenham...
0:04:41 > 0:04:45- Straight to the damage zone. - I don't want to put words in your mouth.- The combat zone.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48- So, do you mean Tottenham?- Yeah.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55People just started to come from everywhere.
0:04:55 > 0:05:01- What was the atmosphere like? - Very tense.- Very tense. - A lot of anger.
0:05:01 > 0:05:05Frustration in the air. There was a lot of...tension.
0:05:05 > 0:05:07There was a lot of anger, innit?
0:05:12 > 0:05:15I grew up with Mark, yeah?
0:05:15 > 0:05:17And we're used to being roughed up by the police.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20We're used to being stopped by the police.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23Even harassed, abused by them.
0:05:23 > 0:05:24Even in the early days,
0:05:24 > 0:05:27maybe a little dig by the police by them punching us, or...
0:05:27 > 0:05:30You get me? Having their little wicked way,
0:05:30 > 0:05:34but it's like they've taken foul play to a whole new level.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36You see what I'm saying?
0:05:36 > 0:05:39If this was Camden or the City of Westminster,
0:05:39 > 0:05:41or where does the Queen live?
0:05:41 > 0:05:45- What's that? Buckingham, wherever the hell that is, yeah...- Westminster.
0:05:45 > 0:05:47Westminster's a different thing, blud.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49Cos if the Queen was to die now,
0:05:49 > 0:05:53there'll be a big massive inqu... Like, come on!
0:05:53 > 0:05:56If the Queen was to get snipered, it'd be a madness. You get me, like?
0:05:56 > 0:06:00There's going to be some outcome quicker than what happened with Mark.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08'Two police cars, a shop and a bus have been set on fire
0:06:08 > 0:06:11'during a demonstration outside a police station in north London...'
0:06:11 > 0:06:14- CALLER ON RADIO:- 'I have seen the riot police. They're not moving.
0:06:14 > 0:06:18'They're not attempting to clear people, but they're making their presence known.'
0:06:19 > 0:06:23'I saw a couple of youths run across to the grocery shops
0:06:23 > 0:06:25'and they were handing over £5
0:06:25 > 0:06:28'and picking up crates of apples, crates of oranges,'
0:06:28 > 0:06:31stacking them up. And I thought, yeah.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33And people started throwing weapons.
0:06:33 > 0:06:35And I knew something was going to take place
0:06:35 > 0:06:37because I could see by the youths gathering,
0:06:37 > 0:06:40and that's when I knew, this was war.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48- CALLER ON RADIO:- 'There seems to be a lot of anger in Tottenham tonight.
0:06:48 > 0:06:52'There are a lot of people there saying, "Come on," you know, "This is our chance,"
0:06:52 > 0:06:55'and they keep running at the police line...'
0:06:58 > 0:07:02Word of the violence spread and attracted more people to the scene,
0:07:02 > 0:07:05including those who were just curious.
0:07:07 > 0:07:13- Come and say hello?- Hello.- Hello. - This is Brendan.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17He's doing an interview on me. And anyone else who was involved...
0:07:17 > 0:07:20- An interview on you? - Because I was at the Tottenham riot.
0:07:25 > 0:07:29- CALLER ON THE RADIO:- 'There's fires, there's three police cars on fire, blown up.
0:07:29 > 0:07:31'Shops are getting broken into.
0:07:31 > 0:07:33'I mean, it's absolutely mad down here.'
0:07:35 > 0:07:37It was quite striking because it was literally
0:07:37 > 0:07:43one of those situations where my 14-year-old brought me her phone
0:07:43 > 0:07:45with a picture of a burning car and said,
0:07:45 > 0:07:47"Mum, that's on Tottenham High Road.
0:07:47 > 0:07:53I saw the picture, and I said to my daughter, "Do you want to go there, and see what's going on?"
0:07:53 > 0:07:57- So we did, on our bikes. - Yeah.- And, um...
0:07:57 > 0:07:59on the way down, I lost my daughter
0:07:59 > 0:08:03because of the crowds who were on the High Road.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06'And a few minutes later, she phoned me up to tell me off for being such a bad mother
0:08:06 > 0:08:11'for losing her in a crowd in a potentially dangerous situation.'
0:08:14 > 0:08:16'I went into the corner of a little shop
0:08:16 > 0:08:19'because I didn't want nothing to blow up and burn me up.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22'So I stood in a little shop, but while we was in the shop,
0:08:22 > 0:08:25'we was like nurses because all the wounded was coming to us.
0:08:25 > 0:08:27'I saw guys'
0:08:27 > 0:08:30with their hands sliced open, skin hanging off.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33I took them ice water, I washed their wounds,
0:08:33 > 0:08:35I said, "You need to go to the hospital.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39"And...those that are not that injured, go back and fight,"
0:08:39 > 0:08:40cos I didn't care.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43I think the policemen deserve a bloody good hiding.
0:08:43 > 0:08:44That's what Bernie Grant says.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47Because they have no right to go and kill no-one.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56- There's no gang involvement. - They say that.
0:08:56 > 0:08:58Tottenham wasn't really organised like that.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01It's not a gang round here. We're all family and friends, mainly.
0:09:01 > 0:09:02It's not a thing like that,
0:09:02 > 0:09:05where people call us gangs, we're just a group of friends
0:09:05 > 0:09:09what are family orientated through blood.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13- CALLER ON THE RADIO: - 'Mate, it's an absolute war zone. I walked up there.
0:09:13 > 0:09:17'I saw about five youths, all faces covered up.
0:09:17 > 0:09:23'They set a wheelie bin on fire and threw it into the riot police.'
0:09:25 > 0:09:28'I saw about 16 men,'
0:09:28 > 0:09:30all in grey tracksuit. They came from N16.
0:09:30 > 0:09:34They said, "We're here to help you." Men came from other parts.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37They said that, "Today, we are putting down the postcode war.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40"We're here to help you." And I call them soldiers.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43Could have been their brother, could have been...
0:09:43 > 0:09:44because it was a black man that got...
0:09:44 > 0:09:46black young boy that got killed, you know,
0:09:46 > 0:09:48and that's why they got involved.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51And they stood united together on the front line
0:09:51 > 0:09:53and was pelting the police.
0:09:53 > 0:09:55And that was really, really nice.
0:09:55 > 0:10:00- There was a lot of stupidity going on, so...- Why do you think?
0:10:00 > 0:10:03- Because there was a lot of lost innocent souls...- It was money, man.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07They just wanted money. I spoke to someone who worked in the Jobcentre,
0:10:07 > 0:10:10and they said it was copper and lead they took. Do you know what I mean?
0:10:10 > 0:10:14Everybody had their own reasons, and I guarantee you,
0:10:14 > 0:10:17about 80% of them never had nothing to do with Mark, really.
0:10:17 > 0:10:21Like, I'm sure Mark wouldn't have liked it if people's houses
0:10:21 > 0:10:25were getting burnt down in his name. You see where I'm coming from?
0:10:29 > 0:10:32'The news you're waking up to this Sunday morning is,
0:10:32 > 0:10:34'there have been riots overnight in North London.
0:10:34 > 0:10:36'Petrol bombs were thrown at police.
0:10:36 > 0:10:38'Patrol cars, a bus and buildings
0:10:38 > 0:10:40'on Tottenham High Road were set on fire...'
0:10:40 > 0:10:43- TEARFUL WOMAN:- 'We were trying to get out of the building,
0:10:43 > 0:10:45'you know, we were in such a panic.
0:10:45 > 0:10:50'And then we got outside and then I saw the building. It had flames going up the building.
0:10:50 > 0:10:53'You know, ten minutes longer in that...in that building
0:10:53 > 0:10:55'and we would have been dead.'
0:10:57 > 0:11:00More than 40 people were arrested
0:11:00 > 0:11:02and 26 police officers injured.
