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Kenny Mach - An Eye-Witnesses to the Wolverhampton Riots on 09/08/11

From 15th August 2011

It was Tuesday 9^th August and it was a normal day in the KIC FM studios. Some new CDs to listen to, carrying on with our on-going mission to #savekic........Except that we were feeling pretty sad. The Birmingham riots fronted heavily by the youths supplied crates of ammunition to the media to tar all young people with the same brush of negativity. We at KIC FM know that this is not the case, and where as West Midlands Police did a fantastic job of controlling the riots, we wanted to fight back by demonstrating the positivity of young people.

The calm KIC studios quickly turn to KIC PR Headquarters, press releases were sent out and our positivity spread to BBC WM, Channel 5 News and ITV.

Shortly we heard many rumours about different areas of Wolverhampton being targeted by young people in a ‘copycat’ effect activity.

It was then where we decided swap our normal day of listening to new CDs and our on-going mission to #savekic to investigate the validity of these rumours. We are the voice of a generation who are in touch with thousands of people young people in our community. We engage with young people in a way other organisations/services cannot and we used this along with reliable police information to provide information to the community to keep them safe.

From monitoring our reliable police sources on Twitter, everything seemed under control and the police we prepared, organised and ready for any potential disorder in the city.

We then head out to Wolverhampton City Centre.

 

RIOT TIMELINE – MY EYE WITNESS ACCOUNT

4:00pm

Myself and Jamie arrived in Wolverhampton. We saw some police vans on the drive up and felt safe entering the city and parked on Broad Street car park. As we walked towards the centre of town, we both felt eerie. It was a weird feeling and you could certainly tell there was tension in the air. We reached the city centre and that tension turned into visual images, we were somehow between a large group of around 200 youths gathering by Queens Square and 30 police officers, most who were in what I’d call semi-riot gear, they had no shields.  Whilst Jamie sensibly looked on from distance, I took a closer look and it was only a matter of time until before someone made the first move...

From where I was standing, this attack of glass missiles was unprovoked and this officer was inches away from being seriously injured. I’m not a doctor, but these officers never had riot shields. I’d imagine a glass bottle flying in the air and exploding in your face would cause enough damage to change your life. What if glass cut through his eye? Anybody could have been on the receiving end of that glass bottle and it was probably one of the most frightening experiences I’ve faced. Whilst filming this clip, a bird flew over me and I flinched thinking it was a missile. I was on edge.

 

4:30pm

Police were well organised and took control. As seen at the end of the footage, troublesome youths were pushed back and they were now by man on horse. We walked around where we metres away from another incident. A man was being verbal, and all of a sudden, a loud explosion and light smoke sparked screams from the area. From what I could make out, a police officer was dazed by what I believe was a firework and staggering through the smoke, an older male. Riot police immediately took him to safety and I was relieved......but only for about 5 minutes as shock took over my mind as that man returned to the crowd and with youths, shouted foul abuse at the police. It was at this point Jamie strongly ‘insisted’ he go back and ‘protect’ my car. What a wonderful, brave colleague I thought, he’s so keen on wanting to protect my car! But I completely understood, it was getting dangerous and safety is always priority. Meanwhile, youths continued verbally attack police, ‘squaring up’ to them and acting ‘hard’ whilst throwing more missiles. This time a large carton of squash landed by the police. A loud noise of heavy metal clashing was heard, it’s a sound that attracts youths as more gatherings take place. I hear comments such as “Yes lets f****** av’ em” as they walk past me.

4:45pm

I was now on my own. Following the previous incident youths had dispersed into other areas of Wolverhampton. It was a little more quiet now by the Man On Horse, but for the wrong reasons. It was only a matter of time until trouble spread elsewhere. After all, it was a bright, sunny day and youths were out in force with scarves, hoodies and material covering their faces. Now, I’m no fashion expert but I don’t think covering up from head to toe in the blazing sun is the latest trend.

More riot police arrive in a van, which was unwelcome by the youths as it approached the Man On Horse. The sound of crunching sounds of solid objects hitting a police van followed by echoes of jeers by the youths. A glass bottle smashed at my feet.

