Convicted looters to be banned from city’s stores

MANCHESTER’S city centre management company, Cityco, is to ban anyone convicted of looting and public order offences during last Tuesday night’s disturbances for two years.

Cityco’s Business Crime Reduction Partnership has announced that it will use its powers to exclude convicted criminals from more than 400 stores who have signed up to its civil exclusion scheme, including The Manchester Arndale and Triangle shopping centres, Selfridges, Marks & Spencer, Harvey Nichols, Debenhams and House of Fraser.

It said that names and photos of those convicted would be added to its offender database and distributed among retailers. Offenders will also be informed of the ban.

Cllr Pat Karney, city centre spokesperson for Manchester City Council, said: “The scenes we witnessed on Tuesday night were shocking and we cannot tolerate this kind of behaviour in Manchester.

“The civil exclusion scheme is already doing a fantastic job and it makes sense to add these disgraceful individuals, who show complete disregard for others people’s property, to the list.”  

Rob Dyson, head of CityCo’s Business Crime Reduction Partnership, added: “The public disorder last week has had a tremendous impact on our retailers and has damaged the local economy.

“We want to send out a strong message that Manchester’s business community is standing together and those that disrespect our city are not welcome and will not be allowed to enjoy it.”