0:11:05 > 0:11:09What no-one guessed was that Tottenham would be the trigger
0:11:09 > 0:11:12for a further four days of rioting across England.
0:11:12 > 0:11:14At first, in other parts of London,
0:11:14 > 0:11:18and then Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester, amongst other areas.
0:11:18 > 0:11:22Some took to the streets after hearing the news
0:11:22 > 0:11:24on television, radio and websites,
0:11:24 > 0:11:27while others alerted each other by phone messaging.
0:11:29 > 0:11:32'Well, I got a BC on my Blackberry'
0:11:32 > 0:11:35handheld...internet
0:11:35 > 0:11:37or handheld devices.
0:11:37 > 0:11:40Um, I didn't believe it.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43But then I started getting numerous broadcasts,
0:11:43 > 0:11:47so I thought, let's just delve a bit deeper into this.
0:11:47 > 0:11:51- The day before, were you aware there was rioting in Tottenham??- Yeah.
0:11:51 > 0:11:55Like, the guy that got shot or something. Yeah.
0:11:55 > 0:11:57And were you expecting this to happen?
0:11:57 > 0:12:01Yeah, I was, but not on the scale that it happened, though.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04When we seen everything's happening in Tottenham,
0:12:04 > 0:12:07everyone just clicked and said, "Yeah, this is our chance."
0:12:07 > 0:12:09Fuck up feds and...
0:12:09 > 0:12:13and do our thing, basically, do what we have to do. Cause mayhem.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16Cos it felt like we was on a leash for years
0:12:16 > 0:12:19and it felt like we've come off that leash
0:12:19 > 0:12:21and we just responded in that way.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27If some welcomed the opportunity,
0:12:27 > 0:12:30others said their involvement was not so calculated.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34The week that the riots started and thing, you know,
0:12:34 > 0:12:39in between, my aunt was on holiday or something like that,
0:12:39 > 0:12:43and she went and got my medication from the doctor's,
0:12:43 > 0:12:45because I've got mental health issues, innit.
0:12:45 > 0:12:47- Right.- Took them home,
0:12:47 > 0:12:51forgot about them, went on holiday, and I run out.
0:12:51 > 0:12:55So I had a week with no medication, and during that week,
0:12:55 > 0:12:57the riots happened.
0:13:00 > 0:13:02'..actually, people are coming from other parts of London
0:13:02 > 0:13:07'to join in with this, which implies the situation's escalating...'
0:13:09 > 0:13:12'EVERYONE met up from EVERY single area.'
0:13:12 > 0:13:15There was a lot. There was at least 200 of us,
0:13:15 > 0:13:17because it's not just my area that linked up.
0:13:17 > 0:13:20We linked up with a couple of other estates.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23There was no plan. The only plan was to meet up.
0:13:23 > 0:13:29- Can I ask you, then, let's say the day of the Bromley riots...- Mm-hmm.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32..can you remember what you were doing that morning?
0:13:32 > 0:13:37I was with my girlfriend. Doing something naughty.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40OK, fair enough, I won't ask you for details.
0:13:42 > 0:13:48And then how did that day then evolve? What happened next?
0:13:48 > 0:13:51Er...I know I shouldn't, I'm a naughty boy,
0:13:51 > 0:13:56but my girlfriend went home and I went to meet another girl.
0:13:56 > 0:14:00In Bromley. Because I never knew it was happening in Bromley.
0:14:00 > 0:14:04- Right, OK.- Yeah, but... it was madness in Bromley.
0:14:04 > 0:14:07So, I mean, she couldn't come.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10It wasn't like I went there with a big gang, like, all my boys,
0:14:10 > 0:14:12and started terrorising Bromley.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15I went there, literally, to be a slut.
0:14:15 > 0:14:19- Everyone starts messaging, saying it's all happened.- Yeah.
0:14:19 > 0:14:22What were they messaging you saying? What had happened?
0:14:22 > 0:14:25Terror. Riots in Brixton.
0:14:25 > 0:14:29- Yeah, it's kicking off, basically. - What did you think
0:14:29 > 0:14:31when you got that message, or those messages?
0:14:31 > 0:14:34I was thinking, I'm going back there.
0:14:34 > 0:14:38I had nothing to do. I weren't tired. Fuck it.
0:14:42 > 0:14:46The crowds gathering on the streets were a mix of races.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50Most were young men or boys, and many were students.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53But there were also families and older local residents.
0:14:57 > 0:15:01Even many rioters would later speak of a party atmosphere
0:15:01 > 0:15:04and of warring gangs suspending their hostilities.
0:15:06 > 0:15:08Every type of person was there.
0:15:08 > 0:15:13There was some guy in shorts, flip-flops and a straw hat.
0:15:13 > 0:15:16- A white guy?- Yeah, a white guy.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20Flip-flops, he was wearing. Flip-flops, shorts and a straw hat.
0:15:20 > 0:15:25It was really interesting. I'm a parent governor in a local school
0:15:25 > 0:15:28and I saw numerous people from there. I saw loads of people.
0:15:28 > 0:15:33Loads of people came up to me and said, "Mum, what are you doing here?
0:15:33 > 0:15:35"Don't you think you should go home?"
0:15:35 > 0:15:38- You are a bit old for the riots. - It was quite enjoyable.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41It was really enjoyable, actually.
0:15:43 > 0:15:49'People are having what I can only describe as a good time, by the looks on their faces.'
0:15:55 > 0:15:58I was like, "Oh, my God, why are you here? Why are you here?"
0:15:58 > 0:16:02It was like a big joke. I was joking around. "I'm telling your mum you're here."
0:16:02 > 0:16:05At one stage, it was like a street party
0:16:05 > 0:16:08cos there was alcohol everywhere.
0:16:11 > 0:16:15'There are so many youths out there who have got knapsacks on, bottles.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17'It looks like they're going to a party.'
0:16:20 > 0:16:24I just went down there as a spectator. I really did at first.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27I think most of us spectators did exactly the same.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30Came along, just to watch, but found ourselves wound up in it.
0:16:30 > 0:16:35Even though there was a majority of boys and girls,
0:16:35 > 0:16:42there was a big majority of big people, like women, men, mothers...
0:16:42 > 0:16:45- Older.- Older, 30, 30-year-olds.
0:16:47 > 0:16:51People that were enemies, they were all meeting up as friends.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54No war that day, them days.
0:16:54 > 0:17:00They're warring now, but not them days. In times like that, they unite.
0:17:00 > 0:17:02Times like what?
0:17:02 > 0:17:06To make free money, and it's easy. You get free TVs, free laptops.
0:17:06 > 0:17:10- Would you not do it?- Certainly not. - If you could get away with it?
0:17:12 > 0:17:15Shops would be the prime target.
0:17:15 > 0:17:18Local shops on high streets, shops the rioters might buy
0:17:18 > 0:17:23their clothes from, shops with high-value electrical goods.
0:17:23 > 0:17:27But why did thousands of people seize the opportunity to loot?
0:17:29 > 0:17:32Everyone was scared to start it off.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35And then police were there for about ten minutes.
0:17:35 > 0:17:40And then all of a sudden, they disappeared, so it all kicked off.
0:17:40 > 0:17:44- So, yeah, someone dashed a stone at a Maplin's window.- Really?
0:17:44 > 0:17:46And then it all kicked off.
0:17:53 > 0:17:57'The scene which is in front of me is abject criminality.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00'There are at least a couple of hundred youths,
0:18:00 > 0:18:03'they have balaclavas, they have scarves,
0:18:03 > 0:18:07'and they are basically smashing into any shop that they so choose.'
0:18:07 > 0:18:11- What did you see outside?- Everyone was looting.- What were you doing?
0:18:11 > 0:18:13And enjoying themselves.
0:18:13 > 0:18:17What was the conversation between you and your friends when you were watching this happen?
