2001 England riots
Encyclopedia
In 2001, three unrelated riots occurred in England, these happened in localised areas of Oldham
in May, the Manningham
district of Bradford
in June and the Harehills
district of Leeds
in July - all within forty miles of each other in central northern England.
They were the most significant riots in England since September 1991, when riots broke out in Oxford
, Dudley
, Cardiff
, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Leeds
.
announcing it would stand in the forthcoming general election, with its leader Nick Griffin
to stand as a candidate for election for the constituency of Oldham West and Royton
. The similarly far-right National Front
political party also announced its interest in the town and intent to provide its own candidates for election too.
In April 2001 a month before the riots began, 76-year-old, white, Walter Chamberlain by three Asian youths was amongst the first major provocations which led to the riots. Mr. Chamberlain was approached as he walked to his home after watching a local amateur rugby league
match. He was mugged and badly beaten, receiving fractured bones in the face amongst other injuries. His battered face appeared on the front of the Manchester Evening News
, and the story spread to all the major national newspapers. In the Mail on Sunday, his story was told under the headline 'Whites beware'.
The riots took place on 26 May 2001, the unfolding events were as follows:
From these triggers on the night of 26 May 2001, a night of rioting ensued.
over a suspicious tax disc. Mr. Miah alleged that the arresting officer pulled him from his vehicle causing him injury. The officer concerned was cleared of any misconduct. This led to sporadic unrest in the area around the early evening, but not until nightfall were there any definable riots. At 20:25 a hoax 999
call was made claiming a police officer had been hit by a petrol bomb.
The police failed to locate the supposed attack but in attempting were lured into Bandstead Park where they were faced with a barricade of burning washing machine
s and furniture looted from a nearby second hand shop. By the time darkness had fallen the rioting had spread onto surrounding streets.
The rioting ended the following day.
Tensions rose after the National Front
attempted to organise a march in the city which was banned by Home Secretary David Blunkett
under the Public Order Act 1986. The Anti Nazi League organised a rally in Centenary Square in the centre of the city, which was allowed to proceed. During the course of the rally, a rumour was spread by some of the marchers that National Front sympathisers were gathering at a pub in the centre of Bradford. A confrontation then occurred outside the pub in the city centre during which a white man was stabbed.
The riot was estimated to have involved 1,000 youths. On the nights of 8 and 9 July groups of between thirty and a hundred white youths attacked police and Asian-owned businesses, in the Ravenscliffe and Holmewood areas. Initially there were 500 police being involved, but later reinforcements increased this to almost 1,000. What began as a riot turned into a race-related disturbance, with targeting of businesses and cars, along with numerous attacks on shops and property. A notable point of the rioting was the firebombing of Manningham Labour Club, at the time a recreational centre. A 48-year-old Asian businessman was jailed for twelve years for the arson attack.
The club reopened in the spring of 2006 on a different site, approximately one and a half miles away, on Bullroyd Lane, Four Lane Ends (The original site has now been redeveloped into a health and community centre and chemist). Between 60 and 100 youths of Asian ethnicity smashed windows and threw Molotov cocktail
s into the club until they were dispersed by riot police. Also the car garage on the top of White Abbey Road was affected, as cars were stolen and then driven towards the police. The most expensive act of the riot was the arson attack of a BMW
dealership, which had previously been attacked in a 1995 disturbance
.
Since the riots there has been an exodus of car dealers in the area, with most now relocated to Canal Road and Sticker Lane.
Oldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester...
in May, the Manningham
Manningham, Bradford
Manningham is an area of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, approximately a mile north of the city centre and is seen as the centre of the city's south Asian population.- Geography :...
district of Bradford
Bradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
in June and the Harehills
Harehills
Harehills is an inner-city area of east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is approximately north east of Leeds city centre. Harehills is situated between the A58 and the A64 .- Overview :...
district of Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
in July - all within forty miles of each other in central northern England.
They were the most significant riots in England since September 1991, when riots broke out in Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, Dudley
Dudley
Dudley is a large town in the West Midlands county of England. At the 2001 census , the Dudley Urban Sub Area had a population of 194,919, making it the 26th largest settlement in England, the second largest town in the United Kingdom behind Reading, and the largest settlement in the UK without...
, Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
.
Oldham Riots
In the year leading up to the riots, there were 572 reported race related crimes in the Oldham area, and in 62 % of these, white persons were recorded as being the victims. These figures alarmed both Asian and white communities, and led to the far-right British National PartyBritish National Party
The British National Party is a British far-right political party formed as a splinter group from the National Front by John Tyndall in 1982...
announcing it would stand in the forthcoming general election, with its leader Nick Griffin
Nick Griffin
Nicholas John "Nick" Griffin is a British politician, chairman of the British National Party and Member of the European Parliament for North West England....
to stand as a candidate for election for the constituency of Oldham West and Royton
Oldham West and Royton
Oldham West and Royton is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...
. The similarly far-right National Front
British National Front
The National Front is a far right, white-only political party whose major political activities took place during the 1970s and 1980s. Its popularity peaked in the 1979 general election, when it received 191,719 votes ....
political party also announced its interest in the town and intent to provide its own candidates for election too.
