The Toxteth Riot

THE TOXTETH RIOT

By sheer coincidence (or perhaps not - who knows?) that very same night as Southall in London burned, a black youth on a motorbike was being chased by police through the streets of Toxteth, in Liverpool. After falling from the bike, a crowd of other black youths grabbed and pulled him away before he could be arrested. A stand off between the youths and the police ensued, escalating into hand-to-hand fighting and brick throwing that went on for more than two hours into the night before ebbing away.

The following evening an anonymous phone call to the police reporting a stolen car lured officers back into Toxteth where they were greeted by a hail of bricks and bottles. Vans of police sped to the scene as back-up only to met by more missiles along with petrol bombs thrown by masked youths.

As in Bristol and Brixton, cars were overturned and set ablaze as shops were burned and looted. The violence raged throughout the night only to be finally quelled early the following morning by large numbers of police charging en masse at the rioters with their batons flailing.

The events of these two nights, however, were only really a warm up as the word quickly spread and by the next evening there were even more people willing, able and up for a riot.

That night, all hell broke loose.

As rioting once again erupted in Toxteth, just about every kind of missile imaginable was rained down upon the police lines, thrown by hundreds of youths both black and white.

Spiked railing posts and scaffolding poles were hurled like javelins and thrust at the police riot shields. Stolen and hi-jacked milk floats, cars, a fire engine and even a cement mixer were driven straight at the police. A fire hose being used against the rioters by the police was seized and turned back upon the officers themselves. Snatched riot shields and police helmets were held aloft like trophies. The local Liverpool establishment's private drinking club, frequented by top solicitors and bankers of the city was razed to the ground. 
"Cars had their accelerator pedals tied down, the cars set on fire, then driven straight at the police lines," recalled a former police officer "I remember javelins being thrown. I remember a school being broken into, and javelins being taken out of the school sports cupboard and being thrown at the police cars."

Faced with such a ferocious onslaught, the police once again - as in Bristol - decided to retreat for their own safety and in doing so abandoned the area to the mob. The situation as to be expected was taken full advantage of as whole families from very young children to grandparents joined in the free-for-all, stripping the shops of anything that could be carried away.

Police reinforcements from all the neighbouring counties were called in as support but still the rioting continued and buildings burned. Finally, recognising the riot was totally out of control and that his men were continuing to be seriously injured, Merseyside's chief constable Kenneth Oxford made a hugely controversial and historic decision: for the first time on mainland Britain, CS teargas would be used against crowds of people.

As fire threatened to engulf a local geriatric hospital, rioters pulled back to allow the building to be safely evacuated. Taking advantage of this sudden lull in the rioting, Kenneth Oxford called forward his police marksmen who immediately positioned themselves to shoot a volley of CS gas cannisters at the crowds.

The introduction of this new weapon had the immediate and desired effect of scattering the rioters, bringing an end to a riot of such unprecedented scale that it left Liverpool city council in a state of fright and requesting that troops be put on standby in case of further trouble. The request was denied but sure enough, the very next day rioting kicked off once again in the same area only to be put down quickly by the police in a massive show of strength.

Straightaway, arguments flew, accusations made and blame cast as to what was the cause of the Toxteth riots. To the Labour Opposition and general critics of the Conservative government it was proof that Thatcher's economic policies were causing social breakdown and violence. For some, high unemployment was to blame while others saw the riots as a reaction to police brutality and racial discrimination. Echoing the aftermath of the Brixton riot, the police suggested the Toxteth riots may well have been orchestrated by outsiders, conspirators and agitators though once again no actual proof was proffered to substantiate this.

"We were set up." said Kenneth Oxford "I blame a small group of criminal hooligans who were hell-bent to provoke the police into a situation that would give them an opportunity to attack what is visibly a symbol of authority."

All well and good but then, before the dust had even settled in Merseyside and to the shock and bewilderment of many, Moss Side in Manchester suddenly erupted into rioting too...