POLICE came under sustained attack and the victim of a suspected hate crime is in a serious condition in hospital after violence in Belfast on Monday night.
It comes as far-right disorder continued for a seventh day in England and Northern Ireland after the Southport stabbings with more than 370 arrests made so far.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said officers came under sustained attack, and at one stage petrol was poured over a police Land Rover and set alight. Police deployed two attenuating energy projectiles (AEPs), with one rioter struck on the hand.
A 15-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of riotous behaviour.
Devon and Cornwall Police, meanwhile, said six arrests were made in Plymouth on Monday after “several officers” suffered minor injuries after bricks and fireworks were launched at them and two members of the public were taken to hospital.
In Plymouth, a police van was damaged on Monday evening as masked anti-immigration protesters launched missiles at a counter-demonstration where people held signs saying “No Place for Hate” and “Say No to Nazis”.
A Devon and Cornwall Police officer said “large masonry” had been thrown at officers during the unrest.
Speaking at the scene, Inspector Ryan North Moore told Sky News: “This is not a protest any more. In my opinion, this is violence. This is sustained violence.”
Asked how difficult it was to police the protest, he added: “It’s off the scale today. With the resources we’ve got, it’s difficult.”
Acting Chief Constable Jim Colwell said officers had shown “very brave, robust policing” as they responded to “abhorrent, mindless criminal behaviour”.
Some 150 officers were deployed in the city centre, and the arrests were for a range of public order offences and assaults, police said.
On Monday, the Prime Minister said a “standing army” of specialist police officers was being assembled to crack down on rioting, as he called for perpetrators to be named and shamed.
Keir Starmer vowed to “ramp up criminal justice” after an emergency Cobra meeting was called following disorder over the weekend which saw rioters storm hotels housing asylum seekers.
The PA news agency understands the Prime Minister’s so-called standing army is an expansion of the existing mutual aid scheme, which allows officers to be deployed around the country as needed.
Starmer rejected calls for Parliament to be recalled in the face of the rioting.
The Prime Minister said he was focused on ensuring police can carry out their duties, as MPs from across the political spectrum demanded Parliament return from its summer recess.
Downing Street also criticised Twitter/X owner Elon Musk (below) for claiming “civil war is inevitable” in the UK, with officials suggesting online misinformation fuelling disorder on Britain’s streets may be being amplified by foreign state actors.
There have been at least 378 arrests since the violence broke out last week, with the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) warning the total is expected to rise each day.
Several suspects faced charges in court on Monday as ministers and police chiefs descended on Westminster for the meeting setting out the response for the coming days in a bid to clamp down on further unrest.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley was filmed grabbing a microphone out of a journalist’s hands and throwing it to the ground as he left the emergency meeting.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the courts were on “standby” to ensure “swift justice”.
Although several cases were already in motion, questions were being raised about how quickly this would happen in reality as it emerged some suspects will not face court for weeks.
Staffordshire Police said two people charged over disorder in Stoke-on-Trent on Saturday were not due in court for more than a fortnight, and others accused of being involved in unrest in Bristol are not due to face court until September, Avon and Somerset Police said.
Elsewhere, defendants were brought before magistrates in Belfast, Sheffield, Liverpool and South Tyneside in the latest wave of court appearances.
Organisation Tell Mama, which monitors anti-Muslim attacks, said it had called the police over “far-right threats on Telegram that seek to target immigration solicitors and refugee services” in more than 30 locations across the country on Wednesday.
