London Riots

[Former Member]

Since Saturday evening 215 people have been arrested and 27 people charged according to the British Home Secretary Theresa May, who returned home early from holiday Monday. Over 35 officers have been injured. As the rioting is still taking place. Buses, cars and shops have been vandalised and set alight. Innocent members of public attacked and inured.

What initially sparked the riots is unclear but many suspect it involved the shooting of 29-year-old Mark Duggan in north London on Thursday. His shooting at the hands of police while he was riding in a cab.

Officers from Operation Trident -- the Metropolitan Police unit that deals with gun crime in London's black communities -- stopped the cab during an attempted arrest and soon afterwards shots were fired, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said. Duggan, a father of four, was fatally wounded.

 

There are varying accounts of what happened -- initial reports from the IPCC said that during an apparent exchange of gun fire police officers fired two shots and Duggan died at the scene.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/

[h0rniekittenz]

I'm very confused about all this, I understand a man was shot but who was this man? There is so much chaos in the world its so hard to keep up!

[John Doe]

I just want to know why.... what the cause of these riots is/are... this seems very unprovoked... at the most probable: provoked by ill-rationalized thoughts... and idiots are swarming up in the fever... should one of them all leap in front all a bridge will the rest follow? *shakes heads in annoyance* Times are tough... deal with it... folks you ain't the only one in the world that is suffering...

[Michael9344]

The riots seem unprovoked alright. But I think ppl are just angry with the way things have been going on that when an "opportunity" happened they used to vent. But I want to know the immediate reason for the unrest.

[thephoenix]

There are conflicting reports as to whether Mark Duggan was armed. If indeed Mark was armed and shooting (but missed) at an officer (there was a bullet lodged in a radio), then yes, I believe the shooting was warranted. Unfortunate, yes, but why would he be shooting at an officer in the first place?

 

If Mark was NOT armed, then there is a problem. Why did police shoot at an unarmed man? Yes, he is known to police for dealing with drugs and guns, but that is no reason to fire at someone who is unarmed, unless they are fleeing. Some people said it was racially motivated. I'm not buying it. Some people are too quick to jump on the racially-motivated bandwagon whenever a black guy is involved in some crime.

 

I believe it started off as a peaceful protest that turned ugly fast. Possibly from anarchists and opportunists looking for free loot or publicity, and more joining in amidst the chaos.

 

There was something similar that happened here in Toronto during the G20 protests, on a slightly smaller scale. It started off peaceful, but again those anarchists and opportunists took advantage of the situation. (Most infamous picture being the burning police car in the middle of an intersection). However, sometimes police go overboard as they did in Toronto by the way they arrested people en masse. There was a second peaceful protest to protest the police brutality and some officers were charged.

 

I can't really say whether this is some deja vu of the G20 or if it's something different entirely. We shall wait and see...

[Hamen Cheese]

From what I've read, people have taken up the opportunity to take back what they've lost due to the recession and cut backs.

 

Seems like an extreme sense of entitlement for some. Of course different people probably have different motivations. It's just shocking it has spiraled out of control like that.

[Leicht]

Error

Edited August 9, 2011 by Leicht

[Leicht]

I think majority of people there are depressed lately; no job, increased in standard of living and the peaceful protest by the family member is somehow misused by these people as away to let go their frustations and it doesn't make sense and it's actually quite funny from my point of view; so that they can get the new HDTV,etc. I mean seriously? I can understand the 70's riot but this?

[Nephylim]

It's one thing to be angry at the establishment who have f**ked you around for years but another thing altogether to take it out on people who have struggled alongside you.

 

Why take your anger out on people who have fought all their lives for what what little they have and are living in peace with their lot and such little as they have. Lets not make a mistake here. No matter who you are, what you have been through, where you have come from, how disenfranchised or disenchanted you are nothing gives you the right to hurt other people or put them in fear for their lives.

 

You don't NEED a HDTV you do need self respect, dignity and compassion.

[akisar61]

It's one thing to be angry at the establishment who have f**ked you around for years but another thing altogether to take it out on people who have struggled alongside you.

