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DAILY STAR SUNDAY, August 14, 2011

DAILY STAR SUNDAY, August 14, 2011

Word on street is loud & proud

SOME of Britains best-known celebrities have backed our Reclaim Our Streets crusade. Were delighted that Wayne Rooney, Simon Cowell, Amy Childs, Ricky Hatton, Jimmy White and plenty more are all on our side. Englands cricketers even found time for the cause while they were busy becoming the best team in the world. And when you read the plight of people such as James Wallace and Nick Shaw, burned out of their home last week, this BRILLIANT surge of goodwill is not surprising. Yobs like those we tracked down in Lewisham do not speak for Britain. The true voice of the nation was heard loud and clear in Tottenham yesterday, where a public-spirited community clean-up campaign was in full sway. Thats the message which should be heard loud and clear. A call from the great British public to the scumbags who want the rest of us to cower in terror. And this newspaper is proud to be leading the way.

RIOT THUGS SHOT AT POLICE

Guns seized in raids on looters
GUNS were seized from a looting suspects house yesterday as it emerged police were shot at during the riots.
The weapons were found in raids near the spot where three Asian men were fatally mown down during yob mayhem in Birmingham.
The haul in the plush Jewellery Quarter came after police tackling the citys rioters came under re outside a ransacked pub. Four 9mm bullets were recovered from the Barton Arms battle site. Yesterday the police ghtback continued as more people appeared in court for a third day. They included Reece Donovan, 20, allegedly caught on camera taking a phone and portable PlayStation from Malaysian student Ashraf Rossli, 20, in London. He was denied bail at Westminster Magistrates after speaking only to conrm his name . In Manchester, raided by smashand-grab looters on Tuesday, 20 suspects were hauled into the dock including a 13-year-old girl accused of burglary. A young mum-of-two wailed as she was caged for ve months for taking a pair of shorts looted by a by SCOTT HESKETH
scott.hesketh@dailystar.co.uk

No feds around so we did what we wanted

MASKED and armed with baseball bats, a sniggering teenage gang taunts police with a 3,000 hoard of riot loot. The menacing mob which includes a 16-year-old lad whos just done his GCSEs swiped plasma TVs, laptops, phones and clothes as they rampaged through a South London high street. And they brazenly bundled the booty into a getaway car before taking it to a secret hide-out rammed with stolen gear. The pint-sized Lewisham villains aged between 14 and 17 told us their 50-strong gang went on a wrecking spree as violence erupted on Monday night. One, wearing jeans he had nicked during the trouble, said: First we hit on McDonalds just to start it all up. We kicked the window through good. Then we hit Argos. We walked out

by SCOTT HESKETH Crime Editor

scott.hesketh@dailystar.co.uk

with 700 plasmas, PlayStations, iPhones, Blackberries and iPads. The gear went in my cousins car, then we went back for more. We smashed into a JD Sports and nicked clothes jeans and trainers. Then on our way back we hit a Blockbuster got some DVDs and that, innit. It was easy, man, there was no feds (police) around and we pretty much did what we wanted. Easy pickings. This was our chance to get some decent gear. We cant afford this stuff. The prices are way out of our range, said the 16-year-old. And it was a chance to get some stuff for our families, our mums and that. Weve been brought up in poverty

so it was a chance to give something back. Weve tried to get money the normal way, Ive stuck my CV out there loads of times but got nothing back. Ive just nished my GCSEs, I should get good grades but where are they gonna go? I could do college but whats at the end of it? Theres no jobs for us, Im telling ya. And I need money now. Black youths round here aint getting jobs, so how else are we gonna pay our way and have the stuff we want? Maybe people will start listening now. Among the hoard at the secret hide-out were two 32in plasma screen TVs, two laptops and two iPads. There were also phones, including BlackBerries and an iPhone 4. This is just what weve got here, one said. Theres gear in other houses, too. And weve sold a load.

King still pleading lets all get along

by JEFF MARSH in L.A.

HAUL: The teenage riot gang with their 3,000 plunder

Were Bro happy

WHILE we rebuild after the riots, we must remember that life is not all doom and gloom. We need to crack a smile now more than ever. Thats why were DELIGHTED Big Brother is on its way back. With an amazing cast list promised, next weeks celebrity launch of the show should be the most exciting one yet. Itll be the perfect boost for us all. Theres only one problem. If life outside stays gloomy, we might all be ghting to get in and join the house ourselves!

