100 charges made after riots around the country
MORE THAN 400 PEOPLE ARRESTED IN CONNECTION WITH DISORDER
THERE have been around 100 charges in the wake of disorder around the country, Director of Public Prosecutions Stephen Parkinson has said.
He told the BBC: “There have been about 100 charges that have been laid.
“As we heard, around 400 people arrested. So the majority of people have been released on bail pending further investigation.
“And what the police will be doing now is building those files.
“They will be resubmitted to us and then we’ll be making charging decisions.
“I should say that we are able to make immediate charging decisions.
“In fact, I made a direction to my colleagues that I would want them to make immediate charging decisions if we got the key evidence in place.
“But for the most part, the police have made the decision to release people on bail and then they’ll come to us at later stage.
“That means that we can manage the flow quite easily because not all these people will come back at the same time.
“So I’m confident actually that we have the capacity and the capability to deal with the work that’s there and the work that we anticipate coming forward.”
Meanwhile, more suspected rioters appeared in court yesterday following mass disorder across the country over the past week.
A number of people charged with violent disorder have already pleaded guilty to their part in the widespread violence.
The disorder across the country followed the fatal stabbings of three girls at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club in Southport last week.
Previously, judges condemned the recent violent scenes, with one describing violence in Belfast as ‘absolutely disgraceful.’
Justice minister Heidi Alexander said the Government will bring more than 500 additional prison places into use to deal with rioting, and some 6,000 specialist police officers were at the ready.
She told LBC that courts ‘could possibly’ begin sitting ‘through the evening, the night, at weekends’ in order to swiftly prosecute rioters.