 

Why take your anger out on people who have fought all their lives for what what little they have and are living in peace with their lot and such little as they have. Lets not make a mistake here. No matter who you are, what you have been through, where you have come from, how disenfranchised or disenchanted you are nothing gives you the right to hurt other people or put them in fear for their lives.

 

You don't NEED a HDTV you do need self respect, dignity and compassion.

 

 

Nephylim

I totally agree with what you have to say and I think the majority of my fellow Londoners will agree with you.

Akisar61

[Dannsar]

No matter who you are, what you have been through, where you have come from, how disenfranchised or disenchanted you are nothing gives you the right to hurt other people or put them in fear for their lives.

Paradigmatically correct, syntagmatically so far from the case it is surprising. Nephy, if I thought for one minute you would stand up in fron of the current Syrians, Libyans, etc, or the Russians objecting to the overthrow of Gorbachev, or the Chinese people protesting in Tinanmen Square, I might start to think you had a point. But, somehow, I can't see you doing that, cos as far as I have been able to divine in my few months at GA, you are way too intelligent for that. Sometimes, the only way is to rise up and destroy. But, as I say, paradigmatically you are correct. It is just not what is needed here, although that may actually be stretching the truth a little if you read what I will say below.

 

 

You don't NEED a HDTV you do need self respect, dignity and compassion.

Again, untrue. And I so wish it wasn't. But it is. The HDTV is a symbol of value in an social economy using relative values such as peer dignity as its currencies. If it is necessary, then it is necessary. And I do agree with your general sentiment ... that's just a crying shame, imo.

 

 

 

As for the Mark Duggan affair, as I read it, following the lunchtime news, a gun was found at the scene, and it was capable of firing live ammunition. There is still a question of who actually fired the bullet in the policeman's radio (i.e. him or another officer), but it would seem unlikely to me that they shot the guy for no good reason. But that is yet to be seen.

 

 

 

Now, as to the riots themselves. I'd like to suggest the following as a contributory factor ... and only contributory. I think it illustrates a large part of the problem.

 

I wonder how many Polish plumbers, African maids, immigrant Afghan whatevers etc etc etc will be found to be involved in these riots? I'm willing to bet that significantly low levels, and probably all of those will be economic migrants who have not found work. The rest of them will be far too busy earning an honest crust and getting on with the job of living, rather than sitting about on their complacent arses, waiting for an oppportunity to go out and have a bit of a larf, smashing up things they do not value, because the concept of values, as held by the generality of society, has passed them by.

 

The reason these young people are a-riot is because they are bored, marginalised, and have nothing to do. It may not excuse their behaviour, but it sure as hell goes a fair length to explaining it. And bear in mind that the UK school system is currently on holiday, so there is a far higher degree of disaffected youth with nothing better to do, available at the moment, as well as the opportunistic anarchists ready to deploy at a moment's notice. (Oh the irony).

 

I am fairly disgusted at the conduct of our economic policy in the past twenty five years or so. We bring immigrant workers in, holus bolus, employ them to do the shitty jobs we feel we are way too important to do, pay them a pittance, treat them like shite, and castagate them for actually working. Exactly the same thing happened in the 50s in the UK with people coming to mainland UK from the Commonwealth to provide labour. They were black, so our parents etc were content to call them niggers ad such like. Not that I actually think nigger is a bad word, just that when our parents' generations used it, they meant it in a very nasty way.

 

While the 50s paradigm was actually trying to address a situation where there was a real labour shortage for the economy at the time, the migration practices now are ... and I am quoting from many politicians here ... to support the economy of the UK because we cannot support it all ourselves.

 

Think about what that is saying. Our economic costs are way too high for us to manage, mainly in healthcare of an ageing population, pension provision in an ageing population, and higher welfare costs in a ... well more of that later..., and we need to maintain high turnover and output while maintaining a low wage economy as much as we can. Well, that is a normal tension for a capitalist economy. But hold on just a minute. What about all the people in the UK who are perfectly able to perform this work, but just won't because they are too lazy, or are too self-regarding, to knuckle down and get on with the process of learning the skills, or getting their hands dirty.