0:18:17 > 0:18:21"I'm going to get four TVs." "I'm going to get five."
0:18:21 > 0:18:27"Have you been in there yet?" "No." "I'm not going in there." "Why?" "Cos it's too peak."
0:18:27 > 0:18:31It wasn't no drama, no stress, everyone had the power.
0:18:31 > 0:18:32Everyone had the strength.
0:18:32 > 0:18:35The police wasn't in control. We had the power.
0:18:38 > 0:18:44'Every single shop I've just passed in the last two minutes has had its windows caved in.
0:18:44 > 0:18:48'Iron railings buckled. There are groups of youths helping themselves.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51'I saw a Tesco with its entire front...'
0:18:55 > 0:18:57I took a TV that day.
0:18:57 > 0:19:01Taking off in a van, going home, dropping shit off,
0:19:01 > 0:19:04coming back, doing it again, boom.
0:19:04 > 0:19:07'They are helping themselves to everything in these shops.
0:19:07 > 0:19:09'A jeweller's been knocked over.
0:19:09 > 0:19:14'One of the supermarket trolleys is being laden with whatever they can get their hands on.'
0:19:14 > 0:19:18My pal, obviously, kicked in some windows, some caf, got some wine,
0:19:18 > 0:19:21got some champagne.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24Yeah. And then move on to the next shop.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27Obviously, I had a couple of munchies.
0:19:27 > 0:19:31Obviously got some Haribos. The guy opened the tills.
0:19:31 > 0:19:33Obviously, took the money.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37'I see my wife, who has worked for 20 years,
0:19:37 > 0:19:39'came to this country with nothing
0:19:39 > 0:19:41'and built up a small empire of restaurants
0:19:41 > 0:19:43'which she runs single-handedly,
0:19:43 > 0:19:46'and to have people trash, mindless vandalism, to wreck, to rob,
0:19:46 > 0:19:50'to loot from her... You can probably hear the emotion in my voice
0:19:50 > 0:19:53'because I'm so upset about this.'
0:19:55 > 0:20:01Some said they never planned to loot, but were swept away by what was happening around them.
0:20:06 > 0:20:09I see a police car drive past,
0:20:09 > 0:20:13people putting bricks through the police car,
0:20:13 > 0:20:16so I thought, "What is happening?
0:20:16 > 0:20:18"Is this how they're going on, yeah?"
0:20:18 > 0:20:21So I was like, "Right, this is crazy, I need to get out of it
0:20:21 > 0:20:23"cos I'll end up getting myself nicked, yeah?"
0:20:23 > 0:20:27So then I try, but you can't leave.
0:20:27 > 0:20:31Then I just don't know, something switched off in my brain
0:20:31 > 0:20:34and I was just...
0:20:36 > 0:20:38Felt like walking in a phone shop.
0:20:39 > 0:20:44So, you know... It was...a little bit drunk,
0:20:44 > 0:20:47we decide, why not? Something new, adrenaline rush.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50And the shop was half open, yeah?
0:20:50 > 0:20:53So we just grab inside, took some stuff,
0:20:53 > 0:20:57DVDs, you know, game stuff.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00The shops, people coming out of shops
0:21:00 > 0:21:02and just leaving stuff on the floor.
0:21:02 > 0:21:06What I was actually doing, right, I actually found this iPod
0:21:06 > 0:21:10and as I picked it up, this girl was looking at me. I just gave it to her.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14I went in one of the shops, like, took a load of cigarettes,
0:21:14 > 0:21:16and actually gave it to the people when I came out.
0:21:16 > 0:21:21I actually gave it to this old woman. Kept one packet for myself, pack of 40.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26I was scared. "I don't want to do it, Becky. I don't want to do it."
0:21:26 > 0:21:31But then, after it all kicked off and everyone was doing it,
0:21:31 > 0:21:34after everyone was doing it, you just joined in and it felt fine,
0:21:34 > 0:21:38it just felt natural, like you was naturally shopping.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41Like it was just a normal day and Becky was like to me,
0:21:41 > 0:21:45"Come, let's go and rob a shop." I was like, "Are you crazy?"
0:21:45 > 0:21:47But because everyone was doing it, I thought,
0:21:47 > 0:21:52if everyone was doing that and no-one is getting caught at the time, why can't I do it?
0:21:53 > 0:21:56The normal rules of behaviour had been thrown out.
0:22:01 > 0:22:05I was seeing people fucking 70 years old,
0:22:05 > 0:22:07walking in JD with their...
0:22:07 > 0:22:11You know them... What's them pulling things that they use?
0:22:11 > 0:22:13Like a little trolley, looks like a suitcase?
0:22:13 > 0:22:16- Yeah, like a bag on wheels, yeah. You know them bags?- I do, yeah.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19They were just filling stuff up and walking out.
0:22:19 > 0:22:24I'm thinking, "These are just old people and they're still robbing."
0:22:24 > 0:22:27I thought, "This is crazy!"
0:22:30 > 0:22:34It's just that adrenaline... I can't say the word.
0:22:34 > 0:22:38It's just like that rush where you think, "Oh, my God, you can get anything."
0:22:38 > 0:22:42iPhones, phones, any BlackBerries, TVs...
0:22:42 > 0:22:45You just think, "Wow, I'm getting all this free stuff,"
0:22:45 > 0:22:49and you're not going to get caught because so many people are doing it.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53'The scene which is in front of me is like the Wild West.
0:22:53 > 0:22:57'It is completely and utterly lawless.'
0:22:57 > 0:23:02So you've covered up, gone into the phone shop, and then what happened?
0:23:02 > 0:23:06It was already open. It was already ransacked and that.
0:23:06 > 0:23:10But you know when you're just nosy and you're in the middle of it.
0:23:10 > 0:23:14I just popped in there, see what was happening, it was just crazy.
0:23:14 > 0:23:18- All empty and that.- At what point did you think you'd had enough?
0:23:18 > 0:23:20I had enough soon as I got there.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24I couldn't be bothered with it, because I knew if I'm here
0:23:24 > 0:23:27and I'm not on my tablets, then I'm going to get into trouble.
0:23:27 > 0:23:31But I just overpowered what was happening.
0:23:34 > 0:23:38The unprecedented scale and spread of the rioting
0:23:38 > 0:23:41meant there were not enough police to cope in some areas.
0:23:41 > 0:23:44A number of rioters spoke of being at first confused
0:23:44 > 0:23:48and then encouraged by what they thought was a weak response.
0:23:49 > 0:23:54'I cannot see one single police officer in this stretch.
0:23:54 > 0:23:59'I can see no flashing blue lights. I can see no riot police on the street.
0:23:59 > 0:24:04'I can see no vans. The people here are basically free to do as they want.'
0:24:06 > 0:24:10The police saw me with my TV and a couple of trainers, yeah?
0:24:10 > 0:24:15They wasn't doing anything. They was looking. It was like, "Huh-huh." They just drove off. Right, cool.
0:24:15 > 0:24:19"If they're doing this, then it's OK for everyone else to do it."
0:24:19 > 0:24:24'To say that the police are stretched here, I don't think would be a fabrication of the truth.
0:24:24 > 0:24:28'It is as clear as the nose on your face.
0:24:28 > 0:24:32'There are not enough officers at the moment to deal with this trouble.'
0:24:34 > 0:24:38Because there's no police around, it was like, free stuff.
0:24:38 > 0:24:44I went into a clothes shop and then I went into John Lewis
0:24:44 > 0:24:48and apart from that, I was just outside, holding everyone's stuff that I was with.
0:24:53 > 0:24:57I was really shocked about this behaviour of these people
0:24:57 > 0:25:00and behaviour of police because they were ready
0:25:00 > 0:25:04to just stand and watch what's going on.
0:25:04 > 0:25:09They... I think they didn't do enough to stop this.
