UK riots

Tottenham in London is still smouldering with anger and frustration, one week on from rioting.British PM David Cameron pledged "zero tolerance" crackdown on reckless thugs. Two suspects were set to appear in court Sunday over the deaths of three men of Pakistani descent in the riots. Cameron called the riots a turning point in British history as police, politicians and the public thrashed out what to do with the criminals behind an unprecedented wave of violence that rocked England last week. The frenzy of looting, rioting and arson is "going to change things, definitely," Cameron said, describing it as "a huge event in the life of the nation."Cameron has hired former New York police chief Bill Bratton to give advice on tackling gang culture as Britain searches for the best way to deal with its adrift underclass. Bratton was a key figure in imposing "zero tolerance" policing in New York and cutting crime after the 1992 Los Angeles riots. "We haven t talked the language of zero tolerance enough, but the message is getting through," Cameron told a British newspaper. "If you leave the broken window, the shop gets looted again." Cameron said some people were over-complicating explanations for the rioting. Last Sunday residents of the multi-ethnic neighbourhood were assessing the scale of the damage after a night that saw running battles with riot police, homes and businesses reduced to cinders and stores smashed into. But while the clean-up continues and businesses get back to normal one week on, the tension has not dissipated. Tottenham High Road, the neighbourhood s main thoroughfare which was the scene of last Saturday s explosion of violence, remained a crime scene for a week, taped off by the police as they gathered evidence. Saturday should have seen the area streaming with football supporters for Tottenham Hotspur s match against Everton as the English Premier League season kicked off, but the game was postponed for safety reasons. "We re closed since last Saturday," a Turkish restaurant owner said as he finally reopened for business, a week on. "People never demonstrate here to protest. Everybody s unhappy, frustrated. Economy, racism. And suddenly it all explodes," he said. The trigger for last Saturday s riot, which then sparked a wave of arson, looting and disorder across London and then to cities beyond, was the death of Mark Duggan. The 29-year-old was shot dead on Thursday, August 4 by armed police operating with officers from Trident, the unit of London s Metropolitan Police that deals specifically with gun-related murders in the black community. He was stopped in a pre-planned attempted arrest. A non-police issue handgun was recovered from the scene. The Independent Police Complaints Commission, which investigates all deaths involving officers, said there was no evidence of an exchange of shots. Last Saturday s events began with a peaceful march to Tottenham police station on the High Road from Broadwater Farm, a 1960s public housing estate that is notorious across Britain for a deadly 1985 riot. However, within hours, rioting broke out. "The people wanted police to know that they re messing up," reckoned 14-year-old Dillz Shah. His friend Jeffrey Freeman said: "The people wanted revenge for Duggan s killing. James Cardelle added: "My dad thinks Duggan was a very good man, he knew him." Duggan lived on Broadwater Farm, a collection of ugly-looking grey social housing blocks. "He was a nice guy. So sad," said Mohammed Abrar, 22, from beneath a grey hood. The October 6, 1985 Broadwater Farm riot followed riots a week before in Brixton, south London. They were sparked by the stroke death of a black woman during a police search at her home on the Tottenham estate. Youths rioted, attacking police with petrol bombs and bricks. Shots were fired at officers and a policeman was hacked to death by a mob in some of the worst urban rioting in Britain of the past 30 years. Then, as now, fingers were pointed at police "lies", but also at "anger" provoked by governments past and present. In a hairdressing salon opposite a burnt-out two-storey building, the black clientele lambast the authorities and the upper echelons of society.