Leeds council carries out ‘urgent review’ of ‘family issue’ which appeared to spark riots, as Home Secretary condemns ‘bold crime’ | UK news

A riot broke out in the Harehills area of ​​Leeds on Thursday night, which saw police pelted with rocks and bottles, an police vehicle overturned and a bus set on fire.

Leeds City Council said it was carrying out an “urgent review” of a “family matter” which sparked riots in the Harehills area.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper condemned the scenes of violence which were widely shared on social media on Thursday night.

She warned that the perpetrators of “bold crime” would “face the full force of the law”.

On Friday, representatives of the Roma community met with Leeds City Council to “express concerns about a family matter” that took place on July 18.

Earlier, police said officers were called at around 5pm on Thursday “after social workers reported being met with hostility when dealing with a child protection matter”.

They said responding officers were attacked and helped social workers to retreat “to a safe place”.

After this, the disorder escalated into rioting and violence that left a bus burning and a police car overturned.

On Friday, the council said it had agreed to undertake an urgent review of the case and work with the Romanian and Roma community to move forward.

A Council statement added: “The Romanian and Roma community have played a fantastic role in the community and have contributed greatly to the diversity and richness of Harehills.

“We want this work to continue and to further develop work that makes Harehills an even better place to work and live.

“Last night’s events will not help our community or family.

“We need to work together with the authorities to ensure the best outcomes for the community and ensure our voices are heard at the highest level so we can avoid scenarios like this in the future.”

Also speaking on Friday night, Ms Cooper said: “It is important that people feel safe on their streets and that offenders feel the full force of the law.

“We have seen issues related to misinformation, with the police having to respond to a complex child protection issue.

“Many people will have seen some of the shocking scenes of the audacious crime on social media and that is why it is so important that these people face the full force of the law.”

It comes as West Yorkshire Police said they had arrested five people following the riots and scenes of violence.

Police said more arrests were expected in the coming days.

Riots, said the force, broke out in the Harehills area on Thursday.

After initially responding, police retreated from the unrest which turned violent, leading to a police vehicle being overturned, rocks and bottles being thrown and several being set on fire – including a burning bus.

Deputy Chief Constable Pat Twiggs said: “We continually assessed the situation and took the decision to send specialist law enforcement officers who then came under a barrage of bricks and rockets from a large group.”

The decision was then taken to withdraw the officers when it became “obvious that the police were their only target”, to calm tensions.

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Residents were warned to stay at home, while local councilors tried in person and on social media to calm the crowds and ease the unrest.

Green Party councilor for Gipton and Harehills Mothin Ali described the scenes as “absolute chaos” and called on the community to remain calm after the incident.

Speaking from the scene on Friday, he said: “The scene was absolute chaos. It was quite chaotic.

“We were trying to shelter the police, act as human shields for the police, because they were there without helmets, without shields, being pelted with bricks and bottles, so we were trying to calm people down and act as a protective barrier.”

Ali said the local officers were “fantastic” but said the withdrawal was the wrong decision.