2011 England riots

A series of riots took place between 6 and 11 August 2011 in cities and towns across England, which saw looting and arson, as well as mass deployment of police and the deaths of five people.

The protests started in Tottenham Hale, London, following the killing of Mark Duggan, a local mixed-race man who was shot dead by police on 4 August. Several violent clashes with police followed Duggan's death, along with the destruction of police vehicles, a double-decker bus and many homes and businesses, which rapidly gained the attention of the media. Overnight, looting took place in Tottenham Hale retail park and in nearby Wood Green. The following days saw similar scenes in other parts of London, with the worst rioting taking place in Hackney, Brixton, Walthamstow, Wandsworth, Peckham, Enfield, Battersea, Croydon, Ealing, Barking, Woolwich, Lewisham and East Ham.

From 8 to 11 August, other towns and cities in England (including Birmingham, Bristol, Coventry, Derby, Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester and Nottingham) faced what was described by the media as "copycat violence", with social media playing a role. By 10 August, more than 3,000 arrests had been made across England, with at least 1,984 people facing criminal charges for various offences related to the riots. Initially, courts sat for extended hours. A total of 3,443 crimes across London were linked to the disorder. Along with the five deaths, at least 16 others were injured^[update] as a direct result of related violent acts. An estimated £200 million worth of property damage was incurred, and local economic activity – which in many cases was already struggling due to the Great Recession – was significantly compromised.

Significant debate was generated among political, social, and academic figures about the causes and context of the riots. Attributions for the rioters' behaviour included social factors such as racial tension, class tension, economic decline and its consequent unemployment.

On 4 August 2011, a police officer shot dead 29-year-old Mark Duggan during an intelligence-led, targeted vehicle stop procedure on the Ferry Lane bridge next to Tottenham Hale station. The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC, now replaced by the Independent Office for Police Conduct) said that the planned arrest was part of Operation Trident, which at that time investigated gun crime in the Black community. The incident had been referred to the IPCC, which was standard practice if death or serious injury follows police contact.

Following the shooting, the media widely reported that a bullet was found embedded in a police radio, implying that Duggan fired on the police. Friends and relatives of Duggan said that he was unarmed. The police later revealed that initial ballistics tests on the bullet recovered from the police radio indicate that it was a "very distinct" police issue hollow-point bullet. The IPCC later stated that a loaded Bruni/BBM blank-firing pistol, converted to fire live ammunition, was recovered from the scene. It was wrapped in a sock, and there was no evidence that it had been fired.

On 13 August, the IPCC stated that Duggan did not open fire: "It seems possible that we may have verbally led journalists to [wrongly] believe that shots were exchanged." The bullet that had lodged in an officer's radio is believed to have been an overpenetration, having passed through Duggan's body.

At lunchtime on 6 August, a meeting was called by police between local community leaders, councillors and members of police advisory groups. In this meeting, police were warned several times that there could possibly be another riot similar to the Broadwater Farm riot of 1985 if local concerns regarding the death were not addressed.