 

If we, as a society, allow them to sponge rampantly, and provide nothing for them to do, then we are creating a separate class of people who will view society in a different way. And we can jump up and down about this in Daily Flail terms till we are blue in the face. The fact of the matter is that there will still be a separate societal element with a differeing view on things.

 

Curiously Margaret Thatcher throws the truth of this into relief as well as being it's greatest cause. She changed our economic system so that people had to work to maintain a roof over their heads. She sold us the council houses and gave lots of us mortgages. We all of a sudden found it pretty unappealing to be on strike all the time, so our work ethic changed. For the better. But she also began the process of shuffling people off into corners with a small amount of money per week to keep them quiet. They do little, but they don't really care because they are paid to do that, and they can fiddle the rest of it somehow anyway. A gap then appears between the haves (jobs) and the have nots. Those with jobs are constricted by their mortgages, those without are not. Effectively, those without have more power because of their existence outwith 'normal' society, than those within it.

 

They also become disenfranchised and dejected. Raging against the hated machine which farms them to be indolent and treats them like shite in the first place, they disengage, and so the spiral continues downwards. The enfranchised society then declares them not worth a f**k, and gets in some other crew of dejected people to do the work. Except this dejected crew know the value of work and opportunity, and get on with the job.

 

Hence why we won't be seeing too many of the aforesaid economic migrants involved in the rioting. They are like Outraged of Oxley ... working their butts off to get by. But they are also part of the problem, indirectly. Not that you can blame them. We asked them here in most cases, to do our dirty work because we couldn't be bothered to kick the lazy arses of our own people to do it instead.

 

Send them all back? Hell, no. That would be ridiculous. They are prepared to work, and have come here under perfectly legitimate methods, for the most part. They need to be respected and valued. And I don't just mean as economic migrants, but as humans too ... which they are all too often not.

 

But western capitalist systems need to look at their own arrangements. they need to stop importing cheap labour from abroad and using them as modern day slaves (low pay, little choice, treated like sub-human shite) and demand of their own people, who they pay a wage to every week to sit back and do sweet fanny adams (that's Sweet F**k All, to those of you who don't know the idiom) to get their fingers out and get some learning done, then get some working done, and then get some bloody engaging done.

 

Do you know why it is so easy for Muslim fundametalists to maintain a war against other forces? It's because there are huge numbers of bored young men sitting around waiting for something to do. It's the same in this paradigm ... give people too much time to do too much nothing, and they will get into too much bother. Tire them out during the day, they will sleep at night. Ensure they have to fight a little for their daily bread, and they will think twice about being on the streets in the evening burning and looting.

 

And before anybody gets on their high horse and starts ranting that I am a crew cutted thug wanting to throw all of the foreigners out ... go back three paragraphs and read again.

 

This is one of the reaons why London is burning at the moment. Much like Kings Cross Station burned when too much dust accumulated under the escalator, too much dust has been sept under the social carpet in the UK, and it catches light every now and then. Without a good hard look at the facts, the day will come when there will be a real conflagration, and a few extra bobbies on the beat will have little or no effect whatsoever.

[Arpeggio]

My friend Cryptic (GA member) lives in London and he told me it was a bunch of anarchists seeking an opportunity to do some damage. Which is a bit silly, if everyone were anarchists, we'd all die at a four way stop sign.

 

It sounds it's happening for all the wrong reasons. People are looting and destroying property; it's just sad on their part.

[Nephylim]

Paradigmatically correct, syntagmatically so far from the case it is surprising. Nephy, if I thought for one minute you would stand up in fron of the current Syrians, Libyans, etc, or the Russians objecting to the overthrow of Gorbachev, or the Chinese people protesting in Tinanmen Square, I might start to think you had a point. But, somehow, I can't see you doing that, cos as far as I have been able to divine in my few months at GA, you are way too intelligent for that. Sometimes, the only way is to rise up and destroy. But, as I say, paradigmatically you are correct. It is just not what is needed here, although that may actually be stretching the truth a little if you read what I will say below.