0:25:09 > 0:25:14I think in my country, police would just use plastic bullets,
0:25:14 > 0:25:17gas, or these water pipes. Something like this.
0:25:17 > 0:25:22- Cannons.- Yes. I was really surprised by the police.
0:25:24 > 0:25:29The police were not everywhere. But CCTV was.
0:25:29 > 0:25:34Looters who didn't cover up were having their identities silently recorded.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40At one point, I think, "Am I going to get caught?
0:25:40 > 0:25:44"Am I going to get caught?" I was like, "Oh, my God, what have I done?"
0:25:44 > 0:25:48You don't think about the CCTV. When you're inside the shop, you think,
0:25:48 > 0:25:51"I'm going to hide my face", but when you're out of the shop,
0:25:51 > 0:25:54you're hot and exhausted from running round the shop.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56And then you come out of the shop
0:25:56 > 0:25:59and you pull down your bandana or hood or whatever
0:25:59 > 0:26:01and then there's cameras outside the shop.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10I was on the precinct myself. I was putting cameras out of action.
0:26:10 > 0:26:16Cos these kids are going to get themselves arrested. Just pushing the cameras into the air, CCTV.
0:26:16 > 0:26:18So they couldn't be caught, obviously.
0:26:18 > 0:26:22I don't want them getting arrested. Half of them are probably like myself,
0:26:22 > 0:26:26just came outside to see what was going on and got dragged into it.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29ALARM BLEEPS
0:26:29 > 0:26:33A trolley! Supermarket sweep!
0:26:33 > 0:26:35Supermarket sweep! Go, Dale! Go!
0:26:35 > 0:26:38HE LAUGHS
0:26:38 > 0:26:42For one rioter, the looting was an opportunity to take revenge.
0:26:44 > 0:26:48I targeted the ones that I had the problems with.
0:26:48 > 0:26:50That's what I targeted.
0:26:50 > 0:26:53All the people that take the piss about me looking young
0:26:53 > 0:26:58and not getting served cigarettes and taking the piss, their shops got fucked up.
0:26:58 > 0:27:00They always ask me for ID, like.
0:27:00 > 0:27:05The thing is, "I've showed you ID before, don't need to show you my ID again."
0:27:05 > 0:27:07And they'll get rude after I say that.
0:27:07 > 0:27:12So I'm like, "Cool, one day your time will come". And their time come.
0:27:12 > 0:27:14JD Sports, I looted JD Sports
0:27:14 > 0:27:18because they didn't want to recruit me when I tried to find a job.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21So I just got them back for what they done, basically.
0:27:21 > 0:27:25Next, Next, tried to break into it, broke into it, broke it,
0:27:25 > 0:27:28lifted it up, I started smashing up the whole place
0:27:28 > 0:27:29cos they didn't employ me.
0:27:29 > 0:27:35They made me buy new shoes and a new suit for me, for them to say no to me.
0:27:35 > 0:27:38No way! No way!
0:27:38 > 0:27:42Everything started clicking back that day. Yeah.
0:27:42 > 0:27:46Started clicking back. Say "Yeah, you. You."
0:27:48 > 0:27:52WOMAN: 'It's absolutely disgusting. They are feral rats.
0:27:52 > 0:27:55'Those children should be at home.
0:27:55 > 0:28:00'They shouldn't be out here causing mayhem. I'm absolutely livid.'
0:28:07 > 0:28:12- What are you thinking whilst you're doing this?- What was I thinking?!
0:28:12 > 0:28:14To be honest, I wasn't thinking anything.
0:28:14 > 0:28:20- What was your motivation then, to do it?- Cos everyone else was doing it.
0:28:20 > 0:28:24Say for instance, you're standing outside a bank, yeah,
0:28:24 > 0:28:29there's no police or nothing, and you see people going in the bank
0:28:29 > 0:28:33and come back with wads of money in their hand, what would you do?
0:28:33 > 0:28:36I don't think I would have gone in it. I don't think so, no.
0:28:36 > 0:28:40I wasn't there and I can't say 100%, but I don't think I would.
0:28:40 > 0:28:44- I would go in.- I know. That's what you're telling me.
0:28:44 > 0:28:46That's what I'm saying.
0:28:46 > 0:28:49- So it was just an opportunity that presented itself.- Yeah.
0:28:49 > 0:28:53Opportunist. I had to grab it.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56You don't get to run riot like that every day.
0:29:01 > 0:29:05More than 2,500 businesses were attacked across England.
0:29:05 > 0:29:09The total cost of the riots to the country has been estimated
0:29:09 > 0:29:12as high as half a billion pounds.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15Most of those who have appeared before the courts
0:29:15 > 0:29:18were charged with burglary and theft linked to looting.
0:29:20 > 0:29:23But a few of the rioters didn't just target shops.
0:29:23 > 0:29:24They also attacked passers-by.
0:29:41 > 0:29:43Are they actually helping him up?
0:29:46 > 0:29:47Oh, my God.
0:29:53 > 0:29:55He just took something from his bag.
0:29:57 > 0:29:59Dickhead.
0:30:09 > 0:30:11And amongst the rioters themselves,
0:30:11 > 0:30:15some of the strong targeted the weak.
0:30:17 > 0:30:20I went there to see how they were getting things.
0:30:20 > 0:30:23And they were sliding underneath the shutters and that.
0:30:25 > 0:30:26So I think to myself,
0:30:26 > 0:30:31"I'm not getting on my hands and knees to get no goods."
0:30:31 > 0:30:38So I just thought, came up with a cunning plan, yeah?
0:30:38 > 0:30:43And I stayed outside, yeah?
0:30:43 > 0:30:46I waited for someone to come out with something that I wanted
0:30:46 > 0:30:50and I just take it from them, the car was round the corner
0:30:50 > 0:30:55and I just put it in the car. I come back and do the same thing.
0:30:55 > 0:30:59Me and Becky, we had a touchscreen computer and we got robbed,
0:30:59 > 0:31:03we had a laptop, that got robbed.
0:31:03 > 0:31:06Um... What else did we have?
0:31:06 > 0:31:10We had something for an Xbox, that got robbed.
0:31:10 > 0:31:13People just came up to us and said, "Let me have that."
0:31:13 > 0:31:16And cos they're big boys, you're scared to say no.
0:31:16 > 0:31:19If you say no, they'll just grab it out of you.
0:31:19 > 0:31:20"You're moist, give it, give it."
0:31:20 > 0:31:24- So you were stealing from people who were stealing?- Yes.
0:31:24 > 0:31:27So if I were to go underneath the shutters in Currys
0:31:27 > 0:31:30and I come out with a television and you're on the other side,
0:31:30 > 0:31:32why am I going to give you my television?
0:31:32 > 0:31:34You have no choice, I'll just take it.
0:31:34 > 0:31:38Just put it in the car, round the corner, and come back.
0:31:38 > 0:31:40Were people not arguing with you?
0:31:40 > 0:31:44How can they argue, bruv? It's free goods.
0:31:44 > 0:31:48Me and Becky would turn around and be like, "We took it, so it's ours,
0:31:48 > 0:31:52"it's nothing to do with you, get your own things."
0:31:52 > 0:31:55So me and Becky, yeah, we did get robbed.
0:32:01 > 0:32:05For some, the looting was a shameful distraction from what they felt
0:32:05 > 0:32:08should have been the real target.
0:32:10 > 0:32:13Tottenham was for a cause, a well-known cause.
0:32:13 > 0:32:18The others was just mimic. Brixton, Hackney, they had no cause.
0:32:18 > 0:32:20Because they were stealing.
0:32:20 > 0:32:24If they were out there pelting the police and not looting the shops,
0:32:24 > 0:32:27I would say, "Yes, this is a good war to have with the police."
0:32:27 > 0:32:32But what I see and how I saw theirs happening was, they're stealing.
0:32:32 > 0:32:36They was just naturally going out there to do theft. It wasn't called for.
