The independent report into events that shook Mayhill on May 20, 2021, does not make happy reading for the police.
South Wales Police has been heavily criticised in the review aimed at learning from the mistakes made on the night of what has become known as the Mayhill riot
Trouble erupted as people gathered to remember 19-year-old Ethan Powell, who had died just a couple of days previously, although his family have spoken of their anger at what happened and said Ethan would have been trying to stop what followed.
What did follow was cars being set on fire and rolled down a hill, bricks being thrown at properties and local residents cowering in their homes as young people literally ran riot in the streets.
In the days, weeks and months following the riot, police made 46 arrests and the force is awaiting a charging decision from the Crown Prosecution Service on a total of 37 individuals.
In the meantime, the force has apologised for failings highlighted in the new independent report, full details of which you can read here.
We've looked at that full report to bring you the key points.
The key findings from the independent review into last May’s riot in Mayhill:
– There was a lengthy period during which the residents of Waun Wen Road were in danger, at risk and unprotected by South Wales Police
– As the events unfolded, police in Mayhill requested back-up from a public order unit but it was turned down twice, prompting the senior officer at the scene to try to go outside of the chain of command
– It wasn’t clear from police footage at the time what happened to some of the deployed officers, including dog handlers and those with tasers
– The review panel was unable to identify a clear police command structure either properly identified or working in practice
– The panel was told there were other incidents occurring elsewhere in the force area at the time, but it hadn’t been provided with “evidence-based reassurance” that these other events justified the lack of apparent senior police focus on Mayhill’s needs
– The riot was identified as a “critical incident” only after it had ended
– Requests for a barrier in Waun Wen Road, where the riot took place, had been raised with Swansea Council in the weeks beforehand: one was erected very soon afterwards
– Any assessment of what happened must start with a recognition that criminal responsibility sat with the adults and young people who committed offences
– There was a car chase involving the police leading up to the riot and social media posts which “might have had the potential” to alert the authorities, but based on the information to hand there was “no clear forewarning” of public disorder
– Identifying and supporting ways in which young people and the community in Mayhill can take part in events, social activity and sport is essential
– The disorder of May, 2021 took place on Waun Wen Road in Mayhill “but was not born of Mayhill”
– A police learning review after the riot lacked information which was presented to the review panel and therefore, in the panel’s opinion, “cannot form the basis of sound conclusions”
– The full extent of the failings identified by the review, and the explanations for them, can only be determined by a “forensic investigation”
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