Ongoing hunt for suspects wanted by police over 2024 riots

Dozens of suspects who were reportedly part of the 2024 riots are still wanted by police a year after disorder that broke out across the UK.

A police body said it is officers’ determination to track down those involved and serve as a warning to troublemakers not to repeat the unrest this year.

A website is being set up with details of around 40 suspects still wanted across five police forces – Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Cleveland, Northumbria and Avon and Somerset.

Disorder spread across the UK in the wake of the Southport murders last year, amid false rumours that the killer was a Muslim immigrant.

The unrest led to a total of 1,876 people being arrested, with 1,110 charged so far, the National Police Chiefs’ Council said.

According to the Crown Prosecution Service, its data tracking cases related to the disorder shows 821 defendants out of 859 were convicted by the end of March this year.

This month, multiple protests have been held outside a hotel in Epping where migrants are housed after an asylum-seeker was charged with allegedly attempting to kiss a 14-year-old girl.

open image in gallery

There have been additional protests in Norfolk and London, but so far wider unrest has been avoided.

Assistant Chief Constable Ian Drummond-Smith, who led the national response to investigating the riots, told the PA news agency: “We have a duty to facilitate protest … but what we saw last year, and in a few isolated cases this year, is where it’s gone to criminality and to serious disorder.

“In those cases what I think we can learn from last year is that justice will be swift, and I hope that that would be a deterrent to anyone thinking about engaging in serious disorder this year.

“We’ve made effective use of CCTV, bodyworn video, and we’ve been able to bring a lot of people in front of the courts.”

The police chief also said officers are working “very hard” to contain the “small pockets” of disorder this year.

He said: “I think they’ve been isolated because of a swift police response to them, and I think that’s the key thing.

“If we can respond to serious disorder swiftly, I think we can contain that and prevent it from spreading across the country, so that’s what we’re working very hard on.”

open image in gallery

Since last year, Mr Drummond-Smith added: “We’ve sharpened up our ability to mobilise quickly and move resources around the country so we can achieve that quicker.”

Last summer’s disturbances, which saw mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers targeted, were denounced at the time as “far-right thuggery” by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

Police chiefs are now launching the national appeal for suspects wanted over “significant” public order offences from the disorder, including throwing bricks and serious assaults of members of the public.

Local and social media appeals sharing images of the suspects have already been used to try to track them down, but the senior officer said they could have travelled into the area from another part of the country.

open image in gallery

Mr Drummond-Smith said: “One year on, we’ve still got some people who we have got good images of and we haven’t yet identified.

“I think the key thing is having a good image of someone is one thing, knowing who they are is another. We’re asking the public to have a look, and if they recognise anyone in those images, to let us know who they are and bring them to justice.”

To view the website go to police.uk/disorder-appeal