The London Riots - 10 years on

2011 - Buildings destroyed in Croydon during London Riots

Today commemorates the 10th anniversary of the London Riots, which lasted from 8th to 11th August 2011.

Living in the London area, this was very much on our doorstep and fellow Londoners will remember just how frightening it was, to see huge gangs of thugs smashing up everything they saw, looting every shop they went past and then torching buildings and peoples homes, massively overwhelming the police for those 5 days.

The protests started in Tottenham, London, following the death of Mark Duggan, a local man who was shot dead by police on 4 August.  He was known to be in possession of a BBM Bruni Model 92 handgun (a blank-firing replica of a Beretta 92 converted to fire live rounds), given to him 15 minutes before he was shot.

Several violent clashes with police followed Duggan's death, along with the destruction of police vehicles, double-decker buses and many homes and businesses, which rapidly gained the attention of the media. 

Overnight, mass looting took place in Tottenham and in nearby Wood Green. The following days saw similar scenes in other parts of London, with the worst rioting taking place in Hackney, Brixton, Walthamstow, Peckham, Enfield, Battersea, Croydon, Ealing, Barking, Woolwich, Lewisham and East Ham.

10 years ago, we made this rather jerky video in London City.  In those vintage pre-mesh days we had to work with the tools we had.