Birmingham suffers second night of rioting as disorder spreads
BIRMINGHAM suffered its second successive night of rioting and looting as the disturbances spread across the region to Wolverhampton and West Bromwich.
In a tragic incident in Smethwick three men were killed early this morning in a suspected hit and run incident police are treating as murder. However, it is unclear if this is related to the disturbances in the city centre.
Gangs of youths were again roaming the streets of Birmingham last night. In a fresh spate of violence a car was set alight close to Moor Street Station and more shops were looted. Shops were also broken into in Newhall Street in the Jewellery Quarter.
An extra police presence in the city helped to quell the problems but shops and offices worried about further trouble had opted to close early yesterday afternoon on police advice.
The Bullring shopping centre closed at 5pm and National Express suspended buses into the city centre although rail and Metro service ran as normal.
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Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg had visited the city to see the damage for himself and was jeered by several people. Speaking at a press conference later (below) he said the looters could expect to be caught and punished.
In West Bromwich, a crowd of youths mounted a stand-off with police in High Street and a van and Range Rover were set alight. In Wolverhampton, crowds of youths ran wild through Dudley Street in the main city centre until police moved in to control the situation.
The Edgbaston Test Match was still scheduled to go ahead this morning but the English Cricket Board said it was liaising with the police and would follow their advice.
Police said the disorder in Birmingham had been on a smaller scale than that seen on Monday evening and officers had worked throughout the day and evening to calm the situation and target offenders.
A total of 109 arrests were made and 19 people have been charged and remanded to appear in court following the disorder in Birmingham over the past two days.
The 19 have been charged for various offences including burglary, theft and violent disorder. They will be appearing at Birmingham Magistrates and Wolverhampton Magistrates Court.
A further four have been charged and bailed pending their appearance at court. Police carried out a series of raids across the region yesterday, making arrests and recovering stock stolen from shops the previous evening.
