London check-in thread

I am absolutely sickened by what has gone on - why loot and set fire to innocent people's houses and businesses?

The police need to be allowed to be heavier handed with them. Enough is enough...

I'm in work ok, although it has affected colleagues. Several can't get in as tubes are shut and Police lines preventing ease of movement.

Thoroughly saddened by it all.

I was brought up in Enfield and live 10 mins down the road now. My parents still live in Enfield and were told to stay indoors last night as some of the thugs had been seen getting off the train near their home. It's just awful mindless voilence. The more i watch on the news, the more i get the rage. The stuff in Tottenham is unbelievable. There were 30 flats above the Carpet Right, all of which have been completed gutted. People have lost their homes and all their possessions. I'm about to drive down to Enfield as i need to get to one of the shops. That's if it's still there!

WSS. Although, many would have been chancers looking to join in the action and cause trouble.

Hope everyone is ok.

Exactly. Apparently the actual protest lasted for three hours before it all kicked off.

We have had protests in the past that have started peaceful and then all the thugs, with their faces covered, appear and cause mayhem.

Most of our friends are in that area (Enfield, Waltham Cross...) and were reporting via facebook last night and Saturday and a girl at work lives in Tottenham, she is fortunately ok.

Friend's brother is a fireman and was on duty for the last two nights...

It is utterly dispicable and this country seriously needs to get some b*llocks.

I was getting so angry last night I had to turn the television off. Stupid, ignorant, evil people should be ashamed of themselves.

And don't even get me started on the media coverage - they're like baying dogs, just waiting for something juicy to come along. It's no wonder there's such little respect for the police when so-called 'journalists' bandy about any old unsubstantiated claim about the police as long as it's damaging.

Glad the people you all know seem to be ok, and aren’t too badly affected my this mindless thuggery.

I'm hating it. We don't live in London anymore, but my H is a police officer in the Met, and he came off a 24 hour shift at 6.30 this morning, and has to be back at work this afternoon for another long one. He was in Enfield last night, it's scaring the bejesus out of me that something might happen to him. And if I hear one more "community leader" say the police aren't doing enough I'm going to start a mini riot of my own. It's not their fault, Cameron's cutting police officers left right and centre, what the hell are they supposed to do? H has had 5 hours sleep in the last 36 hours and will be doing another min 12hours tonight ☹️

Catarina - really feel for your H. Loads of our officers have been deployed to assist.

Feel exactly the same Catarina. OH is also a police officer, though not in the Met.

I almost threw something at the television last night when some reporter said something along the lines of 'Well, there is a feeling on the street that the reason this descended from a peaceful protest to this is because the police refused to answer the protestors’ questions about what happened on Thursday'.

Are you kidding me?! So what, people actually expect police officers in a station, who may have had absolutely nothing to do with the original incident, to answer questions about an ongoing IPCC investigation from a baying mob?!

Hope your OH stays safe - thinking of him and all the other brave police, fire service, ambulance personnel and general innocent public caught up in this.

At least they obeyed the partial news black out last night...

EWSS.

Apparently in Brixton where Currys was trashed, people were stealing flatscreen tellies - and those that missed out or ended up with small ones were mugging people who had managed to grab bigger tellies.

I'm really not sure why an incident in Tottenham should spark riots and looting all over London though - it seems like, as has been said, most of them involved (unfortunately Hitched's profanity filter won't let me say what I really think of them) in the rioting have nothing to do with the guy that got shot, probably never even heard of him, but just jumping on the bandwagon and think that somehow chucking a brick through the window of Body Shop (do gangstas use hand cream?) is going to solve whatever led up to the guy that got shot?

I'd say 99% of the people involved are suffering the effects of the idiocy of the 1%.

My husband has always refused to let us move to that side of London - he's always maintained that something like this was just a matter of time.

I hope all your loved ones remain safe. Shocking scenes.

Well the shop i needed had its doors smashed as did most of the other shops on the retail park including Sainsburys, Krispy Kreme, Comet, JJB, TGI's and Toy's R Us. Half the retail park is shut. I didn't go into town but my brother works for the council and said its not pretty. My Mum works in Wood Green and had a walk down the High Road. She said its like a war zone. Just awful.

The whole thing is awful.

Its unbeleivable. I cant beleive its happening here!!

I'm only proberly repeating what you all have already said but it's frustrating me so much.

