White and Asian gangs involved in Britain's worst riots for 15 years were both infiltrated by outsiders who arrived in Oldham intent on violence, police said today.
Greater Manchester Police, which is examining video footage gathered by officers as they were pelted with petrol bombs and bricks, said the 500 Asians
who rioted in the largely Asian Glodwick district on Saturday included some who had travelled from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, and even Bradford, 32 km away.
Police have already blamed white far-right British National Party and National Front activists from outside the area for goading Asians into violence.
Chief Superintendent Eric Hewitt, Oldham's divisional commander, said: "There are already some indications that some of the people involved were from places such as Bradford and Huddersfield and had no connection at all with Oldham. We believe that some of the trouble was quite clearly pre-planned."
Police maintained a heavy presence in Oldham last night. However, the "zero tolerance" tactics on Monday did not prevent sporadic violence, leading to 21 arrests including 18 whites. As four Asian men, all from Oldham, appeared at the town's magistrates court yesterday charged with violent disorder, community leaders demanded an independent inquiry into the crisis.
- INDEPENDENT
