Violent scenes erupted on the streets of a North East town last night and The Northern Echo covered events as they unfolded. Graeme Hetherington reports.
What I saw in Hartlepool late on Wednesday night will live long in the memory.
Witnessing a relatively small group of people tearing its community to shreds makes your heart sink as the worst in people comes to the fore in angry, disruptive violence.
After spending more than 20 years covering the Teesside and Hartlepool area for The Northern Echo, I have never experienced anything like it before as I was confronted with a scene of devastation.
The police are used to dealing with unruly behaviour and anti-social behaviour but the scenes they were confronted with as Hartlepool exploded into violence tested all of their skills.
By the time I arrived at the scene, there was relative calm but the atmosphere was still incredibly tense and there was genuine concern that another eruption of violence could happen at any time.
Read more: 'I feel petrified': Aftermath of shock and fear after night of unrest in Hartlepool
Young and old, predominantly men, had been hurling bricks, bottles and any missiles they could lay their hands on as they rampaged around the streets.
Alongside the missiles that the rioters held many of them were carrying a can of beer in the other hand and a pervasive smell of cannabis filled the air amongst the rabble.
A gathering of people at the town’s war memorial took on a more sinister note as they started to make their way to a local mosque with apparently only one intention in mind – to wreak havoc inside their own community.
Terrified residents were forced to hid away in their homes as the thugs, many seemingly fuelled by drink and drugs, as they took out their anger on anyone who crossed their paths.
Read more: Pictures capture night of unrest in Hartlepool as 8 arrested and probe launched
Specially trained officers wearing helmets and bearing riot shields were drafted in to help bring the disruption to an end but at times it seemed like that acted as an incentive for the angry mob to push harder and harder against the police.
One family had to be helped by police as an angry pack turned its attention to smashing their way into the terraced home. The woman was clearly shaken and panicking as officers managed to lead them to safety.
Camera phone footage has captured the mob attacking police as they came to try and quell the rioting. And the level of violence began to increase as more and more people arrived to join in the unrest.
In another piece of footage shared across social media, an Asian man was trying to make his way home through a crowd of people before one steps into his path and throws a sucker-punch without any warning.
Thankfully, the man was able to escape the baying mob and flee to safety.
In a valiant attempt to control the rampaging mob, the police imposed a number of road closures in and around Murray Street including Sherriff Street, Grange Road, Sandringham Road and Duke Street.
Read more: Everything we know so far after Hartlepool violence
After a couple of hours, the police had managed to quell the worst of the disorder but they were still faced with pockets of resistance, albeit they were hurling vile abuse rather than the rocks of bottles from earlier.
One Cleveland Police officer, who was among the ones protecting a shop which had been targeted and vandalised during the disorder, said it was the worst trouble he had faced during his career.
He said: “It has been a really long night, we are all tired and I just hope none of my colleagues have been seriously injured.”
With the police appearing to have regained control of the streets, they started forming columns to work their way through the streets and displace any stragglers who were refusing to head home.
As they moved through the streets, they were met with resistance from people who were happily filming the disorder and its aftermath.
While recording the officers as they forced the mob back along York Road, I managed to get in the way of the advancing riot police and earned a whack and shove with a shield as I momentarily blocked their path.
The atmosphere was still incredibly tense and pockets of disorderly people kept appearing at the end of different streets as the locals made use of well-known rat runs to move around the area.
Read more: Hartlepool MP Jonathan Brash condemns violent disorder
In a final act of violent defiance and unattended police car was set alight as crowds of thugs crowded around the area in jubilant mood.
The burnt-out wreck of the car was left smouldering on Dent Street as the police continued to move on youths and young adults who were happy to continue abusing the officers as they battled to maintain order.
And the final stand-off that I witnessed took place at the crossroads of Raby Road and Middleton Road where a line of officers were confronted by an ever dwindling number of men and teenagers.
As the early hours of the morning approached, police were able to reopen all of the roads before a clear-up could take place.
As I said at the start, this is the first time I have covered a riot but I fear it may not be the last as the summer continues to turn the country into a potential tinderbox.
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