JOIN USTeen charged with London riots murder
The government said police would get better training and stronger powers to deal with a new and unpredictable era of street disturbances.
“We will make sure police have the powers they need,” said Home Secretary Theresa May — including, she suggested, the power to impose blanket curfews in troubled areas.
A teenager, who has not been named because of his age, appeared in court on Tuesday accused of killing 68-year-old Richard Bowes, who was found lying in a street during violence in Ealing, west London, on Aug 8.
CCTV footage captured Bowes being punched and falling to the pavement after he tried to stamp out a fire set by rioters. He died of head injuries three days later.
The suspect, dressed in a black shirt and with his arms crossed, was charged with murder, violent disorder and the burglary of a bookmakers, a supermarket, a video store and a restaurant.
He did not enter a plea and was ordered detained as he awaits trial at the Central Criminal Court.
The boy’s 31-year-old mother has been charged with obstructing the police investigation. She also was denied bail.
Police have arrested more than 3,000 people over riots that erupted Aug 6 in north London and flared for four nights across the capital and other English cities.
And about 1,400 have been charged with riot-related offenses. More than 1,200 have appeared in court — often in chaotic, round-the clock-sessions dispensing justice that is swifter, and harsher, than usual.
Cops protected Olympic sites
British police say they sent officers to the 2012 Olympic sites and major shopping centers during riots after intercepting phone and social network messages suggesting those areas were targets.
Police sent extra officers to London’s Oxford Circus, two malls and the Olympic Park after seeing messages about those areas on Twitter and the BlackBerry devices of people who had been arrested for rioting.