12/08/2011

Fifth English Riot Victim Dies

A pensioner badly injured in the London riots earlier this week has now died taking the death toll to five in the violent disorder that continues to sweep across England.

Richard Mannington Bowes, 68, suffered head injuries in an attack in Ealing on Monday night and was left in a coma.

A 22-year-old man has been arrested in connection with his death.

Police have said four other deaths - a man found shot in a car in Croydon and three men hit by a car in Birmingham - may be linked to the recent disorder.

The latest death came after rioters attacked the victim as he attempted to stamp out a fire in west London - went into a coma - and has now died in hospital.

He was set upon by a mob in Ealing during Monday's disorder and died late last night.

His death follows those of three friends who were run down by a car as they attempted to protect their community from looters in Birmingham and the murder of a 26-year-old father-of-four who was shot during disorder in Croydon.

More than 1,500 people have now been arrested by forces in towns and cities hit by chaos and destruction earlier this week and more than 500 charged with offences related to the four days of disorder.

The third meeting of the crisis Cobra committee will be held today as PM David again vows to do "whatever it takes" to restore order to the streets.

In an emergency statement to the recalled House of Commons yesterday he set out a range of moves being examined in response to the situation - including the use of curfews and temporary curbs on the use of social media.

A post mortem examination into the death of Mr Bowes is expected to take place in the coming days, while an inquest into the deaths of Haroon Jahan, 21, and brothers Shazad Ali, 30, and Abdul Musavir, 31, will take place today.

It comes a day after police arrested two youths and a man on suspicion of murder.

Meanwhile investigators examining the circumstances surrounding the death of a man shot by police, in an incident, which acted as a trigger for the first night’s rioting in Tottenham, appealed for witnesses.

Father-of-four Mark Duggan, 29, died after being shot in the chest last Thursday.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission is appealing for witnesses who may have seen or heard anything to come forward.

Last night, the police remained out in force in London and other riot-hit cities overnight but there were no major incidents reported.

(BMcC/GK)

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