Sunday 24 May 2009

Trouble in Luton.

I've heard some reports that the police in Luton, Bedfordshire have clashed with protesters after a march to protest against Muslim extremists who staged a protest at a welcome home parade for soldiers of the Royal Anglican Regiment back in March. It's a holiday weekend and the events only happened 6-7 hours ago so all the information I really have at the moment is this rather short BBC report;



Nine men were arrested after trouble broke out at a march through Luton.
Police said up to 400 people set off on a planned peaceful protest held
against demonstrations at an Armed Forces homecoming parade earlier this year.
Officers said an Asian man was assaulted, a shop window was smashed and
several cars were damaged in the town centre on Sunday evening.
In March, a group of anti-war protesters demonstrated at a parade for the Royal Anglian
Regiment.
Bedfordshire Police said officers were studying CCTV footage and
said further arrests could be made in the coming days.
A spokeswoman said Sunday's march started in Manor Park at 1700 BST
They added that by 1730 BST
several groups had peeled off from the main protest and had started causing
problems in the town centre.
The situation was under control by 1830 BST.
The nine men were in custody after being arrested on suspicion of a variety
of public order offences, criminal damage and assault, officers said.
The spokeswoman said: "The peaceful marchers formed up in Manor Park - however,
other large groups who had been in the town centre pubs all afternoon did not
join the march.
"It was clear that some were determined to cause trouble and
broke away from the main march in several groups and up some of the side streets
running off George Street."
About 10,000 people were expected to take part
in the Luton Carnival on Monday. Police said about 250 officers would be there.
Story from BBC
NEWS:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/england/beds/bucks/herts/8066515.stmPublished:
2009/05/24 23:23:54 GMT© BBC MMIX

I'll try and have a closer look at things tomorrow but phrases like "The trouble started at 17:30" and "the trouble was brought under control by 18:30" make me think this was just a small local ruckus of the sort you occasionally get after football matches rather then something more serious and orchestrated.