0:32:40 > 0:32:42Violence towards the police would be a factor
0:32:42 > 0:32:44in nearly all the riots across England.
0:32:46 > 0:32:50More than 300 officers would be injured tackling the disturbances.
0:32:52 > 0:32:56But why was such anger directed towards the police?
0:32:56 > 0:33:01It felt like a battle cos there was police against us,
0:33:01 > 0:33:05and for the first time, we felt like we could actually take them on.
0:33:08 > 0:33:12Every rock we could get hold of, we were throwing at them.
0:33:12 > 0:33:15Stones, chairs, coins, shoes...
0:33:15 > 0:33:17First, it was the police I was aiming at.
0:33:17 > 0:33:20There wasn't even enough police there that day.
0:33:20 > 0:33:24The total tension was, the filth were portraying their strength.
0:33:24 > 0:33:27That's all they're doing, suited and booted,
0:33:27 > 0:33:29ready to fucking tear your arse off.
0:33:29 > 0:33:32- Right.- So we got ready to tear their arses off. This is war.
0:33:32 > 0:33:37- How do you get ready?- What do you mean? You're all tooled up.- OK.
0:33:37 > 0:33:42Anything goes. You fight with your hands, your fists, anything goes.
0:33:42 > 0:33:44- Is that what happened on the night? - Yeah.
0:33:44 > 0:33:47TV BROADCAST: The Met have admitted this morning
0:33:47 > 0:33:51that they have been stretched "beyond belief"
0:33:51 > 0:33:54in a way never experienced before.
0:33:57 > 0:34:02It was like a line of police there, there's bare people throwing stones
0:34:02 > 0:34:07and rocks at them, innit. Some wood, To Let signs.
0:34:07 > 0:34:09Obviously, I'm pinging all of my friends,
0:34:09 > 0:34:12trying to find out where everyone is.
0:34:12 > 0:34:15How many police? How many people? What were they doing?
0:34:15 > 0:34:17What could you see?
0:34:17 > 0:34:20Like, a line of policemen
0:34:20 > 0:34:23in full armour with shields.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26- Were people shouting anything at the police?- Yeah.
0:34:26 > 0:34:30- What were they shouting?- Everything. - SHE LAUGHS
0:34:30 > 0:34:32That doesn't tell me anything!
0:34:32 > 0:34:36Bastards. Pigs. Na-na-na-na.
0:34:36 > 0:34:39- Just...- Abuse.
0:34:39 > 0:34:41Yeah. Basically.
0:34:49 > 0:34:53I remember seeing an old white man go and kick a police car.
0:34:53 > 0:34:58The burning police car. I said, "I feel like doing that as well."
0:34:58 > 0:35:02And because... Suddenly, it brought back to me all the anger
0:35:02 > 0:35:04that I feel about the police.
0:35:04 > 0:35:08I was going, "I'm entitled to do that as well.
0:35:08 > 0:35:11"I need to go and kick that car."
0:35:11 > 0:35:13I said, "What happened to you? What's wrong with you?
0:35:13 > 0:35:16"Why are you kicking the car?"
0:35:16 > 0:35:19- He said, "Those fucking racist police."- Yeah, yeah!
0:35:19 > 0:35:23I can't do his accent, but he was... he was Eastern European, I think,
0:35:23 > 0:35:26and he was cursing away.
0:35:26 > 0:35:28"Fucking racist police."
0:35:33 > 0:35:39- NEWS REPORTER:- 'Despite an extra 2,500 police officers drafted in
0:35:39 > 0:35:42'from nine forces around the country,
0:35:42 > 0:35:44'the British Transport Police helping,
0:35:44 > 0:35:45'the City of London police helping,
0:35:45 > 0:35:50'it seems that the police were overwhelmed in many areas.'
0:35:53 > 0:35:58Some expressed a hatred of the police shocking in its intensity.
0:36:01 > 0:36:04There was one police officer that got fucked up.
0:36:04 > 0:36:08He got licked with a brick and it hit his face and he just dropped.
0:36:08 > 0:36:10We just ran towards them.
0:36:10 > 0:36:14They're trying to grab him, and we're there just stamping on his face.
0:36:14 > 0:36:17That felt good. Just the anger.
0:36:21 > 0:36:25Riot officers all lie down on the floor.
0:36:25 > 0:36:30They were mash up and I was laughing because they had broken foot,
0:36:30 > 0:36:33they had cuts, they had bruises.
0:36:33 > 0:36:36They were breathing like cows, you know, asthma attack.
0:36:36 > 0:36:39I found that very funny, because they deserved it.
0:36:39 > 0:36:41It's a pity one of them wasn't gone as well, for Mark's life.
0:36:41 > 0:36:43I'm sorry, that's how I feel.
0:36:49 > 0:36:52I think it's more about having a go at the police, you know,
0:36:52 > 0:36:56for, like, years of abuse off the police. The police do abuse people.
0:36:56 > 0:36:58They do, like, they take liberties.
0:36:58 > 0:37:02Vans were going past and people were just throwing bricks at it, and you were like, it was funny, really,
0:37:02 > 0:37:04because people were like,
0:37:04 > 0:37:06there's probably many people who only threw one brick,
0:37:06 > 0:37:09but they were chuffed to actually throw a brick at a police van
0:37:09 > 0:37:11and, like, nothing happened, you know,
0:37:11 > 0:37:13like. They actually had a little bit of a smile,
0:37:13 > 0:37:16like they had achieved something once in their life, you know.
0:37:16 > 0:37:20A little bit like fight back at the system. It wasn't just a riot, it was a statement.
0:37:20 > 0:37:25If it was a statement about the police, what was it saying?
0:37:26 > 0:37:29Many claim the way the police had behaved towards them in the past,
0:37:29 > 0:37:33stop and search, verbal abuse, violence -
0:37:33 > 0:37:36was a major cause of the riots.
0:37:36 > 0:37:39But hostility to the police could also be explained
0:37:39 > 0:37:42by many of the rioters already being criminals.
0:37:44 > 0:37:50Three quarters of those charged with riot-related offences already had a criminal record.
0:37:50 > 0:37:54Oi, oi, oi, stand back! Stand back!
0:37:57 > 0:38:02Like, it was due to happen. It was due to happen.
0:38:02 > 0:38:05Obviously, the police were taking the piss.
0:38:05 > 0:38:08They shot some guy in Norwood. They shot some guy in North.
0:38:08 > 0:38:13You know what I'm saying? They called it on them own selves. Leave man alone.
0:38:13 > 0:38:16If a man's not doing nothing, just leave us, you know what I'm saying?
0:38:16 > 0:38:19Stop harassing us for no reason. Let us sell weed, man.
0:38:19 > 0:38:21Actually, talking about it, I need a spliff.
0:38:21 > 0:38:24Harassing you for no reason. Why?
0:38:24 > 0:38:27- You think the police arrest you for no reason?- They stop and search.
0:38:27 > 0:38:31They stop and search us for no reason. You hear what I'm saying?
0:38:31 > 0:38:34Wasting their time doing nothing.
0:38:37 > 0:38:41That's a hell of a lot of weed there!
0:38:41 > 0:38:45I thought you were going to get one little bit of weed out, not 100 bags.
0:38:45 > 0:38:48- Do you smoke? You obviously do.- No.
0:38:50 > 0:38:53But anger wasn't just directed towards the police.
0:38:56 > 0:39:01Why did rioters also choose to destroy and burn property?
0:39:08 > 0:39:14- TV REPORTER: Are you OK? - INTERVIEWEE OVER PHONE: 'We're running because of the fire'.
0:39:14 > 0:39:17Anna, get out of there, and we will speak to you again in a moment.
0:39:20 > 0:39:22I can see the most horrendous fires, to be honest with you.
0:39:22 > 0:39:24One that is burning out of control.