 

 

 

 

Again, untrue. And I so wish it wasn't. But it is. The HDTV is a symbol of value in an social economy using relative values such as peer dignity as its currencies. If it is necessary, then it is necessary. And I do agree with your general sentiment ... that's just a crying shame, imo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't think that you are right. Fighting for civil liberty against a tyrant, dictator or oppressive establishment... or any form of oppression for that matter is justifiable... just. I believe in fighting for what you believe in with the best of them. I appreciate that violence can be necessary in extreme situations and i would be the first to fight for my family and friends BUT

 

That does not give anyone a RIGHT to behave with violence no matter what the situation and... as I said... fighting against an oppressive establishment is one thing but pulling down your neightbour, the person who has struggled against the same oppression and made the best they can of their lives with as little, if not less than you have is not, in my opinion, acceptable or justifiable. Yes, there are casualties of war and it is inevitable in any offensive that sometimes innocent people are caught up in it but deliberate assaults on innocent people, looting, violence and abuse of your own is undefendable.

 

And do you REALLY think that a HDTV or any TV at all is a necessity? I don't have HDTV, or a 40' wall mounted flat screen. I don't have a car. I can't afford holidays abroad. I can't afford designer clothes or a big house or a yacht or to eat out in fancy restaruants. I got excited when I got my £300 laptop. As a single mother working part time there a lot of things that I can't afford and, know what? I don't care. I live my life without wanting to crush or hurt others who have better ones and I'm satisfied... no happy with it. I have what i need not what I want and I don't think i suffer for it.

 

I know we are all different and there is nothing wrong with bettering yourself but do you really do that when you get what you want from someone else's home or by smashing through the window of someone who is probably fighting just as hard as you are to survive this society.

 

If you're angry direct it at the right people and in the right way

[Former Member]

Last night and further more today, the riots have now spread to different cities across England. Birmingham, Liverpool, Nottingham, Manchester and Bristol have now seen rioting taking place. Also latest investigation in to Mark Duggan's shooting has found no evidence of a bullet being shot from Mark's gun

[Fianna Ai]

I admire your compassion, Nephylim, and I agree with the sentiments you're expressing. Ideally, we wouldn't view material gains, HD or otherwise, as a necessary factor, and I'm not commenting on it now.

 

At the same time, Dannsar has some relevant points, no matter how repugnant the reality may be. Pragmatically speaking, no one reading this (and probably no one you know either) got up this morning and said, "Well! Nothing to do today! Let's go throw a molotov at the Police Station." (and if you did, then wtf?)

No one gets that angry over nothing - environmental pressures build up, and ticked off people feed off of each other and get pissed. There's been a lot going on over there right now, good and bad - Royal Weddings, massive journalistic scandals, including hacking and privacy issues, and some of the same economic downturn that's affecting everyone else. A lot of psychological issues occur when people are out of work for whatever reason. Studies have proven that young men in particular are seen to react especially badly to long periods of forced inactivity or to feelings of emasculation when they fail to provide for themselves and their families - self-anger is just as easily used to feed the blaze.

 

Does that make it right? No. No one is saying that. No one is really in the right here - I honestly wonder how much of the issue is really even about what's right and what's wrong. Plenty of people who feel it's wrong aren't rioting - don't forget about them. (If even a slight majority of people felt that it was right, the story would be a lot more drastic than it is right now.) I would like to be able to say that I wouldn't resort to violence except to protect my household, because that fits my definition of moral integrity; but honestly, there are some things we don't know about ourselves until we're faced with them, and I'm fortunate enough not to have been. As for the people who are rioting, like everyone else, many of them have their own personal reasons for it, don't you think?

 

“In one NBC report, a young man in Tottenham was asked if rioting really achieved anything: “Yes,” said the young man. “You wouldn’t be talking to me now if we didn’t riot, would you?”

 

“Two months ago we marched to Scotland Yard, more than 2,000 of us, all blacks, and it was peaceful and calm and you know what? Not a word in the press. Last night a bit of rioting and looting and look around you.”

 

Eavesdropping from among the onlookers, I looked around. A dozen TV crews and newspaper reporters interviewing the young men everywhere.”