Mum, 24 jailed as ghtback goes on

Its pitch perfect

PREMIER League football is back and thats another reason to be cheerful. Whichever team you support, heres to a FUN season. We just hope Britains top footballers take note of the cricket teams success. It would be great if they could become the worlds best as well.

pal the morning after the chaos. Ursula Nevin, 24, was in bed at home when city centre shops were ransacked by vandals. But district judge Khalid Qureshi took no pity as he told her: You are a role model to your sons, yet you decided to have a look at the goods and keep some for yourself. Her call centre worker housemate Gemma Corbett, 24, returned from the mass crime spree with 629 of clothing and accessories. She was remanded in custody. Manchester magistrates also heard how Londoner Edward Adeyami, 19, gave himself up after getting in on the act during a visit to the North West. He ripped an iron grid from the ground and smashed his way into the Footasylum sports store to pave the way for a free-for-all, it was claimed. He too was remanded in custody. Meanwhile, a road builder was told he faces jail after he was caught on CCTV hurling bricks at riot police in Salford, Lancs. In Birmingham, ve people, three of them teenagers, appeared before magistrates on looting charges. A 15-year-old boy allegedly raped a 13-year-old girl in an alleyway as

the riots raged around them. He demanded she hand over her BlackBerry before launching the attack in Woolwich, south-east London, a court was told. Prosecutor Andrew Chatterton said the terried girl was worried she was going to be killed by the boy and was thrown on top of piles of shattered glass. The boy was bailed to a childrens home on charges of robbery and rape. A 33-year-old man was yesterday arrested on suspicion of arson in connection with a re which destroyed the Reeves Furniture store during rioting in Croydon on Monday. Police have now arrested 2,129 suspects across the country, 1,225 of them from London.

THE man whose brutal beating by police triggered the infamous Los Angeles riots last night lashed out at Britains own rioters. In a world exclusive interview with the Daily Star Sunday, Rodney King launched a furious attack on the mindless thugs. He said: Ive been watching the riots and London is out of control. I heard it was police brutality that started all this and, of course, it has brought back memories of the LA riots in 1992. The pictures on my TV screen, they show London is being hit just as bad as LA was. Its like a war zone out there. The attack on Rodney by LAPD ofcers and their acquittal led to some of the worst rioting in American history. Some 53 people died in four days, 3,600 res were set, destroying 1,100 buildings. Rodney, speaking from his home in California, added: I fear for London. The ghting and looting aint helping any cause. What happens is it puts out a negative energy, it takes a focus off the real situation. By damaging the city, all that people report on is how much damage was done. Rioters need to get a grip on their feelings before its too late. People need to think what God would do before picking up weapons. In 1992 Rodney pleaded: People, can we all get along? This time around, he said: My message to the rioters is to stop. Be responsible. Step up to the plate. Be a man. Being a looter is a hate crime too but who are you hating? Your local store? Ill say it again cant we all get along?

CHARGED: Reece Donovan in court. Above, Ashraf

BASIC tness training for riot police is set to be axed raising fears they will be unable to deal with mass disorder on UK streets. Police forces across the country are planning to drop the Shield Run, a test for ofcers to run 500 metres dressed in full riot gear and holding a shield in less than 2 minutes 45 seconds. The test is due to be axed after an ofcer who failed it sued for discrimination and won. And there are fears it could be replaced with a softer option. Inspector Diane Bamber, 51, claimed she was humiliated after failing to meet the tests time limit. She brought a sex and age discrimination

COPS TRAINING IS GOING SOFT

by JOHN WARD

case against Greater Manchester Police (GMP). She now stands to win up to 30,000 after an employment tribunal ruled in her favour. GMP has since dropped the Shield Run and other forces are set to follow suit. A top policeman has said getting rid of the test at a time when Britain has seen the worst rioting in 30 years is a dangerous move. The ofcer, who has a blog dubbed Inspector Gadget, said: The Shield Run should remain. Unt police ofcers become tired quickly and start to make poor decisions. If an ofcer fails to train adequately

for the test and therefore fails, what does that say about that ofcers commitment? He added: Not content with relaxing the tness test levels for all recruits to avoid gender equality problems and dropping the height requirements so as not to discriminate against Chinese applicants, it now seems that we can no longer ask police ofcers to run with a riot shield. This is largely due to the bonkers decision recently to award potential damages to an ofcer who failed the test and was sent home. Surely we cannot abandon yet another tried and tested procedure simply because it might hurt

someones feelings. A Victim Support spokesman said: The publics condence in the police is at an all time low after the way these recent riots have been dealt with. The police need to do all they can to try and restore the condence the public has in the police. There is a major job to be done. Any backward steps in the way police secure public safety is not going to help this job. An Association of Chief Police Ofcers spokesman said: Proposals for new job-related tness testing standards for 13 specialist roles will be examined by chief constables in the summer.

REMINDER: Rodney King