  

 

5:00pm

Riot police controlled the area, but the fluidity of the events, youths did not go home, they just move on. I decided to walk towards the church, away from the police but every corner I turned, there were a number of different groups of people walking and running passed me. Of course, they may be not part of the small minority of those causing trouble, but I must say I felt quite uneasy about it. I could see a line of riot police in the distance and as one group of hooded youths walked passed, they commented on me filming.

I decided to take a walk by the Civic Centre and above the loud sounds of sirens and helicopters; I heard something else that gave me a sinking feeling. “F****** Ch*nk” was directed at me from the top of the stair wall from group of very young people, aged around 13-14, followed by an orange object which was thrown towards me and smashed on the pavement. I was disappointed. I was prepared for a lot of things, but not this. I walked on.

 

5:30pm

Passing by The Royal London, there was a line of police present to keep everyone away from Queens Square. I then started receiving numerous tweets about Indi Bar being looted so headed towards there to investigate the validity of the rumours. As I was getting closer, the sounds of alarms, screams and cheers were getting louder. I confirmed Indi Bar was fine to followers, it suffered a small crack but unfortunately, I couldn’t say the same for surrounding businesses. Coral was heavily damaged; all the windows were smashed with clear signs of looting. I could see electrical equipment on the floor just outside the shop. The restaurant next to it had its window smashed, whilst youths are still entering Coral. There must be about around 70 youths here. Although, I still felt that youths were not violence towards others, I didn’t want to get too close. Around 10 minutes later riot police arrived and secured the area.

 

6:00pm – The Call

I receive a call from Jamie who is bravely ‘protecting’ my car.

Jamie – “You better get back to your car quick, there’s a load of people coming towards it.”

Me – “Sh**!! I’m on my way.”

My car was parked on Broad Street car park so it wasn’t too far. I wanted to run for obvious reasons, but I got my power walk on instead, joining the crowded flow of youths, being careful not to give any wrong messages.  I turned the corner of Broad Street and stopped. Along with the unmistakable sound of glass being smashed, there were about 100 young people gathering outside an electrical shop where I saw a number of youths leave with a flat screen. I tried to get my phone out as quickly as possible to try and catch video evidence of the criminals but just missed them. Here is what I saw.

 

During the riots, I never got the feeling that nobody was out to hurt anybody. I later learned that the shop owner was threatened by youths who then continued to loot his store.  We’re talking about people had the intent vandalise his store and using aggression to rob a man of his livelihood. These are youths with no respect. They could be 13, they could be 30, regardless of age, these are acts of criminality.

Meanwhile, I had to get back to my car as quick as possible. I started jogging towards the youth before the police block the path for me to get back to Broad Street Car park. Passing a flat screen television on the floor, I hopped a fence to get to my car quicker and jumped in the driver’s seat. There were gangs of youths in every direction, the closest being around 10 metres with the riot police in the distance closing in. Jamie was hesitant to lock the car in case the indicators drew attention to youths, a minute later, we did. Riot police forced more and more youths towards Broad Street car park. It appeared that their tactic was to force youths away from the city centre which resulted in a lot youth running through roads. We decided to stay put until it appeared safe to move.

Whist in the car Jamie tweeted.....

Jamoo1987 – “Sh***ing myself in Wolverhampton! @kenny_mach is too hardcore for me with all this reporting @KICfm”

I then took Jamie home, but before that we went for a quick drive to investigate the rumours that flooded in via @kicfm twitter feed. On our way we saw a police car driving around with its sirens on with a smashed windscreen, but we were happy to report that the rumours we received were false. Mollineaux and Bently Bridge had not been attacked or set on fire.

 

6:45pm

Jamie was home safe and sound and then I get a phone call from Raj who is an amazing volunteer of ours. She informs me that James; another young volunteer was stuck in town after getting caught up in the riots. He’d seen my tweets and knew I was around the area and he needed my help. After getting his number, I sped back into town to find him. All I knew was that he was near Wilkinsons.

I got into town and could no longer get anywhere near the city centre. Roads were blocked off by police; dogs also joined the scene as youths were still running about. I found a side road, dumped the car and ran into town, constantly on the phone to James. Police on every street corner were shouting at me to turn around.

 

Words from James Levett

“Basically i was on the bus coming back from a friends house and as we was coming into Wolverhampton, I saw a warning on Facebook from sky news about Wolverhampton, then minutes after the bus stopped on the ring road and said we can’t go any further. And the only way back home I had was walking through the centre of the town due to all the other roads being blocked by riot police."