Reblogged by Laughterkey on Tumblr

 

Maybe that means we should be focusing our question how easily we turn to violence, and of course on what environmental pressures led to this feeling of desperation or entrapment that made this seem like a good idea to those people; or maybe it means we should continue investigating journalistic practices that don't come around until things turn bloody, thereby validating that young man's point of view. Maybe Dannsar has a point that we should investigate what we're teaching our young adults - many around my age across the pond feel that they are entitled to HD goodness regardless of the quality of their work ethic, and it doesn't always work that way.

 

Personally, there are days when I wish a few more people thought the way Nephylim does.

 

 

Back to the main topic; live streaming coverage is available on bbc.co.uk, and my fiancee told me police have just been authorized to use rubber bullets on rioters. If you follow a deity and haven't spoken a few words of peace yet, now isn't a bad time.

 

 

 

[thephoenix]

Whether or not the violent rioters feel that their actions are justifiable, this is not the way to do it. The people should present their views in a civil and intelligible fashion because right now, the world is just thinking how those "bored" people are the bane of society and that they should all be put in jail. Have you noticed there is no clear reason for the riots? Some may indeed be looting just for the sake of looting to get that elusive oh-so-shiny 40" LED HDTV. But some people may have grievances against the government or some other group of people. We don't know! That is part of the problem! We don't know what they are rioting for, defeating the purpose of the riots in the first place!

 

I can't pin this solely on the people either. I have seen many times that whenever a peaceful protest is made, it is ignored. The government needs to at least acknowledge their views and remember first and foremost who are the people who put them in their job position in the first place.

 

As we know, baby boomers around the world are beginning to leave the workforce and going into retirement. It is inevitable, but I think this is where most of the problems stem from. Will the financial burden be placed solely on the shoulders of Generation X and Y?

[Dannsar]

I don't think that you are right. Fighting for civil liberty against a tyrant, dictator or oppressive establishment... or any form of oppression for that matter is justifiable... just. I believe in fighting for what you believe in with the best of them. I appreciate that violence can be necessary in extreme situations and i would be the first to fight for my family and friends BUT

 

... And do you REALLY think that a HDTV or any TV at all is a necessity?

 

Nephy, I did try to be very clear in what I said. Paradigmatically ou are correct ... that is to say, in the case at hand, you are right, and I agree with you. But I was trying to point out that it is not ALWAYS wrong to get violent to effect changes. And that is what you seemed to be saying ...

 

No matter who you are, what you have been through, where you have come from, how disenfranchised or disenchanted you are nothing gives you the right to hurt other people or put them in fear for their lives.

Pretty unequivocal to me.

 

After all, middle class bullying (my term for the method by which the middle classes never listen to reasonable complaints, then tell you that if you make a fuss or raise your voice, that they are not going to listen to you, then when you comply they ignore you again) is exactly what other people have pointed out above ... 2000 people march peacefully to Scotland Yard ... no coverage or apparent acknowledgement.

 

As for the HDTV ... well, again, if you read closely what I said, you will see that I do not think one is necessary. But some people live in a culture where they think it is. And there little gainsaying it. It just is as it is. That's the reality of their situation where they are. You don't have to like it. I just don't like it. But that doesn't change the realities.

[Dannsar]

Last night and further more today, the riots have now spread to different cities across England. Birmingham, Liverpool, Nottingham, Manchester and Bristol have now seen rioting taking place. Also latest investigation in to Mark Duggan's shooting has found no evidence of a bullet being shot from Mark's gun

 

True, it would appear. But what is hidden in plain sight in this statement is that he HAD a gun. Furthermore, it was loaded. And on top of that, it was perfectly capable of being fired.

 

Now, nobody wants people dead, or at least reasonable people don't. But if you have a gun, you are automatically a threat in a society where gun ownership is pretty strictly controlled. And if you get involved with police pointing guns at you, telling you to put it down or whatever, you need to make damned sure you aint going to make a wrong move.

 

The circumstances are not clear yet. But I would be willing to bet that he presented some clear threat. Not clever when marksmen are telling you what to do. You make your own luck in this life to a large extent. And walking around with a loaded handgun on the streets of terrorised London is inviting trouble, not increasing your own luck levels.