0:39:24 > 0:39:26If the fire brigade don't get here soon,
0:39:26 > 0:39:29it's anyone's guess where this will spread.
0:39:31 > 0:39:34Yeah, we smashed up the restaurants outside.
0:39:34 > 0:39:37Smashed up that car showroom.
0:39:37 > 0:39:43And there were a couple of cars there that got...put on fire.
0:39:43 > 0:39:49I think it was a Lotus. Lotus... One of them cars on fire.
0:39:49 > 0:39:53We had matches.
0:39:53 > 0:39:58Everybody had matches, fuel, petrol bombs.
0:39:58 > 0:40:01Ambulances were trying to get through
0:40:01 > 0:40:05but we was not allowing ambulances to get through. I mean, fire brigades, yeah.
0:40:05 > 0:40:08- Why, what were you doing? - We were blocking it.
0:40:08 > 0:40:11We were licking bombs, putting shit in the way, everything,
0:40:11 > 0:40:13whatever we can think of in the middle,
0:40:13 > 0:40:15just for them not to get through.
0:40:15 > 0:40:18Because we wanted to see everything on fire.
0:40:18 > 0:40:24To show them, what can you do now? There's nothing you could do.
0:40:26 > 0:40:29'I actually feel really emotional about seeing the place
0:40:29 > 0:40:31'where I've grown up torn apart like this,
0:40:31 > 0:40:35'and these scum should just be sorted out as soon as possible.'
0:40:38 > 0:40:41It's just trashing, trashing it for the fun of trashing it.
0:40:41 > 0:40:45Not for, like, financial gain or anything.
0:40:45 > 0:40:48Some financial gain, but really, they're not going to gain much
0:40:48 > 0:40:50when they're breaking into, like,
0:40:50 > 0:40:52Cash Converter and pound shops, are you, really?
0:40:58 > 0:41:00'I've never seen anything like it in my life.
0:41:00 > 0:41:03'You can probably hear how emotional I feel.
0:41:03 > 0:41:06'It's absolutely devastating.'
0:41:10 > 0:41:13I saw them doing the jewellery shop.
0:41:13 > 0:41:16I remember I saw the guy with the petrol can.
0:41:16 > 0:41:19I said to the guy, "Why are you burning the shop?"
0:41:19 > 0:41:22They said, "DNA, Miss." So I said, "What do you mean?"
0:41:22 > 0:41:25They said, "When we pull up the shutters, we get cut.
0:41:25 > 0:41:27"The police will arrest us quicker,
0:41:27 > 0:41:30"so that is why we are setting these buildings on fire."
0:41:34 > 0:41:36But it was their own community they were destroying.
0:41:38 > 0:41:40The pet shop, I wasn't having it because that is my pet shop
0:41:40 > 0:41:44and I stood firm there. My doctor's, they weren't going in my doctor's,
0:41:44 > 0:41:47because my medical papers wasn't going on the street for people's business.
0:41:47 > 0:41:49Things that value to me, I was protecting it.
0:41:53 > 0:41:54'We were terrified, obviously.
0:41:54 > 0:41:58'We could hear them saying they would start fires, and then they
0:41:58 > 0:42:01'started to put bottles with rags in and chucking them at the buildings.
0:42:01 > 0:42:04'At that point, we just thought, we have to get out of here.
0:42:04 > 0:42:08'So we knocked on our neighbours' door and told them that we need to leave now.
0:42:16 > 0:42:20I didn't do anything. I didn't do anything major.
0:42:21 > 0:42:24Like, I done worse things in my life than rioting.
0:42:24 > 0:42:26I tell you that from now.
0:42:26 > 0:42:28I prevented Halfords from getting burned down, you know.
0:42:28 > 0:42:32- That's what I did. - How did you prevent Halfords from getting burned down?
0:42:32 > 0:42:36Basically, some guy put petrol all over it and he asked me
0:42:36 > 0:42:38for a lighter.
0:42:38 > 0:42:39If I said, "Yes, I have got a light here for you,"
0:42:39 > 0:42:43and given him a lighter, there would be no Halfords.
0:42:43 > 0:42:47- And you said no.- Yeah, I didn't give him the lighter.- Why?
0:42:47 > 0:42:52- Because you didn't want the shop to burn?- No, bro. I didn't...
0:42:52 > 0:42:54You think I wanted Foot Locker to get burnt down, brother?
0:42:54 > 0:42:57Like, where am I going to go to Foot Locker, all the way in Croydon?
0:42:57 > 0:42:58Or whatever?
0:43:03 > 0:43:06'It seems to have calmed down slightly.
0:43:06 > 0:43:12'The police have moved on in five or so vehicles.
0:43:12 > 0:43:15'That means that the people who were causing all the problems ran away
0:43:15 > 0:43:19'from that area, and because of that, they have essentially dispersed.'
0:43:21 > 0:43:24By the end of the rioting, five people were dead
0:43:24 > 0:43:28and nearly 2,000 crimes of arson and criminal damage had been recorded.
0:43:28 > 0:43:31It had taken four days to gain control in London.
0:43:32 > 0:43:36The riots outside the capital had lasted two nights.
0:43:38 > 0:43:43What made everything stop? The shops ran out of stuff!
0:43:43 > 0:43:49Currys went instantly. All the phone shops went instantly.
0:43:49 > 0:43:53After all the gadgets, all the electrical stuff went, like.
0:43:55 > 0:43:59But me and Becky, we hid stuff in a skip.
0:43:59 > 0:44:01And we went back down there in a cab
0:44:01 > 0:44:04and we saw there were still people looting the hairdressers.
0:44:04 > 0:44:06I was like, "Oh, my God, what are you doing?
0:44:06 > 0:44:10"It's like one o'clock in the morning." It's mad. It's mad.
0:44:12 > 0:44:17Often loaded down with stolen goods, the rioters made their way home.
0:44:21 > 0:44:24We were busting red lights and that.
0:44:24 > 0:44:27Roads were derelict, dead. Tumbleweed.
0:44:27 > 0:44:31When you're driving like this in the car, what are you talking about?
0:44:31 > 0:44:35Well, I was singing, playing music. I was singing, smoking.
0:44:37 > 0:44:39- So a happy mood in the car?- Yeah.
0:44:42 > 0:44:45We hadn't killed anyone, know what I'm saying?
0:44:46 > 0:44:52I was happy. I was overjoyed. I was so happy, I was like, yeah.
0:44:52 > 0:44:57It just felt so good, I don't know. I felt so good, I was like, yes.
0:44:57 > 0:45:00There was loads of undercover police and like,
0:45:00 > 0:45:05can't really just walk out with two big bags full of stolen goods.
0:45:05 > 0:45:09So we had to run all the way from Croydon all the way back here.
0:45:09 > 0:45:13It's just scary, because you see helicopters flying about.
0:45:13 > 0:45:18Had to hide in bushes and everything. It was crazy.
0:45:18 > 0:45:21And you're just scared, because everyone's hooded up
0:45:21 > 0:45:23and you're walking through these dark streets,
0:45:23 > 0:45:25and because they're all hooded up and everything
0:45:25 > 0:45:28and you're thinking, "Oh, my God, they could drag me into a bush
0:45:28 > 0:45:30"and rape me and do whatever they want, like."
0:45:32 > 0:45:36- I got two plasmas.- OK. - So I was satisfied.
0:45:36 > 0:45:41I shot it the next day for like, shot it for like £300 each.
0:45:41 > 0:45:44I was happy with that steal.
0:45:44 > 0:45:46To be honest, at that time,
0:45:46 > 0:45:48I didn't think no-one was going to get caught.
0:45:48 > 0:45:52I didn't think they were going to wake up in the morning and start nicking these man or these man.
0:45:52 > 0:45:55I just thought "Nothing's going to happen."
0:45:55 > 0:46:00Know what I'm saying? I just thought "It's in our control now."