 

As i came down the Dudley street in the town I had to start running the opposite way as a large gang came running towards me, it was personally the scariest moment in my life if I’m honest. As I ran past Oceana all I could hear is sirens and that’s when I rang Raj asking for help and then I noticed that Kenny had been in the town reporting so I got Raj to get hold of you for me. Luckily as I got further down by Bell street, more gangs and young people started to appear but thankfully a worker from a charity shop called All Nations who was locking up pulled me in and kept me safe. I really can’t thank him enough for what he did! Then after you called me saying you was looking for me, I finally managed to get out of the town! Thank you again for saving me from getting into trouble Kenny! “ 

 

Let me just point this out. James, although not long turned 16, he is twice the size as I am, quite well built and he wrestles for a hobby. I heard fear in his voice. Never have I felt so angry about the youth. I’ve been defending them for nearly three years of my life, and to see them threatening others, especially one of our volunteers made me feel physically sick in shame. I was shaking, I was that angry.

We ran back to the car, relieved that  it hadn’t been vandalised. I dropped James home, and waited with him for a while until I felt he was calm. His mother was due home any minute now, so I was starting to think about heading back in Wolverhampton.

Meanwhile, I tweeted...

Kicfm - What/where are other local media reporting? Could do with some support #wolverhamptonriots

 

The replies I received included...

@juliehodgkissCllrJulieHodgkiss

@kicfm It seems only you tweeting. As darkness falls, be careful !

 

@joemckimJoe Mckim 

@KICfm Last express and star was 2 hours ago. And bbc doesn't even recognize riots in Wolverhampton on live feed. Let alone photos.

 

I now felt like I need to provide a service to the people of Wolverhampton. 

 

8:30pm

Heading back to Wolverhampton, and the main roads were still closed so I park just outside of town. On foot, walking towards the city centre, and it was very quiet, too quiet, almost eerie. Where is everyone??? I walked down one of the streets, noises and be heard and I found them.

 

Brilliant work by the police force. They have around 50 youths, the youngest I’d guess at around 13-14 under control outside the 99p shop. A number of police vans arrive a few minutes later.

I continued to head to the centre and it was surprisingly very quiet now. There were still groups of youths dotted about all over Wolverhampton but the strong police presence could be felt around the city. It was a different feeling now than what it was before. For the next couple of hours I walked up and down the streets of Wolverhampton, investigating rumours which our followers kept tweeting in and taking photographs of the damage around the city. As time passed, I started to feel saddened by the events. Here is what I saw.

I was getting more and more shocked by the damage and started to lose the patience due to tweeting so many photographs. I’m just glad I have an unlimited data package with my contract. I turned the corner and witness something that literally made my heart sink.

 

This small jewellery shop, E.V Beckett Jewellers was trashed and looted. I walked closer to see the shop owner looking down in disgust and heartbreak. Someone had stripped him of his livelihood. I didn’t know what to do. I ask him if he wanted some help cleaning up, but he said he was just going to board it up the windows. The man quickly left to speak to some guys to organise boarding up his windows and to my disbelief, 4 young asian people, 2 male and 2 female who looked very healthy and innocent approached the shop and casually helped themselves to some items from the jewellery shop. These young people were not covered up in any way. I informed nearly police of the opportunists criminals. More shops were looted and damaged on this street.

 

 

10:00pm

After dismissing a lot of rumours followers have been tweeting me, I began to walk back towards the Man On Horse. It was getting cold and dark, still there was some groups of youths around. I tweeted what I saw.

 

KIC FM - Have had gangs pass me. One group in all in blue, one red, another grey. I don't think that's a co-inky. #wolverhamptonriots

 

Now, I couldn’t laugh and joke at the time, but a big thank you to @gmfalone for making me laugh hard inside with the following tweet.

 

“@KICFM wasn’t that JLS?”

 

Much appreciated!

 

All was looking calm until a single youth had an exchange of words with riot police who then ran off after dumping an item covered in black cloth under a white van. I was already extremely paranoid as I was tweeting whilst walking and could see shadows coming over me every few minutes and I could have easily got my mobile phone robbed. Instantly I thought it was a firearm, but riot police recovered it and I’m pretty sure it was an iPhone 4. The light come on which suggest to me that the youth who deposited the phone may have mugged somebody, rather than looted from the shop. Sad.

