Clashes Erupt Between Romanians and Police in Leeds, England

Romania's MFA confirms the involvement of a Romanian family. Arrests operated.

By Romania Journal Last updated Jul 19, 2024

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A riot with overturned and torched vehicles took place in Leeds, British media reports. The incidents happened on Thursday evening in the Harehills area. Law enforcement intervened and warned residents to stay indoors. Video recordings on social networks show the scale of the scandal and at least some of those involved speak Romanian.

Riots broke out in the Harehills area of Leeds on Thursday evening, leading to a police car being overturned and a bus being set on fire. Residents have been urged to stay at home while police deal with a “serious disorderly incident”.

The riot allegedly broke out after social workers tried to take care of five children. No one has been injured so far, police said, adding that they believe the riot was “instigated by a criminal minority intent on disrupting community relations.”

At 5:00 p.m., on Luxor Street, police responded to an “altercation” involving social workers and “a few kids.” According to the police, the crowd began to gather and that the decision was made to take both the social workers and the children “to a safe place”. Events escalated to a riot.

Home Secretary and West Yorkshire MP Yvette Cooper said she was “appalled by the shocking scenes”, according to the BBC. The owner of a restaurant in Harehills said the disorder was linked to the care of local children, adding that some people responded by lighting fires and “throwing stones”.

Footage showed a fire burning in the middle of a street as hundreds of people gathered. “Let it remain in history! Let the riot police from Bucharest come because we’ll knock them down too”, “Bring the knife! Overturn the car!“, is heard in the background of a video recording while the police car that came to protect the social workers is overturned.

A double-decker bus was set on fire and another was damaged.

According to The Guardian, no uniformed police “appeared” to be at the scene of the violent incidents after 9pm, although a police helicopter was monitoring the situation from above.

Yorkshire Police has promised a full investigation into “all offences”, including damage to vehicles due to the fire. The West Yorkshire mayor said: “I’m relieved no one was seriously injured but I suggest those who use this to inflame community tensions think twice.”

Riesa, a pharmacist who did not want to give her last name and lives in the area, said: “They were attacking police cars, throwing things at police cars – anything they could grab off the ground. Stones, garbage, bottles, anything”.

Another witness, Usmaan, said he saw police withdrawing earlier in the day to calm spirits. “The police decided to withdraw, I spoke to a sergeant and he told me that they decided to withdraw to de-escalate the situation.”

Romania’s MFA confirms Romanian family’s involvement

The Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) states, in a statement issued on Friday, that it self-reported on the evening of July 18, through the Consulate General of Romania in Manchester, after the information in the British media regarding the attempt to take over some children from a Romanian family, in the care state, to which some locals responded with violence in Leeds.

The consul is in touch with the family and the British authorities.

The representative of the Consulate “firmly” recommended them to comply with the instructions of the local authorities, to keep calm and to take the legal steps to clarify the situation of the minors in question. Also, until the stabilization of the situation in the area, the consul was in direct contact with the representatives of the religious cults in the locality, who sent the same recommendations to the Romanian citizens according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Later today, Police made more arrests following Thursday night’s violent riot in Leeds, during which a double-decker bus was set on fire, a police car was overturned, officers were stoned.

In a statement issued on Friday, West Yorkshire Police said “several arrests have been made in connection with the disturbances and further arrests will be made over the coming days”.

In a statement, West Yorkshire’s assistant chief constable Pat Twiggs said: “There has understandably been a great deal of speculation, commentary and concern following the disorder in Harehills, Leeds, overnight.

“Our officers responded to a call from children’s social care at around 5pm yesterday (Thursday 18 July) after social workers reported being met with hostility when dealing with a child protection matter.

“Responding officers were attacked and helped children’s social care staff withdraw to a place of safety.

“As the disorder escalated, damage was caused to vehicles and several fires set.”

He added: “We continually assessed the situation and took the decision to deploy specialist public order officers who then came under a barrage of bricks and missiles from a large group.

“A decision was taken to withdraw these officers temporarily as it was evident that the police was their sole target.

“This allowed for further community mediation to take place in order to calm the situation.

“Police then returned to the area with fire colleagues to extinguish the remaining fires which were self-contained and didn’t pose a wider risk. By this point the crowd had diminished and officers were able to fully restore order.

“Throughout the night several arrests were made in relation to the disorder and further arrests will be made over the next few days.”

15yo Romanian teenager, convicted of violence in Leeds, in 2023

This is not the first riot in Harehills. In 2019, six British police officers were injured after several youths set off fireworks and threw rocks and bricks at law enforcement.

The final cost of the five-hour showdown was more than £200,000, according to the Yorkshire Evening Post.

Only 15 years old at the time, Alex Stoian, born in Romania, was identified as one of the leaders of the group that caused violence and chaos. He was sentenced to 16 months in a young offenders’ center in June 2023.

He fled the country after that violent night. He was arrested in 2022 while returning from Liverpool Airport. The prosecutor in the case said police footage and cellphone footage shared on social media showed him leading the hostilities. The teenager also boasted about his exploits on the internet.

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