2001 Harehills riot

Last updated

2001 Harehills riot
Harehills riot1.jpg
A street fire during the riots
Date5–6 June 2001; 23 years ago
Location
Harehills, Leeds, England
Caused byArrest of Hossein Miah
Anti-police sentiment
Methods Rioting, arson, looting
Parties
Local residents of Harehills
Casualties
Injuries25
Arrested19+ [1] (25 jailed)
Damage£500,000 (estimated)

On 5 June 2001, a riot broke out in the Harehills area of Leeds, England, triggered by the allegedly wrongful and heavy-handed arrest of Hossein Miah, an Asian man, by West Yorkshire Police. [2] More than 200 people, predominantly Asian youths, [3] were involved in the seven-hour-long clash against the police, [2] which continued into the early hours of 6 June.

Contents

Numerous people – 23 police officers and two journalists – were injured in the incident, and 25 rioters were jailed as a result. The police officer who arrested Miah was later cleared of any wrongdoing. [3]

Background

Harehills is an ethnically diverse working class suburb of Leeds, with significant populations of Asians and Muslims. [2]

Hossein Miah, a 31-year-old Asian man, was arrested on the evening of Sunday, 3 June 2001 over an allegedly suspicious tax disc. [4] Miah was sitting in his Vauxhall Cavalier outside a mosque preparing to go shopping with his wife and children when he was approached by a police officer who accused him of stealing the tax disc. Miah alleges the officer caused him injury, by pulling him from his car and spraying him with CS spray. [3]

Word of the allegedly violent nature of Miah's arrest spread around the local area, and this was quickly attributed as the cause of the violence. [5]

Riot

Banstead Park, where the riot began. BansteadParkLS8.jpg
Banstead Park, where the riot began.

At 20:25 BST on Tuesday, 5 June, a hoax 999 call was made saying a police officer had been hit by a petrol bomb. [6] Sporadic unrest had reportedly already begun in the area by that point. The police could not locate the alleged petrol bombing, however the call lured them into Banstead Park, where they were met by a barricade of burning washing machines and furniture, looted from a nearby second-hand shop.

It was in Banstead Park where most of the confrontation took place, [7] although the disturbances spread onto Roundhay Road, Roseville Road and smaller residential streets towards the south side of Harehills.

Rioting continued into the early hours of the following morning. Over the course of the night, 26 cars were burnt out, [8] two police officers and two journalists were severely injured, and a shop was set alight. Both police officers and members of the public were pelted with bottles and bricks. [3] [9] 23 police officers were later reported to have injured. [10]

By 02:15 on 6 June, after over 200 participants spent over six hours rioting, the police managed to make enough arrests to quell the size of the crowd to a point where most rioters had dispersed and the police could regain control. [1] The disorder was over by 03:00. [4]

A burnt-out car in the aftermath of the riot Harehills riot2.jpg
A burnt-out car in the aftermath of the riot

Aftermath

Many arrests were made following the rioting; local shops were initially advised only to secure their premises and not to reglaze, as police feared further rioting would take place, however the violence did not continue beyond 6 June.

The disorder was condemned by police chiefs; ACC Steve Smith said there was "no excuse" for the rioting, and ACC Graham Maxwell said the rioting was "criminal activity, pure and simple" and described it as "a premeditated attack on police". [11]

Six people were arrested on the night; [11] this number had grown to 19 by 7 August, two months later. [1] The disorder caused damage estimated at around £ 500,000.

On 7 March 2002, nine months after the riot, 25 men were imprisoned after being found guilty of their involvement in the riot. [12] [10] The police officer who arrested Miah faced a Police Complaints Authority disciplinary hearing, but the hearing concluded no misconduct was committed in the arrest, and the officer was cleared in March 2003. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harehills</span> Area of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England

Harehills is an inner-city area of east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is about 1 mile (1.6 km) northeast of Leeds city centre. Harehills is between the A58 and the A64. It sits in the Gipton & Harehills ward of Leeds City Council and the Leeds East parliamentary constituency, between Burmantofts and Gipton, and adjacent to Chapeltown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chapeltown, Leeds</span> Suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England

Chapeltown is a suburb of north-east Leeds, in West Yorkshire, England. It is part of the Leeds City Council Ward of Chapel Allerton. It is approximately one mile north of Leeds city centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leeds West Indian Carnival</span> Annual carnival held in Leeds, UK

The Leeds Carnival, also called the Leeds West Indian Carnival or the Chapeltown Carnival, is one of the longest running West Indian carnivals in Europe, having been going since 1967. The carnival is held in the Chapeltown and Harehills parts of Leeds every August bank holiday weekend. Attendance is estimated at 150,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1981 Brixton riot</span> Clashes between police and protesters in London in 1981

The 1981 Brixton riot, or Brixton uprising, was a series of clashes between mainly black youths and the Metropolitan Police in Brixton, London, between 10 and 12 April 1981. It resulted from racist discrimination against the black community by the mainly white police, especially the police's increased use of stop-and-search in the area, and ongoing tensions resulting from the deaths of 13 black teenagers and young adults in the suspicious New Cross house fire that January. The main riot on 11 April, dubbed "Bloody Saturday" by Time magazine, resulted in 279 injuries to police and 45 injuries to members of the public; over a hundred vehicles were burned, including 56 police vehicles; almost 150 buildings were damaged, thirty of which were burnt out, and many shops were looted. There were 82 arrests. Reports suggested that up to 5,000 people were involved. The Brixton riot was followed by similar riots in July in many other English cities and towns. The Thatcher government commissioned an inquiry, which resulted in the Scarman Report.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2001 Bradford riots</span> Period of rioting in Bradford, England

The Bradford Riots were a brief period of violent rioting which began on 7 July 2001, in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. They occurred as a result of heightened tension between the large and growing British Asian communities and the confrontation between the left wing Anti-Nazi League and far right groups such as the British National Party and the National Front. Similar ethnic riots had occurred earlier in other parts of Northern England, such as Oldham in May and Burnley in June.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Yorkshire Police</span> English territorial police force

West Yorkshire Police, formerly the West Yorkshire Metropolitan Police, is the territorial police force responsible for policing the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire, England. It is the fourth largest territorial police force in England and Wales by number of officers.

The Oldham riots were a brief period of violent rioting which occurred in Oldham, a town in Greater Manchester, England, in May 2001. They were ethnically-motivated riots and the worst riots in the United Kingdom since 1990.

The MIGs are a football hooligan "firm" associated with the English football club Luton Town, which was originally formed in the 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 UEFA Cup final riots</span> 2008 football riots in Manchester, England

The 2008 UEFA Cup final riots took place in Manchester, England, on the day of the 2008 UEFA Cup final. Serious disorder was allegedly sparked by the failure of a big screen erected in Piccadilly Gardens to transmit the match to thousands of Rangers fans who had travelled to the city without tickets. In addition to property damage, fifteen policemen were injured and ambulance crews attended 52 cases of assault. A Manchester City Council inquiry into the events estimated that over 200,000 Rangers fans visited Manchester for the match, with 39 fans arrested for a range of offences across the city, while 38 complaints were received about the conduct of Greater Manchester Police officers.

The Chapeltown riotsof 1987 took place in the Leeds district of Chapeltown in West Yorkshire, England. Widespread rioting in Chapeltown also occurred in 1975 and 1981. During the 1981 riots, rioting took place not only in Chapeltown, but also in London, Birmingham and Liverpool.

The Chapeltown riot occurred on 5 November 1975 in the troubled Leeds district of Chapeltown in West Yorkshire, England. They were not to be the last riots in the area with further rioting in 1981 and 1987 and rioting in nearby Harehills in 2001.

In April and July 1981, there were riots in several cities and towns in England. The riots mainly involved black English youth clashing with police. They were caused by tension between black people and the police, especially perceived racist discrimination against black people through increased use of stop-and-search, and were also fuelled by inner-city deprivation. The most serious riots were the April Brixton riots in London, followed in July by the Toxteth riots in Liverpool, the Handsworth riots in Birmingham, the Chapeltown riots in Leeds, and the Moss Side riots in Manchester. There were also a series of less serious riots in other towns and cities. As a result of the riots, the government commissioned the Scarman Report.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ghulja incident</span> 1997 violent event in the Uyghur-Han conflict in Xinjiang

The Ghulja, Gulja, or Yining incident was the culmination of the Ghulja protests of 1997, a series of demonstrations in the city of Yining—known as Ghulja in Uyghur—in the Xinjiang autonomous region of China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 England riots</span> 6–11 August 2011 riots in cities and towns across England

A series of riots took place between 6 and 11 August 2011 in cities and towns across England, which saw looting and arson, as well as mass deployment of police and the deaths of five people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timeline of the 2011 England riots</span>

In early August 2011, England was struck by riots, the worst in the country in decades. The timeline of the events of the riots spanned from 6–10 August.

The 2000 UEFA Cup Final Riots, also known as the Battle of Copenhagen, were a series of riots in City Hall Square, Copenhagen, Denmark between fans of English football team Arsenal and Turkish team Galatasaray around the 2000 UEFA Cup Final on 17 May 2000. Four people were stabbed in the scuffles, which also involved fans from other clubs and were viewed by the media as part of a retaliation for the killing of two Leeds United fans by Galatasaray supporters the month before.

The Chapeltown Riots of 1981 took place in the Leeds district of Chapeltown in West Yorkshire, England, during a time when many other areas of the UK were suffering similar problems. The riots unfolded in July 1981 from a background of racial tension, inner city poverty, poor housing and high unemployment. This brought high tension, particularly amongst the area's Caribbean community, culminating in attacks on the local police.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2024 Harehills riot</span> Riot in Leeds, England

On 18 July 2024, a riot took place in the Harehills area of Leeds, Yorkshire, England. The incident was triggered by a dispute over four children of a Romani family being taken into care by social services and police.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "More photos released in hunt for rioters". BBC News. 7 August 2001. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 Wainwright, Martin (7 June 2001). "Riot". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 7 June 2001.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Officer cleared over riot arrest". BBC News. 26 March 2003. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
  4. 1 2 "Arrest of Asian over tax disc sparked Leeds riot". The Independent. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  5. ↑ "Trouble linked to 'violent arrest'". BBC News. 6 June 2001. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
  6. ↑ "'No excuse' for Leeds riot". BBC News. 6 June 2001. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
  7. ↑ Herbert, Ian (6 June 2001). "Arrest of Asian over tax disc sparked Leeds riot". The Independent. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  8. ↑ "Riot began as planned ambush, say police". The Guardian. 7 June 2001. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  9. ↑ "More photos released in hunt for rioters". BBC News. 7 August 2001. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
  10. 1 2 "Judge jails 25 rioters". BBC News. 7 March 2002. Retrieved 18 May 2010.
  11. 1 2 "'No excuse' for Leeds riot". BBC News. 6 June 2001. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
  12. ↑ "25 Men Jailed Over Riot". The Daily Telegraph. London. 7 March 2002. Retrieved 18 May 2010.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.