 

10:30pm 

All was calm again, and I carried on towards Queens Square. Everything was under control by the police and I was looking at heading home but before I do, I need to chill out. My legs were aching so I decided to take a seat where I received a phone call from Sky News. They wanted me to report live as they’d heard about me reporting around Wolverhampton. It was quite exciting. I felt honoured to be the person to put Wolverhampton on the map. Yes, London was where the riots started and arguably where the most serious incidents took place, but lets not forget how its spread to other cities like Wolverhampton.

 Shortly after a young lad on a bike passed and looked directly at me. He was no more than 14. It was coming upto 11:00pm and I’m not a parent, but children that age should not be out at this time. I was asking myself ‘where are your parents?’ I then started to head home, still tweeting images as I discover more damage to Wolverhampton.

To end my blog, I just want to state a couple of points.

From what I've seen, I have no doubt that West Midlands Police have done a fantastic job in policing Wolverhampton. How anybody can criticise them baffles me and this was the main point I wanted to get across Sky News. They don’t get enough credit. I witnessed police from all departments risk their lives and give 110% in protecting our community. If you’re reading this and think the police did a bad job, I’d like to see you risk yourself for the safety of others. Also special thank you to Superintendent Mark Payne (@SuptPayneWMP) for providing Wolverhampton with constant and reliable updates.

From what I saw on this day, young people had to make a choice about whether to go the right or wrong. I wasn't surprised that the riots took place after young people took a financial beating by the Government when they were already down, with EMA being cut and university fees rising. For example, I'm not that old, I'm 24 and when I was at university, I paid just over £1000 a year for my course. It has now risen around 800% to £9000 which I find daunting. Now due to the total annihilation youth services the only opportunity visible to young people was to take the wrong route which encouraged them to riot and loot. There is no excuse for what some of the youth did, it was completely wrong, but not all young people are bad. Some of them were opportunist criminals and to be blunt about, just wanted free suff. Of course, there were also adults acted in irresponsibly and that has a knock on effect to youth culture. Some of these adults were just pure criminals and there is absolutely no excuse for that.

As some of you may know, I work at a youth organisation called Kids In Communication. Our funding was 100% cut at the end of March and since the riots, our positive young people volunteered again to get involved and actively discouraged the madness that went on. I understand that cuts need to be made, but I strongly believe that a less drastic cut would not have prevented the riots, because it had been building up for a long time now, but it would have prevented it from getting out of hand. To help repair society, I believe some youth services need to be restored so positivity can take the limelight.

Finally, thank you to my friend and colleague Jamie Powis who was monitoring my every move online. I would also like to thank all of you so much for your lovely messages of support. I received literally hundreds during and after the riots and I truly appreciate it. Some of them really moved me.

 

Stay safe everybody.

 

Kenny Mach

@kenny_mach

@kicfm

 

 

Wolverhampton Recovery on 11/08/11

From 15th August 2011

 

Kenny has described the destruction across Wolverhampton City Centre following the riots but I’m here to blog about the recovery. On Thursday, I went into city to find businesses open and people out shopping despite the damage.  Dudley Street looked pretty uninviting with many shops boarded up but on closer inspection signs with “Business as Usual” covered the streets. 

 

 

Another poster dotted around the city was a photocopied, hand drawn sign appealing for calm and a stop to looting.

The topic on every Wulfrunian’s lips was the riots but it was great to see so many people out again supporting their community and their economy.

 

Jamie's Thoughts on the Wolverhampton Riots

From 15th August 2011

I've always been proud of where I've come from, Wolverhampton. I've carried the accent with me where ever I've travelled. On Tuesday 9th August, Wolverhampton became a place I wasn't proud of anymore. A minority of young people took to the streets and damaged a community and an economy that was suffering enough from the recession.