 

Of course, the police will now be shat upon from a great height by the touch feelies and civil rights lobby. But, ehm, how many times do I have to ask this ... ? ... Why the hell did this Mark bloke have a loaded hangun on the streets of London?

 

Oh, yeah, that's right. It's an invalid question. He was black and therefore oppressed. Therefore his family self indulged themselves by holding a peaceful protest about his shooting ... which was not at all reasonable, because he was only carrying a loaded handgun ffs.

 

Result:? Every idiot in London decides to go on the rampage because a guy with a loaded handgun on the streets of London gets himself shot and his family think this is an objectionable thing because it is clearly perfectly acceptable to have a loaded handgun in your possession on the terrorised streets of London.

 

Do I sound annoyed? Bloody right. What the hell is the world coming to?

 

Posters note ... this rant was not aimed at Mike, just at the situation in general

[JamesSavik]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4dL0lv72oM

[W_L]

"The shot that was heard around the world" was the signal for World War I. A very simple issue can lead to something very profound and dangerous; the London riots have grown to engulf many areas and it no longer matter what started the riots, because the signal has now been tuned on every rebellious heart.

 

In the end, I have a sinking suspicion the US is not far behind the rest of the world in terms of popular discontent. We have had a pro-longed period of economic distress and very little hope in sight. Also, unemployment benefits for the millions still unemployed, both reported and unreported due to giving up on job search, have begun stopping after the maximum extension has been reach from the start of the Great Recession.

 

People are fed up and it has been building up for a while, London was merely the powder keg and the UK forces need to keep watch, heck it might be necessary to recall some forces back to the UK for domestic security if this worsens. The reports are getting worse and worse about the civil unrest in the UK and I hope none of the GA members will be harmed or worse during this trying time.

 

Perhaps as Jamesavvik once thought on another subject about the end of the world, it's not too late to get a few guns and stash a some gold

[Dannsar]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4dL0lv72oM

 

These videos may be interesting or informative, but they have DRM blocks for the UK, so we cant see them

[Leicht]

Shockingly, youths are the main cause of this riots. My friend was mugged on Harrow road few hours ago by them and he has sustain injury because of they want to steal his smartphone ==

[paya]

and here we have the answer:

 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2011/08/11/london-riots-young-rioters-say-they-re-proud-to-steal-115875-23335860/

 

London riots: Young rioters say they're proud to steal

By MELISSA THOMPSON and RACHAEL BLETCHLY, Daily Mirror 11/08/2011

...

 

“People say it started ‘cause of Tottenham,” he said, “but that had nothing to do with what happened.

“People did what they did because they could. So what if we get caught? Prison’s full so no one’s going to go there, are they?”

Surveying the boarded-up buildings, LJ has little sympathy. “I suppose you could say people got carried away,” he shrugged. “I threw bricks because they were there.”

 

...

 

“I saw kids who were eight years old, everyone got involved. They just went in and grabbed what they could. Why not?”

Attitudes were similar in Manchester on Tuesday night where two lads loitered.

Admitting they had been looting earlier, the lad said: “Why are you going to waste the opportunity to get new stuff?

“We could afford to buy stuff, but it’s not about that. It’s about the Government – them taking stuff away... in my case I don’t go to college no more cos I don’t get paid, do I?

“The Government aren’t in control. If they were we wouldn’t be able to do it.” His mate piped up: “Yeah, what can they do? I’ll keep doing this until I get caught. My family don’t know where I am – they think I’m just out.”

 

But his pal bragged: “I told my mam I’m here. She said ‘Get home, you’re in trouble’ I said ‘no’ and just put down the phone.

“When I get home nothing will happen. I might get shouted at but that’s about it. I can live with that and just keep doing it.”

The boys had no fear of a criminal record. One said: “Prisons are overcrowded so what are they gonna do – give me an asbo? I’ll live with that.”

 

 

[Smooth6058]

Well Said!

 

It's one thing to be angry at the establishment who have f**ked you around for years but another thing altogether to take it out on people who have struggled alongside you.

 

Why take your anger out on people who have fought all their lives for what what little they have and are living in peace with their lot and such little as they have. Lets not make a mistake here. No matter who you are, what you have been through, where you have come from, how disenfranchised or disenchanted you are nothing gives you the right to hurt other people or put them in fear for their lives.

