Four days later
Presenter: ‘Welcome to the BBC news at nine o’clock … This is the second consecutive day of peace on the streets of London and other major towns and cities across the UK. The end of the disorder is being attributed to a number of factors, including battle fatigue among the rioters, the heavy, persistent rain that has been falling on most areas since Tuesday, and the tough prison sentences that are being handed out by the courts to those convicted of serious public order offences.
‘Arrests in connection with the riots are still taking place, and in the last hour there’s been a major development in the case of Jacob Rossi, the ten-year-old son of entertainer Mark Rossi. The boy was abducted and chained up in a derelict pub where he died of smoke inhalation after the building was set on fire.
‘His kidnapper, Met Detective Joe Benning, committed suicide in the very same cellar on Monday. Scotland Yard has confirmed that an eighteen-year-old man has now been charged with throwing the petrol bomb that caused the blaze. It’s understood he was identified after someone posted mobile phone footage online of the incident taking place.
‘Meanwhile, according to the latest figures released by the government, a total of twelve people were killed during the riots. There were six hundred arrests and four hundred people face charges. In London alone the damage is put at more than a billion pounds. This afternoon the Prime Minister addressed reporters outside Ten Downing Street.’
Prime Minister: ‘At last we have reclaimed our towns and cities from the criminals who sought to destroy them. It’s not true to say that we completely lost control of the situation, but there were times when it appeared to be the case.
‘Thanks to the self-sacrifice and bravery of our frontline teams order has at last been restored. This government will now take whatever action is necessary to ensure it never happens again.
‘A cross-party group will spearhead an inquiry that will examine the root causes of the riots and how the emergency services responded to them. We will seek to find long-lasting solutions to the social and economic inequalities that blight so many communities, the high rates of youth unemployment, the shocking cycle of reoffending, the racial tensions that persist, the mistrust of law enforcement agencies, and the epidemic of gun and knife crime.
‘The way forward will not be easy, but we have to pull together and work hard to get to where we want to be. And we must succeed for the sake of our children and our children’s children.’