0:46:00 > 0:46:02But obviously, it flipped.
0:46:05 > 0:46:09The riots had ended, but the rioters were not to be left alone.
0:46:09 > 0:46:13The Government announced its intention to leave no stone unturned
0:46:13 > 0:46:16in its effort to find those who had taken part.
0:46:20 > 0:46:23A massive police investigation cranked into action.
0:46:30 > 0:46:36'Couple weeks later, I woke up in the morning, about half seven.
0:46:36 > 0:46:38'I couldn't get back to sleep,
0:46:38 > 0:46:43'so I rolled a cannabis joint to try and get back to sleep.
0:46:43 > 0:46:46'While I was smoking it, police knocked on my door.'
0:46:46 > 0:46:49Boom, boom, boom, nuh, nuh, nuh.
0:46:49 > 0:46:54So then, as I opened the door, I said, "Why, what's this about?"
0:46:54 > 0:46:57And they said, "Talk to you once we get in."
0:46:57 > 0:47:00- Were you there on your own?- Yeah.
0:47:00 > 0:47:03So I just opened the door, let them in,
0:47:03 > 0:47:07and they said that, "I'm arresting you on suspicion of burglary
0:47:07 > 0:47:11"of £60,000 worth of phones."
0:47:11 > 0:47:12I was like, "60 grand?!"
0:47:12 > 0:47:15I said, "What, do you reckon I would be here if I had that?
0:47:15 > 0:47:17"Do you reckon that?" I said, "Come on now, man," I said,
0:47:17 > 0:47:20"I would have moved out of this country by now."
0:47:26 > 0:47:32A couple of weeks later, Becky came to my house and was like,
0:47:32 > 0:47:35and said to me, "Oh, I was, I was on...
0:47:35 > 0:47:39"There was a picture of me in Croydon."
0:47:39 > 0:47:42And I was like, "Oh, my God, if you're there, I must be there, cos I was with you."
0:47:42 > 0:47:44So she was like, "Check out this website."
0:47:44 > 0:47:48And I was like, "Oh, my God, I'm on it". Like, I'm on it.
0:47:48 > 0:47:54It was a photograph of me outside, just, like, ten minutes away,
0:47:54 > 0:47:57all from...away from the shops, but I had, like, five,
0:47:57 > 0:47:59six pairs of shoes in my hand.
0:47:59 > 0:48:03And that was blatantly obviously, they were stolen.
0:48:03 > 0:48:07And then someone asked me for a pair and I gave them a pair,
0:48:07 > 0:48:10and the street cameras caught my face.
0:48:10 > 0:48:12And that's how I got caught.
0:48:12 > 0:48:17They got nothing on me. I was all covered up. They can't do shit.
0:48:17 > 0:48:21I covered my hands, my face, glasses on. Everything.
0:48:21 > 0:48:23And the clothes I was wearing that day,
0:48:23 > 0:48:27I was just throwing them in the bin and burning them.
0:48:28 > 0:48:33Apparently, there was rewards going round, like money.
0:48:33 > 0:48:34That's what I heard.
0:48:34 > 0:48:37And I thought, if teacher could see me or anyone,
0:48:37 > 0:48:41then basically that would be a worser thing for me.
0:48:41 > 0:48:45And then... So I told my mum. I was like, "Mum, are you going to be mad?"
0:48:45 > 0:48:46And I think my mum was going to...
0:48:46 > 0:48:49I think my mum was going to be like, "What is she going to tell me?
0:48:49 > 0:48:51"She's pregnant or something."
0:48:51 > 0:48:54I was like, "Mum, don't be mad, but I went looting."
0:48:54 > 0:48:56And she was like, "What?!"
0:48:56 > 0:49:01She went mad, but after a while, she was like, "Why did you do it?"
0:49:04 > 0:49:07- My mum doesn't even know I was in the riots.- Your mum doesn't?
0:49:07 > 0:49:11What does she think I'm talking to you about? What does she think I'm talking to you about?
0:49:11 > 0:49:14- I told her what you was talking to me about.- The riots?- Yeah.
0:49:14 > 0:49:17But she doesn't know that you were a participant?
0:49:17 > 0:49:20- No, I just told her that I was. - Just now.- Yeah.- Oh, God!
0:49:20 > 0:49:22- Your timing's great, isn't it?- Yeah.
0:49:23 > 0:49:26Over 5,000 would be arrested,
0:49:26 > 0:49:30resulting in more than 1,900 convictions,
0:49:30 > 0:49:34and over 1,200 going to jail so far.
0:49:34 > 0:49:37Rioting was seen as an aggravating factor.
0:49:37 > 0:49:40Sentences were longer and more people were sent to prison
0:49:40 > 0:49:45than would normally be expected for the same charges under different circumstances.
0:49:45 > 0:49:49My friends just decide to go in police station
0:49:49 > 0:49:51and told what we'd just done.
0:49:51 > 0:49:58And we went to the Crown Court and they decide us,
0:49:58 > 0:50:01our sentence will be 12 month.
0:50:01 > 0:50:06Judge says us that if it will be normal, yeah,
0:50:06 > 0:50:11but it will be like, we won't be imprisoned,
0:50:11 > 0:50:19and maybe it will be like community service, something like this.
0:50:19 > 0:50:20So I think it is very harsh.
0:50:22 > 0:50:26I think the only time I cried in jail was when I first come
0:50:26 > 0:50:30and it was my dad's birthday, and my dad's dead, innit?
0:50:30 > 0:50:33The best thing to do is not think about it, just have a laugh
0:50:33 > 0:50:37and try and have a joke with, like, the person next door in your cell.
0:50:37 > 0:50:41I've had people in my school come up to me and like, "Oh, my God,
0:50:41 > 0:50:45"your picture's on..." My picture's in the paper, cos most of them
0:50:45 > 0:50:49found out I handed myself in or they found out I went looting.
0:50:49 > 0:50:53And they're all showing off, like, "Oh, look at my shoes,
0:50:53 > 0:50:57"look at my bag, look at my bag, look at the clothes that I got."
0:50:57 > 0:50:59And I just thought, like, "You went that low?
0:50:59 > 0:51:03"Are you that poor that you can't buy your clothes?
0:51:03 > 0:51:04"Like, you went that low?"
0:51:08 > 0:51:11As the courts coped with the unprecedented demand on their time,
0:51:11 > 0:51:14an examination of the riots began.
0:51:16 > 0:51:17What both the authorities
0:51:17 > 0:51:21and the public wanted to know was, why had so many people
0:51:21 > 0:51:26in so many different areas shown such violence and caused so much damage?
0:51:31 > 0:51:34'A report panel received a range of answers,
0:51:34 > 0:51:35'from fancying a new pair of trainers
0:51:35 > 0:51:38'to a desire to attack society.'
0:51:40 > 0:51:45'What in these few days in the summer caused the trouble that spread so fast?
0:51:45 > 0:51:49'A series of chance events, opportunism, gangs, Facebook?'
0:51:50 > 0:51:52Police drive past this estate, you get me?
0:51:52 > 0:51:53Look at me, you get me, like?
0:51:53 > 0:51:55We're rats in a lab, you understand?
0:51:55 > 0:51:58You get me, like? Come look on us, you get me, like?
0:51:58 > 0:52:00We're animals in a zoo and all that, you understand?
0:52:00 > 0:52:03We're normal people just trying to make a life for ourselves
0:52:03 > 0:52:06- when there's no opportunities out there.- Opportunities like...?
0:52:06 > 0:52:10No job opportunities, no apprenticeships for the youth now.
0:52:10 > 0:52:13Youth get frustrated. That's why the riots happen, innit?
0:52:13 > 0:52:15You're not only seeing black people rioting.
0:52:15 > 0:52:17You're seeing all different ethnicities rioting,
0:52:17 > 0:52:19all going through the same pain.
