LONDON (AFP) – United Kingdom (UK) police underestimated “the rising tide of violence” that culminated in anti-immigration riots earlier this year and failed to mitigate against online misinformation which helped fuel it, a watchdog report said yesterday.
Disorder erupted across England and Northern Ireland for more than a week in late July and early August after three girls were killed in a knife attack in Southport, northwest England.
Initially sparked by false rumours spread online that the perpetrator was an asylum seeker, the disorder then morphed into widespread anti-migrant rioting, England’s worst disturbances in more than a decade.
More than 300 officers were injured during the unrest, with 54 admitted to hospital.
The report by the emergency services watchdog into the police response found intelligence “gaps” and failures to understand and curb misinformation spreading on social media, as well as operational errors.
