The Harehills riot took place in the multi-ethnic

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

district of Harehills (

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, England) in 2001. The riot occurred after the alleged wrongful arrest of an Asian man by the

West Yorkshire Police West Yorkshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire, England. It is the fourth largest territorial police force in England and Wales by number of officers. History West Yor ...

which was alleged to have been heavy-handed. More than 100 Asian, White, and Black youths were together involved in the six-hour-long rioting against the police. The West Yorkshire Police later stated that any attempt to legitimise criminal behaviour by saying it is connected with racial tension or the style of policing is just an excuse for young males committing crime on the streets. It was the first rioting in

since the Hyde Park riots of 1995. The

Police Officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

involved in the alleged wrongful arrest was questioned, and later cleared of any wrongdoing.

Wrongful arrest allegations

The wrongful arrest allegations involved Hossein Miah, who was arrested over a suspicious

tax disc Vehicle Excise Duty (VED; also known as "vehicle tax", "car tax", and more controversially as "road tax", and formerly as a "tax disc") is an annual tax that is levied as an excise duty and which must be paid for most types of powered vehicles whic ...

. Miah alleged that the arresting officer pulled him from his vehicle causing him injury. The Police Complaints Authority cleared the officer of any charges relating to the incident, but expressed regret for "any distress which has been caused to either Mr Miah or his family."

Start of rioting

Sporadic unrest had already begun in the area when a hoax

999 999 or triple nine most often refers to: * 999 (emergency telephone number), a telephone number for the emergency services in several countries * 999 (number), an integer * AD 999, a year * 999 BC, a year Books * ''999'' (anthology) or ''999: T ...

call was made at 20:25 saying a police officer had been hit by a

petrol bomb A Molotov cocktail (among several other names – ''see other names'') is a hand thrown incendiary weapon constructed from a frangible container filled with flammable substances equipped with a fuse (typically a glass bottle filled with fla ...

. The police could not locate this, however the call lured them into Banstead Park, where they were met by a barricade of burning

washing machines A washing machine (laundry machine, clothes washer, washer, or simply wash) is a home appliance used to wash laundry. The term is mostly applied to machines that use water as opposed to dry cleaning (which uses alternative cleaning fluids and i ...

and furniture, looted from a nearby second hand shop. It was in Banstead Park where most of the confrontation took place, although the disturbances spread onto Roundhay Road, Roseville Road and smaller residential streets towards the south side of Harehills. By the time darkness had fallen the rioting had begun, and continued into the early hours of the following morning.

End of rioting

After over 200 participants spent over seven hours rioting, the police managed to make enough arrests to quell the size of the crowd to a point where it dispersed and the police could regain control.

Damage

Over the course of the rioting 26 cars were burnt out, two police officers and two journalists were severely injured, and a shop was set alight. Both police officers and members of the public were pelted with bottles and bricks.

Aftermath

Many arrests took place following the rioting, local shops were advised only to secure their premises and not to reglaze, as the police feared more rioting would take place, however the riot seemed to be an isolated incident and the violence did not continue beyond 6 June 2001.

Sentencing

On 7 March 2002, nine months after the riots, 25 men were imprisoned after being found guilty of their involvement in the riot.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harehills race riot 2001 in England 2001 riots 2000s in Leeds Crime in Leeds Harehills June 2001 crimes June 2001 events in the United Kingdom Race riots in England Riots and civil disorder in England