Yes a man died by being shot by the police, but he wasn't an angel. I understand some friends and family wanted a vigil held for him but outside of a police station, a church or where he died would surely be more appropriate. It's a small minority some people have said doing the rioting and looting, no it's the minority that have been the innocent ones in all this that only have what they stand up in. In this day and age scavengers, sorry they don't deserve to be called human beings, should not be allowed to do this. The days are gone where thugs are scared of Police dogs and even horses. The only thing that would stop it is like people have said, water cannons and rubber bullets. But you know what the police would be complained and sued left right and centre if they did for injuring them.

I must stop before I write an essay.

x

I am so angry!!! The ******* ****** have moved to Lewisham (where I work) now. Luckily I managed to get out before it all kicked off.

Mindless dickheads the lot of them

My mum lives in Peckham and just rang to say that crowds of at least a hundred people are gathering in the centre of Peckham, getting ready to start rioting.

The government should make a tv announcement saying that anyone proved to be involved gets 10 years, no questions asked. That and the army with water cannons and rubber bullets would put a stop to it real quick.

It makes my blood boil, as AJ said, these thugs don't give a damn about the guy that died, they are just using him as an excuse to be the mindless animals that they are and innocent people are suffering as a result.

A bit annoyed there's been news that there's now going to be riots in birmingham tonight. (Brummie here.) My partner is just on his way home now from the city where there's apparently loads of police about.

This is no longer about Mark, it's now just a bunch of mindless thugs intent on causing trouble.

Trouble in Croydon too. It's laughable, these people really need to get a life instead of ruining other peoples!

Message on FB to say that riots are also now kicking off in Harrow... I am so glad I don't live there anymore, although I wish I lived further away.

Just shoot the fvckers, they'll soon learn.

I live in Seven Sisters just down the road from the police station where the inital peaceful protest was.

It's not been a very nice weekend here.

I was away at a friends until Saturday evening and received a text when I was on my way home from a friend asking where I was and if I was ok. She told me what was going on and I made the decision to carry on home anyway because the cats were there and if anything had happened in my road I'd want to know sooner rather than later. We thought it was a positive sign that the tbe station was still open but nothing prepared us for what it was like when we got out of the station. There were police and fire vans everywhere, horses, helicopters and people all over stood open-mouthed. Fortunately we live on a very quiet side road in the middle of a residential area and the further away we got from the main road, the less there was going on.

Needless to say I didn't sleep at all on Saturday night, we sat in our living room watching sky news in the dark and hoping the shouting in the street would pass by and not result in any damage to our house or any of our neighbours. Sunday morning we went for a walk around the area to see what we could see and it wasn't a good experience.

Here's some pics:

Security device found on the road outside my house - torn of something nicked from Currys.

Evidence of looting scattered all over the side roads on Sunday morning:

The back entrance of carphone warehouse at T-Hale retail park

Front window of carphone warehouse

JD Sports

The back of Boots

One of the burned out police cars

The press

Tottenham doesn't need this. There is nothing wrong with it as an area and it is already fighting a negative image that dates back to the 80s. Most of the people causing trouble weren't even local. Some of the comments I read on the night calling for Tottenham to burn because it's a scum-ridden shitty area made me cry. There are decent hard-working people who live here too and probably make up 90% of the residents. No one deserves to be scared in their own home.

I truly feel sorry for the people who have lost their homes or businesses out of this.

Home and safe, they were closing Old Kent Road Tesco as we got to the tills so we got our shopping but it was a long and tense journey home.

I have no words to express how I feel about this. I actually just want to cry.

It's totally out of control, it's all very well the government saying it won't be tolerated, but they don't seem to be doing a huge amount to stop it, it's just spreading and spreading. There's a limit to what exhausted police officers working ridiculous shifts can do to stop, let alone contain all this.

And I want my husband home, I feel sick and scared and can't settle. And he's not answering his phone, and hasn't since before 5pm, so must be active. I want him home.

I wish they could get pump out a whole load of CS gas, water cannon and rubber bullets all at the same time, then take the offenders back to their houses and trash them before buring them down. Tossers.

My friend's flat is on fire.

I can't bring myself to comment on this thread further. Sorry.

Hope your friend is ok CB

Oh my god, this is affecting far, far too many innocent people, it is just mindless thugishness. How dare they.

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Oh my god Cricks, I really hope she is OK!

Poor person CB- sorry to hear that.

Send the bloody army, sort the scum out.