In April 2001 a month before the riots began, 76-year-old, white, Walter Chamberlain by three Asian youths was amongst the first major provocations which led to the riots. Mr. Chamberlain was approached as he walked to his home after watching a local amateur rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
match. He was mugged and badly beaten, receiving fractured bones in the face amongst other injuries. His battered face appeared on the front of the Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
The Manchester Evening News is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in the United Kingdom. It is published every day except Sunday and is owned by Trinity Mirror plc following its sale by Guardian Media Group in early 2010. It has an average daily circulation of 90,973 copies...
, and the story spread to all the major national newspapers. In the Mail on Sunday, his story was told under the headline 'Whites beware'.
The riots took place on 26 May 2001, the unfolding events were as follows:
- At 8 p.m., a fight between one South Asian youth and one white youth near the Good Taste chip shop on the corner of Salford Street and Roundthorn Road in Glodwick.The fight, which was witnessed, and included racist language from both sides is said to have ended abruptly, but led to the hasty gathering of a gang of white youths assembled via mobile phone.
- Following this earlier fight between the two youths, further violence erupted as a gang of white men attacked an Asian business and threw a projectile through a window of a house in the Glodwick area. Violence spiralled from this group as they rampaged through Glodwick attacking a number of persons and properties.
- The "white-owned" Live and Let Live pub was targeted and pelted with bricks, stones, bottles and then petrol bombs. Cars were driven to block the fire exits, in an attempt to stop the patrons from escaping the flames. Cars in the surrounding roads were ignited, and police were called. Police officers were pelted by groups of South Asian males.
From these triggers on the night of 26 May 2001, a night of rioting ensued.
Harehills riots
On the night of 5 June 2001, the riots started behind a background of mistrust and racial tension. The trigger for the ensuing events was the arrest of Hossein Miah, by the West Yorkshire PoliceWest Yorkshire Police
West Yorkshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing West Yorkshire in England. It is the fourth largest force in England and Wales by number of officers, with 5671 officers....
over a suspicious tax disc. Mr. Miah alleged that the arresting officer pulled him from his vehicle causing him injury. The officer concerned was cleared of any misconduct. This led to sporadic unrest in the area around the early evening, but not until nightfall were there any definable riots. At 20:25 a hoax 999
999 (emergency telephone number)
999 is an official emergency telephone number in a number of countries which allows the caller to contact emergency services for urgent assistance....
call was made claiming a police officer had been hit by a petrol bomb.
The police failed to locate the supposed attack but in attempting were lured into Bandstead Park where they were faced with a barricade of burning washing machine
Washing machine
A washing machine is a machine designed to wash laundry, such as clothing, towels and sheets...
s and furniture looted from a nearby second hand shop. By the time darkness had fallen the rioting had spread onto surrounding streets.
The rioting ended the following day.
Bradford riots
British National Front
The National Front is a far right, white-only political party whose major political activities took place during the 1970s and 1980s. Its popularity peaked in the 1979 general election, when it received 191,719 votes ....
attempted to organise a march in the city which was banned by Home Secretary David Blunkett
David Blunkett
David Blunkett is a British Labour Party politician and the Member of Parliament for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough, having represented Sheffield Brightside from 1987 to 2010...
under the Public Order Act 1986. The Anti Nazi League organised a rally in Centenary Square in the centre of the city, which was allowed to proceed. During the course of the rally, a rumour was spread by some of the marchers that National Front sympathisers were gathering at a pub in the centre of Bradford. A confrontation then occurred outside the pub in the city centre during which a white man was stabbed.
The riot was estimated to have involved 1,000 youths. On the nights of 8 and 9 July groups of between thirty and a hundred white youths attacked police and Asian-owned businesses, in the Ravenscliffe and Holmewood areas. Initially there were 500 police being involved, but later reinforcements increased this to almost 1,000. What began as a riot turned into a race-related disturbance, with targeting of businesses and cars, along with numerous attacks on shops and property. A notable point of the rioting was the firebombing of Manningham Labour Club, at the time a recreational centre. A 48-year-old Asian businessman was jailed for twelve years for the arson attack.
The club reopened in the spring of 2006 on a different site, approximately one and a half miles away, on Bullroyd Lane, Four Lane Ends (The original site has now been redeveloped into a health and community centre and chemist). Between 60 and 100 youths of Asian ethnicity smashed windows and threw Molotov cocktail
Molotov cocktail
The Molotov cocktail, also known as the petrol bomb, gasoline bomb, Molotov bomb, fire bottle, fire bomb, or simply Molotov, is a generic name used for a variety of improvised incendiary weapons...
s into the club until they were dispersed by riot police. Also the car garage on the top of White Abbey Road was affected, as cars were stolen and then driven towards the police. The most expensive act of the riot was the arson attack of a BMW
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...
dealership, which had previously been attacked in a 1995 disturbance
Manningham Riot
The Manningham riot was a short but intense period of rioting which took place from 9-11 June 1995, in the district of Manningham in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England....
.
Since the riots there has been an exodus of car dealers in the area, with most now relocated to Canal Road and Sticker Lane.