 

You don't NEED a HDTV you do need self respect, dignity and compassion.

 

[thephoenix]

I am just...speechless. All my preconceptions about who were responsible have been thrown right out the window. This is a lesson that we, myself included, could learn from...

 

Shock over 'respectable' lives behind masks of UK rioters

London (CNN)

 

Before they started appearing in court, most people assumed London's rioters and looters were unemployed youths with no hope and no future.

 

So there was much surprise when details of the accused began to emerge, and they included some from wealthy backgrounds or with good jobs.

 

Those passing through London's courtrooms on Tuesday and Wednesday -- some courts sat overnight to cope with the numbers -- have included a teaching assistant, a lifeguard, a postman, a chef, a charity worker, a millionaire's daughter and an 11-year-old boy, newspapers reported.

 

The tabloid Sun newspaper wrote in its opinion page on Thursday of the "sick" society described by Prime Minister David Cameron: "The sickness starts on welfare-addicted estates where feckless parents let children run wild."

 

But its front-page headline told a different story about the accused: "Lifeguard, postman, hairdresser, teacher, millionaire's daughter, chef and schoolboy, 11."

 

The Daily Mail reported: "While the trouble has been largely blamed on feral teenagers, many of those paraded before the courts yesterday led apparently respectable lives."

 

The upmarket Daily Telegraph devoted its page three to the case of Laura Johnson, the 19-year-old daughter of a company director who pleaded not guilty to stealing £5,000 ($8,000) of electrical goods, under the headline: "Girl who has it all is accused of theft."

 

The newspaper said she lived in a converted farmhouse in the leafy London suburb of Orpington, Kent, with extensive grounds and a tennis court, had studied at one of the best-performing state schools in the country and now attends the University of Exeter.

 

Reporter Andrew Gilligan wrote in the Daily Telegraph: "Here in court, as David Cameron condemned the 'sickness' in parts of British society, we saw clearly, for the first time, the face of the riot: stripped of its hoods and masks, dressed in white prison T-shirts and handcuffed to burly security guards.

 

"It was rather different from the one we had been expecting."

 

He added of the defendants at Highbury Magistrates Court in north London: "Most were teenagers or in their early twenties, but a surprising number were older.

 

"Most interestingly of all, they were predominantly white, and many had jobs."

 

Most newspapers highlighted the case of Alexis Bailey, a 31-year-old learning mentor in an elementary school, who pleaded guilty to burglary with intent to steal at an electrical store in Croydon, south of London.

 

It was reported that Bailey surrendered to police without stealing anything.

 

The youngest defendant so far -- an 11-year-old boy -- also gained much attention in newspapers.

 

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, from Romford, east of London, admitted stealing a £50 ($80) trash can from a department store, the Guardian reported.

 

The Daily Mail highlighted the cases of Barry Naine, a 42-year-old charity worker charged with burglary; postman Jeffrey Ebanks, 32, and his student nephew Jamal Ebanks, 18, allegedly caught in a car stuffed with electrical goods near a looted Croydon store.

 

It also reported that Jason Matthews, a 35-year-old new father arrested in a Tesco supermarket, told police he "was not one of the bad ones" and needed diapers for his baby; and that Christopher Heart, a 23-year-old scaffolder and father of two, shouted "sorry for the inconvenience" and broke down in tears after admitting burglary at a sports shop in east London.

 

Lifeguard Aaron Mulholland, 30, wept as he appeared in court accused of joining thieves in a cell phone shop, the Daily Mail reported.

 

The Sun reported that an organic chef, Fitzroy Thomas, 43, and his 47-year-old brother Ronald, denied smashing up a branch of the Nando's chicken restaurant chain.

 

The Metropolitan Police in London said on its website on Thursday that 401 people have been charged so far.

 

Greater Manchester Police said five men aged between 46 and 23 had already been jailed for their part in the disorder.

 

West Midlands Police said 26 people, including a 44-year-old man, had appeared before an overnight court session in relation to the disorder in Birmingham.