London council moves to evict rioters

Public housing tenants in London are facing the possibility of eviction over their involvement in the riots and looting that tore through English cities this week.

Wandsworth Council in London's west has served an eviction notice on a council tenant whose son has appeared in court, charged over a riot at nearby Battersea.

The tenant and son are believed to be the first in the country to face the prospect of losing their council-owned home as a result of the riots.

Other councils including Manchester, Salford and Nottingham, as well as Westminster, Greenwich, Hammersmith and Fulham have threatened to take similar action.

British prime minister David Cameron backed the council's action, saying people who "loot and pillage their own community" should no longer be allowed to live in social housing.

His comments reflect the hardline stance taken as Britain comes to terms with unprecedented violence and destruction that took place over four nights of violence in London, Manchester and Birmingham.

"Obviously, that will mean they've got to be housed somewhere else - they'll have to find housing in the private sector," Mr Cameron told BBC television.

"And that will be tougher for them, but they should have thought of that before they started burgling.

"If you live in a council house, you're getting a house at a discount from what other people have to pay, and with that should come some responsibility.

"For too long we've taken a too-soft attitude towards people that loot and pillage their own community. If you do that you should lose your right to the sort of housing that you've had at subsidised rates."

More than 160,000 people have signed an online petition calling for anyone convicted of criminal acts in the unrest to have their financial benefits taken away.

Police began raiding houses across London on Thursday to make arrests over the riots, and police will flood the streets to ensure weekend drinking does not reignite the rioting.

At the same time, police have been broadcasting CCTV images of the culprits on a six-metre screen that has been travelling around Birmingham.

In a statement, Wandsworth council said the tenant had breached their tenancy agreement, which applies to everyone living in the household and prohibits them from a range of criminal and anti-social activities.

The council has flagged similar action against other public housing tenants who appear in court. It says local residents were sickened at the riots, and many saw their own workplaces trashed.

The council says it owes it to those law-abiding citizens to send a strong signal that such violence will not be tolerated.

Welfare workers say, however, throwing people out of their homes will solve nothing.

On the defence

As fears of new violence remained high, a row escalated between police and politicians as both sides sought to deflect blame for the crisis, with police chiefs defending the way they handled the riots after strong criticism from Mr Cameron.

Senior police officers hit back at suggestions that calm was eventually restored to the streets only after political intervention.

Tim Godwin, the acting head of the Metropolitan Police, pointedly noted that "people will always make comments who weren't there", and defended a perceived reluctance to crack down hard on the first riot in the north London district of Tottenham.

President of the Association of Chief Police Officers, Hugh Orde, admitted police did not have the numbers, but says they cannot get it right all the time.

"The vital distinction between policing and politics remains, and the police service will make the tactical decisions, and quite rightly and robustly we should and must be held to account."

Mr Cameron told an emergency session of parliament on Thursday there were initially too few police, and they were using the wrong tactics.

Mr Cameron has also reportedly asked former New York police commissioner Bill Bratton to act as a consultant to British police on how to curb street violence.

Mr Bratton told NBC and ABC News America he had received a call from Mr Cameron asking him to consider being a consultant to Scotland Yard, the networks said on their websites, but while he expected to take up the job soon, he would not move overseas on a permanent basis.

Home secretary Theresa May, meanwhile, said she accepted the people who got the riots under control were the brave police out on the frontline.

More than 1,500 people have been arrested over the riots, and more than 500 charged.

Second investigation

Britain's police watchdog has opened a second investigation into the after a young man in custody became sick.

The 24-year-old man was arrested by British transport police on Wednesday on suspicion of having drugs and a weapon.

He was put into custody but later fell seriously ill and was taken to hospital. He is in a serious but improving condition.

His case is being investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission, which is already looking at the death of Mark Duggan, who was shot by police nine days ago.

Mr Duggan's death sparked protests at Tottenham in London.

The commission admitted it may have misled journalists into believing Mr Duggan had fired at police before he was killed, clarifying later that he had not done so.

Origin
Source: ABC news