I went into Wolverhampton on the Tuesday with my colleague Kenny after hearing rumours that there would be riots across the city. Expecting it to be just rumour we walked into Wolverhampton bus station to find a normal scene. We then walked into the city centre and found ourselves in a completely different atmosphere. There was a large crowd of people, the majority of them young, clashing with a line of police. Tension between the two groups built until a bottle was hurled at a policeman, smashing on his helmet with cry of delight from the crowd. The police quickly responded by pushing the crowd out of Dudley Street towards Queen's Square. The atmosphere grew darker and for the first time in my life I felt fear in my city centre. My heart was pounding because I really didn't feel safe. There was a loud bang, a flash and an older man fell to the ground. Police rushed to his aid. He'd been hit by a firework. That was it for me, I bravely offered to guard my colleague's car and I left the centre. My overall feeling was of disappointment; disappointed that some young people from our city were stupid enough to destroy their home. Away from the riots, I tried to support Kenny online, through looking after KICs facebook and giving him hints of where to go. The pictures he got, following the destruction, were terrible.

The morning after the night before saw young people showing their true colours. People on twitter organised a city wide clean up that a few of our volunteers went to. There was also a sense of shame among the young people I spoke to throughout the day. They were ashamed that a minority of young people were to blame for this damage. I was proud that KIC volunteers went out and about Wolverhampton getting interviews, filming and trying to rebuild their communities. The majority of that day was spent sifting through all of the amazing content they got. In the evening, I felt I had to go back into Wolverhampton City Centre and face my fear in some respects. Thankfully, except from the boarded put windows everything was back to normal. Usually I complain about boring Wolverhampton but that night I loved it. It was ghostly quiet.

Normality returned to Wolverhampton quickly. The topic on everyone's lips was the riots but people were out and going about their everyday business. It was a hectic few days at KIC, watching the riots unfold, working with young people, opening up again after so long, travelling across the country representing Wolverhampton and, in a weird way, it was actually enjoyable being so busy. Let's just hope it doesn't happen again.

 

Rob Willoughby from Wolverhampton Council Youth Services

From 12th August 2011

Rob Willoughby talks about Wolverhampton riots from the Council's perspective. We ask about youth provision in Wolverhampton and if, after the riots, there will be changes to the Councils youth policy.

 

Jat Protecting His Gurdwara

From 12th August 2011

In a phone interview, Jat talks about members of the Sikh community protecting their Gurdwara. He tells us why he's out on the streets and what he feels about the riots across the West Midlands.

 

James Thanks Emanuel For Saving Him From The Riots

From 12th August 2011

James, while going home from a friends, got trapped in the Wolverhampton riots. While being pursued by a gang James was rescued by a random person. James goes out to find him and thank him for his help.

 

KIC Thanks BBC WM

From 12th August 2011

KIC would like to thank BBC WM for allowing young people to share how they feel about their community. For more information about BBC WM go to their website www.bbc.co.uk/wm

 

Why Are Young People Rioting?

From 10th August 2011

A really small selection of interviews collected by young people today in Wolverhampton. To listen to them click the miniplayer on right of your screen.

"...it's got nothing to do with some geezer getting shot, it's got nothing to do with opportunity we just wanted to smash up some things and hit some coppers..."

"We stand up with our brooms, our dust pans and brushes, our gloves and we re-build our community."

 

What do people in Wolverhampton think about the riots in their city?

From 10th August 2011

 

Press Release From West Midlands Police

From 10th August 2011

It is business as usual across the West Midlands thanks to the joint efforts of our partners, local authorities and members of the local community, who have worked overnight to return calm to our streets.

We have additional police patrols on the street, and trained public order teams on standby, in order to protect members of the public, homes and retail premises.

We are confident we can provide an effective and proportionate policing response to any given situation and remain fully committed to supporting and protecting our communities.

WMP will continue to provide information and updates.

If you have any information or intelligence, who should you tell?

Anybody with information relating to the disorder is urged to call West Midlands Police on 0800 096 0095, or 0207 158 0125 and quote Operation View. In an emergency always call 999.

A number of CCTV pictures of those involved are being out onto the web and linked to social media sites and we appeal for the public's help in identifying those responsible and bringing them to justice. www.west-midlands.police.uk, @WMPolice, @brumpolice or email tellus@west-midlands.pnn.police.uk

 

The Clean Up

From 10th August 2011

 

KIC Condemns Violence

From 10th August 2011

Young people at KIC condemn all the violence happening across the country. Young people want to distance themselves from the actions of some individuals in the West Midlands. KIC will be broadcasting special programmes tomorrow debating the riots. Get involved!

KIC is working with partner organisation to encourage responsible tweeting and facebooking. Follow @KICFM for retweets and images from official sources. Keep in contact and please stay safe!