Foreign looters from 44 countries have been locked up over the riots which scarred the country in August.
Robbers, vandals and thugs from as far afield as Afghanistan, Cuba, Ethiopia and Samoa joined in as shops were plundered and businesses set ablaze, causing millions of pounds worth of damage.
The sheer number from different corners of the globe who took part in the mayhem is one of the strongest indicators yet that the riots had nothing to do with political protest or civil unrest, but was born of greed and opportunist criminality.
Last night campaigners said anyone convicted of a riot-related offence should be thrown out of the country at the earliest opportunity.
Prison statistics revealed that 14 per cent about one in seven of those jailed for burglary, robbery, theft, criminal damage and disorder during the riots were born abroad. But the true number could be even higher as at least four per cent of those remanded in custody refused to tell police their nationality.
Jamaicans represented the largest group of foreign inmates, followed by Somali and Polish offenders. The list also included those from Colombia, Iraq, Congo, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.
A total of 100 of the suspects were claiming disability living allowance and there were a further 60 on incapacity benefits.
So far 1,344 people have appeared before the courts over the looting and widespread disorder which swept across Britain in early August.
The official figures revealed 530 people - or 40 per cent - were on some form of benefit compared with just 15 per cent of the population.
However, for all serious crimes committed last year, 48 per cent of defendants were on benefits.
The four nights of violence in August were sparked by police shooting dead father-of-four and suspected gangster Mark Duggan in north London.
There were calls for those involved in rioting and looting to have their benefits taken away from them and an e-petition attracted more than 240,000 signatures.
Amid calls for rioters to lose their entitlements, Iain Duncan Smith said at the time: 'We already accept that if people who are receiving benefits do not, are not prepared to seek work, take the work that's available to them, we take the benefit off them.
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Posted by: Lord Garth ||
10/24/2011 12:47 Comments ||
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#4
I wonder how many of the OWS are on unearned 'benefits' of one form or another.
OTOH I was at that evil den of capitalistic greed otherwise known as Walmart yesterday. Business was brisk and busy.
It warmed my little black heart to think that Walmart probably pulls in more people every minute of every day than all the OWS protests did since their conception.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
10/24/2011 15:43 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Yeah and they're telling their folks about how boring the Creative Writing 110 lecturer is.
Oh, and to please send more money 'cause I needa new Apple laptop and Ipad. I threw away the ones you got me last year because they wasn't the latest model.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
10/24/2011 16:33 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
