Eyewitness: A night of violence in Leeds
BBC north of England correspondent John Thorne witnessed the
violence unfold throughout the night in Leeds.
The powerful beam of light from the underbelly of the
hovering police helicopter acted like a beacon to the street violence.
As crowds rampaged up and down the rib of side roads off the
dilapidated main artery through the Harehills district of inner city Leeds, the
light followed those determined to destroy and injure. And despite the police's
clear and clever co-ordination between the bright-eye-in-the-sky and the squads
of officers almost entirely enveloped in their riot protection gear, mindless
damage was done to cars, police vans and a number of shops. There were long
stand-offs between the stone and missile attacks that rattled off the
full-length riot shields - but the wave of destruction continued to ebb and
flowed through the area.