Whilst rioting in other parts of the country continued to focus on looting and disruption in city centres, Nottingham witnessed a slightly different pattern of events.
The first round of rioting sparked in the St Ann’s area of Nottingham on Monday night, with cars set alight, houses pelted with bricks and stones and the fire-bombing of the car park at the local police station. The trouble spilled into town where youths attempted to break into the Victoria Shopping centre and the JD Sports outlet inside. This attempt was swiftly halted by the police.
On Tuesday morning, the centre of Nottingham appeared very much as normal. Shops were open, the outdoor furniture – much of it metal – remained outside coffee shops, restaurants and bars. Nottingham’s ‘Riviera’ – a fake beech and amusements in the central Market Square – remained in operation. The only signs of disruption were to be found in a small area of the Victoria centre and on the streets of St Ann’s where many cars had been set alight.
This quiet situation started to change after 4pm when barriers were erected around the ‘Riviera’, tables and chairs started to disappear from the square and shops started to be boarded up.
The events that unfolded throughout the evening did include some attempts at looting – the most ‘successful’ of which was an attack on a small jewellery shop – but none of the large stores suffered the same fate as other parts of the country. One pub on Mansfield Road was also attacked but potential looters could not get inside.
The first major incident came when up to twenty youths took to the roof of Nottingham’s Girls High School, a private school sandwiched between Forest Fields and city campus of Nottingham Trent University. The police response was swift and overwhelming. Bystanders were kept well away and within a short space of time the roof was cleared. Ten young people were arrested.
A short time later, a group of 30 to 40 men marched up to Canning Circus Police Station -which will be familiar to fans of crime fiction from John Harvey’s ‘Resnik’ books – and threw fire bombs (footage of this is circulating on Twitter). The entrance to the station was engulfed in flames but no substantial damage was done. There were further attacks on police stations in and around the city.
Later still, windows were smashed at Clarendon College – a further education college very close to the city centre – and fire bombs thrown inside. Damage here was more significant.
The main focus of the riots was not looting but symbols of prestige – the High School – and power – police stations. To what extent these actions were planned and premeditated is unknown but the wherewithal required to prepare, carry and use firebombs seems to suggest some sort of ‘plan’.
So, something ‘different’ happened in Nottingham last night. The ‘difference’ was not just the targets chosen but the numbers involved. Available reports indicate that those involved in rioting moved in small groups, no more than 40, in contrast to the hundreds gathered in other parts of the country.
The reasons for this ‘difference’ must include the history of the last round of rioting almost exactly thirty years ago, as well as the nature of city today. The exact reason remains unknown.
11 August, 2011