0:52:19 > 0:52:21The next day, you're seeing on the news, JDs,
0:52:21 > 0:52:23you're seeing middle-class people running in the shop,
0:52:23 > 0:52:25all going for it, not just black people.
0:52:25 > 0:52:29Everyone is going for it right now, you understand? And that's just what it is.
0:52:31 > 0:52:34Some did it for the money. They did it...easy money.
0:52:35 > 0:52:37A lot of people talking about the Government.
0:52:37 > 0:52:39Nothing to do with no government.
0:52:39 > 0:52:40Nobody is thinking about the Government.
0:52:40 > 0:52:44When I got the phone call, nobody was thinking about the Government.
0:52:44 > 0:52:48No college fees or no bullshit. That's an excuse.
0:52:48 > 0:52:50Why are you going to raise tuition fees for?
0:52:50 > 0:52:53Put more people on the streets? That's not right.
0:52:53 > 0:52:56How many protests have we had, this country had,
0:52:56 > 0:52:57and nothing's gone our way?
0:52:57 > 0:52:59And then when we turn to violence...
0:52:59 > 0:53:01What else are you meant to turn to?
0:53:01 > 0:53:04Are we meant to just chill there and speak quietly and say yeah?
0:53:04 > 0:53:07So you know what? Fuck this. We'll do it our way.
0:53:07 > 0:53:12The exact circumstances surrounding the shooting of Mark Duggan
0:53:12 > 0:53:13are still being investigated
0:53:13 > 0:53:15by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.
0:53:17 > 0:53:20His death may have sparked the riots in Tottenham,
0:53:20 > 0:53:23but it didn't explain the scale of what happened afterwards.
0:53:24 > 0:53:27What I'm really upset about is that they didn't do it right
0:53:27 > 0:53:32and there's greedy kids out there who was doing it for pleasure,
0:53:32 > 0:53:35and they should have left the shops and concentrate on fighting the police.
0:53:35 > 0:53:37They was fighting the police for a rightful cause.
0:53:37 > 0:53:39The shops did not trouble them.
0:53:39 > 0:53:41That's the shops their mums and their gran have to go to.
0:53:41 > 0:53:43The post office now - they've got grandparents -
0:53:43 > 0:53:46there's no post office for the elderly.
0:53:49 > 0:53:50Should have got it right, man.
0:53:55 > 0:54:01I just regret it all. I just feel sorry for all the shops in Croydon.
0:54:01 > 0:54:05I just feel like, when I go past and I see Currys all boarded up,
0:54:05 > 0:54:08I was like, "I was there on that night."
0:54:08 > 0:54:16To think that I went that low to go steal in these shops,
0:54:16 > 0:54:18when they're, like...
0:54:18 > 0:54:22basically, that's their business.
0:54:22 > 0:54:24That's how they're providing for their families,
0:54:24 > 0:54:28and we've basically ruined that and they've got to start from scratch.
0:54:28 > 0:54:30So that's made me think in life like...
0:54:30 > 0:54:37It just made me think twice about what I'm actually going to do,
0:54:37 > 0:54:39before I actually do it.
0:54:45 > 0:54:51I don't know why people... My God. I don't know why people do this.
0:54:54 > 0:54:58'I'm ashamed of myself for being involved, innit?'
0:54:58 > 0:55:02I just went there to be a slut. I admit it, yeah?
0:55:02 > 0:55:04I know it was wrong and that's why I'm here, yeah?
0:55:04 > 0:55:07Because I wanted to be a slut. It's not good, is it?
0:55:07 > 0:55:10At least I can tell my kids when I'm older,
0:55:10 > 0:55:12like, and my grandkids, like,
0:55:12 > 0:55:15I've been involved in a riot before.
0:55:15 > 0:55:18Nice little story for them, isn't it?
0:55:18 > 0:55:22You know, like World War II and that with my great-grandads and stuff,
0:55:22 > 0:55:26I hear about and think, "Oh, I heard about them riots in 2011."
0:55:28 > 0:55:34How do you feel about your involvement in the riots?
0:55:34 > 0:55:36- I don't feel about it.- OK, and...
0:55:36 > 0:55:39Because if you felt about it, you'd think twice, wouldn't you?
0:55:39 > 0:55:41You don't think twice when you go and kill an enemy.
0:55:41 > 0:55:45You think about it, it'd stop you, wouldn't it?
0:55:45 > 0:55:48What did friends and family think about?
0:55:48 > 0:55:52- I don't talk to them about my issues.- OK, cool.
0:55:52 > 0:55:55My mother's dead, my father's dead, my wife died six years ago.
0:55:55 > 0:55:59First my mother died, then my father died seven months later,
0:55:59 > 0:56:00then my wife died nine months later,
0:56:00 > 0:56:02then my dog died a fucking year later.
0:56:02 > 0:56:05I don't give a fuck. I've got nothing to lose.
0:56:06 > 0:56:10'This isn't about politics, this isn't about poverty.
0:56:10 > 0:56:12'It's just sheer evil, it's sheer nastiness.
0:56:12 > 0:56:15'There's no conscience about it, either.'
0:56:17 > 0:56:21My parents can't control me. I live with them, but they can't control me.
0:56:21 > 0:56:23I control myself.
0:56:23 > 0:56:25I do not regret it.
0:56:25 > 0:56:29If it was to happen again, I would happily join it.
0:56:29 > 0:56:32Anything against the police, I would happily join.
0:56:32 > 0:56:37Everybody feels happy that it happened. Everyone.
0:56:38 > 0:56:42There was no official government enquiry after the riots,
0:56:42 > 0:56:44but there were reports by other bodies.
0:56:45 > 0:56:47Like the people in this film,
0:56:47 > 0:56:51the reports pointed to a range of possible reasons.
0:56:51 > 0:56:55Opportunism, social deprivation, discontent with the police,
0:56:55 > 0:56:59unemployment and a lack of morality, amongst others.
0:56:59 > 0:57:02But none could pinpoint a single overwhelming cause
0:57:02 > 0:57:06for what happened over those five days in August.
0:57:09 > 0:57:12You know, sitting down here talking about this
0:57:12 > 0:57:13is just frustrating as well -
0:57:13 > 0:57:17you're talking about it, people are interviewing you, but nothing ain't going to change.
0:57:17 > 0:57:20Nothing will change, except for a couple of years down the line,
0:57:20 > 0:57:24the next man's going to be dead and we're going to be sitting down here talking about the same thing again.
0:57:24 > 0:57:27You get me? There are different people I know that died in the hood,
0:57:27 > 0:57:30and look at their case and what's come out of it. Nothing.
0:57:30 > 0:57:32Even though I hope some good comes out of it.
0:57:32 > 0:57:34I hope good comes out of it.
0:57:36 > 0:57:41- Hope is a four-letter word, but it is a big thing.- Trust.
0:57:41 > 0:57:43Go on.
0:57:43 > 0:57:47- I'm done.- Doing good, man. - I helped you out, man.
0:57:47 > 0:57:51No, man, I gave it to you. I'm going home, you know.
0:57:52 > 0:57:55I gave you some good lingo there, darling.
0:58:06 > 0:58:08Next in this series, a very different story.
0:58:08 > 0:58:11The riots through the eyes of the police.
0:58:13 > 0:58:15The van was getting constantly pelted.
0:58:15 > 0:58:18My colleague screamed, "I'm being attacked."
0:58:18 > 0:58:21This machete had just appeared through this hole in the window
0:58:21 > 0:58:23and it started hacking at his hand.
0:58:25 > 0:58:28# Paint me a picture that I can see
0:58:30 > 0:58:33# Give me a touch that I can feel
0:58:34 > 0:58:38# Turn me around so I can be
0:58:39 > 0:58:43# Everything I was meant to be... #
0:58:47 > 0:58:50Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd