Murder, rape, robbery: 6,000 new crimes of London rioters
ONE in three rioters who brought terror and destruction to the streets of London went on to commit crimes including murder, rape and robbery, figures revealed yesterday.
Some 1,593 of the 3,914 thugs charged or cautioned following the disturbances of August 2011 have reoffended.
Among the near-6,000 fresh crimes they notched up in the three years since the riots were 12 killings, 180 serious assaults such as wounding and 151 crimes involving a weapon.
But although some rioters are still in jail for offences committed during the lawlessness, the vast majority have either been freed or given non-custodial sentences.
The statistics sparked fresh calls for the authorities to get a better ‘grip’ on young men entrenched in a life of violent crime and warnings that failing to keep career criminals under control is putting people in danger.
The figures are also likely to be echoed in other cities struck by rioting that spread from the capital, including Bristol, Birmingham and Manchester.
A breakdown of figures released under the Freedom of Information Act reveal a total of 5,878 new crimes committed by the London rioters. Of these, 1,172 were violent offences – including 314 ‘ assault with injury’ crimes, 171 common assaults and 265 cases of harassment.
Along with 21 rapes, there were also 719 burglaries, 451 robberies and 1,075 thefts. Some 1,819 drug offences included 221 trafficking charges, and there were 36 frauds and 213 cases of vandalism. Incredibly, one rioter went on to commit 72 new crimes.
The data also reveals how 168 of the 1,593 reoffenders in London belonged to gangs. Some 107 people – 17 of them gangsters – committed ten or more new offences.
A total of 261 rioters, including 49 gang members, carried out between five and ten more crimes. London’s Deputy Mayor Stephen Greenhalgh, said urgent changes were needed to protect the public by keeping a better ‘grip’ on offenders.
He called for New York- style reforms that would put City Hall in overall control of the capital’s entire criminal justice system.
He said the figures proved that the riots in 2011 were fuelled by ‘prolific offenders rather than lowlevel opportunists’.
‘Even though the police have learnt the lessons of the riots, the wider criminal justice system needs to up its game and stop playing pass the parcel with these violent criminals,’ he warned.
‘We need to grip these offenders. Many have not been deterred, despite prosecuting them more quickly in 2011, and have gone on to rape and murder in some cases.’
The Metropolitan Police said it is working hard to reduce reoffending, but the responsibility for monitoring freed criminals fell mainly to other agencies.