Man charged after bus set on fire during Leeds riots, five more arrested | UK news

Police are arresting five more people and charging a man with arson after riots in the Harehills area of ​​the West Yorkshire town saw a bus set on fire and a police car overturned on its side. Nigel Farage’s comments about the mess prompt a local Green councilor to hit back.

A man has been charged with arson and violent disorder after a bus was torched during riots in Leeds on Thursday night.

He has been named as Iustin Dobre, 37, and will appear at Leeds Crown Court on Monday.

Five other people were arrested on suspicion of violent disorder on Saturday and remain in police custody, West Yorkshire Police said.

On Friday, the force vowed to “leave no stone unturned” in the hunt for those behind the mess as officers. arrested several people.

Riots broke out in the Harehills area of ​​Leeds on Thursday after police went to help social workers dealing with a child protection issue.

This one spiraled rapidlywith an overturned police car, officers pelted rocks and bottles and residents told to stay indoors.

A vigil was held in Harehills on Friday night, which police said “passed off peacefully”.

A woman was arrested, being suspected of a crime against public order. She was released and given a conditional caution.

Police said they would maintain an increased presence in the area in the coming days.

Read more:
Leeds Council carries out ‘urgent review’ of ‘family issue’
‘Highly visible police presence’ on Leeds streets after riot

The latest arrests came as the Green Party councilor for Harehills hit out at Nigel Farage after he claimed the disorder was “sub-continent politics”.

As police flooded the area, Mr Farage wrote on X: “The politics of the subcontinent are currently playing out on the streets of Leeds. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Mothin Ali, Green Party councilor for the Gipton and Harehills district, said: “Farage is in America commenting on a community he knows nothing about.

“As he has done time and time again, he is trying to use tensions to further divide society for his own political gain.

“I’m politely asking him to leave us alone while we undertake the work necessary to bring our community back together.”

On Friday, representatives of the Roma community met with Leeds City Council officials to express their concerns about the family matter which has escalated into unrest.

The council said it had agreed to an “urgent review” of the case and would “collaborate with Romanian and Roma-led organisations… in the best interests of the family and the wider Roma community”.

“We ask all communities to remain calm and ensure we don’t see any further disturbances,” it said, adding that Thursday’s incident “will not help our community or family.”

The Green Party praised Mr Ali for “bringing calm and unity” after the unrest.

He was filmed trying to stop more objects being added to the fire and urging rioters to calm down.

“Mothin put himself at risk to keep the peace and worked tirelessly throughout the night to defuse the tension and support the police officers who were at the scene,” a Green Party spokesman said.

“His courage and conviction are a shining example of the work councilors across the country are doing for their local communities.”