2001 Harehills race riot - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Harehills riot took place in the multi-ethnic 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...

district of 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 :...

(West Yorkshire

West Yorkshire

West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....

, England) in 2001. The riot occurred after the wrongful arrest of an Asian man by the West Yorkshire Police

West 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....

which was alleged to have been heavy handed. More than 100 Asian, White, and Black youth were together involved in the six hour long rioting against the police. The West Yorkshire Police later stated that any attempt to legitimise criminal behaviour by saying it is connected with racial tension or the style of policing is just an excuse for young males committing crime on the streets. It was the first rioting in Leeds

Leeds

since the Hyde Park

Hyde Park, Leeds

Hyde Park is an inner-city area of north-west Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, situated between the University of Leeds and Headingley.It is mainly in the Hyde Park & Woodhouse ward, though some areas of what is often considered to be Hyde Park lie within the Headingley Ward . The boundary is...

riots of 1995. The Police Officer

Police officer

A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force...

involved in the alleged wrongful arrest was questioned, and later cleared of any wrongdoing.

Wrongful arrest allegations

The wrongful arrest allegations involve a Hossein Miah, who was arrested over a suspicious tax disc. Mr. Miah alleged that the arresting officer pulled him from his vehicle causing him injury. The Police Complaints Authority cleared the officer of any charges relating to the incident, just expressing regret over "any distress which has been caused to either Mr Miah or his family."

Start of rioting

Sporadic unrest had already begun in the area when 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 at 20:25 saying a police officer had been hit by a petrol bomb. The police could not locate this, however the call lured them into Banstead Park, where they were met by a barricade of burning washing machines and furniture

Furniture

Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...

, looted from a nearby second hand shop. It was in Banstead Park where most of the confrontation took place, although the disturbances spread onto Roundhay Road, Roseville Road and smaller residential streets towards the south side of 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 :...

. By the time darkness had fallen the rioting had begun, and continued into the early hours of the following morning.

End of rioting

After over 200 participants spent over seven hours rioting, the police managed to make enough arrests to quell the size of the crowd to a point where it dispersed and the police could regain control.

Damage

Over the course of the rioting 25 cars were burnt out, two police officers and two journalists were severely injured, and a shop was set alight. Both police officers and members of the public were pelted with bottles and bricks.

Aftermath

Many arrests took place following the rioting, local shops were advised only to secure their premises and not to reglaze, as the police feared more rioting would take place, however the riot seemed to be an isolated incident and the violence did not continue beyond 6 June 2001.

Sentencing