10 August 2023 , 07:40
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The ringleaders responsible for the riot on Oxford Street must be “hunted down and locked up", the Home Secretary has demanded.
Violence erupted between hundreds of teenagers and police on Wednesday provoked by viral TikTok videos encouraging youngsters to loot stores. Shocking pictures show hundreds of people gathered on the busy street, swinging punches at officers. Several shops in the central London street pulled down their shutters shortly before the mob was due to descend at 3pm, trapping several shoppers inside, to avoid the planned violence.
Traffic was also brought to a halt briefly while mounted police and security personnel tried to disperse crowds, with several people eventually being arrested by police officers. This morning Home Secretary Suella Braverman has called on those responsible to be hunted down and prosecuted.
She said in a video posted on social media: “We cannot allow the kind of lawlessness seen in some American cities to come to the streets of the UK. The police have my full backing to do whatever necessary to ensure public order.
Nine people have been arrested after violence erupted on Oxford Street (Alamy Live News.)“Those responsible must be hunted down & locked up. I expect nothing less from the @metpoliceuk and have requested a full incident report.”
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Nearby underground stations at Goodge Street and Warren Street were temporarily shut due to a request from the police as the incident unfolded. A woman with a pram was knocked to the ground and helped by police in continued commotion into the evening with officers holding batons outside a McDonald's.
The TikTok pranksters urged people to loot stores (Vuk Valcic/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock)Earlier footage showed large groups of teenagers running across Oxford Street and plenty of police officers at the scene. One person tweeted: “Avoid Oxford Circus station if you can. Chaos and confusion as lots of young kids march around.”
Last night the said in a statement: "Throughout Wednesday (9 August) officers maintained a high visibility presence within the Oxford Street area. As of 8.15pm officers have issued 34 people with dispersal orders and made nine arrests.
Police issued a dispersal order in a bid to prevent the mob from storming the streets (PA)“Four people were arrested on suspicion of breaching the dispersal order, one person was arrested on suspicion of going equipped to steal, one person arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer and one person was arrested on suspicion of public order offence." It added in the afternoon two people in Essex were "arrested for conspiracy to commit robbery following online social media posts".
Another witness said they saw around 100 teenagers who were "running amok" on Regents Street. Other people claim to have seen teens trying to loot shops while some said that there were many who were just hanging around and watching the chaos. One person said: "Lots of screaming then a surge. Some sort of mass hysteria but not violence."
Shops pulled down their shutters to avoid being caught up in the chaos (Alamy Live News.)It comes almost a year after several gangs of youths ran amok at Oxford Circus, appearing to jump up and down on Ferraris, loot shops and assault police officers. The scary scenes were captured online, with a number of arrests made.