Police ban Birmingham rioters from city centre
SUSPECTS arrested during violence in Birmingham city centre have been banned from returning in a police crackdown on the protests that have blighted the city.
Those arrested following ugly scenes in the city centre at the weekend and an earlier protest on August 8 had strict bail conditions imposed on to them banning them from the city centre under threat of arrest.
Asst Chief Con Sharon Rowe said the police and council would now seek to use the full force of civil laws such as injunctions and anti-social behaviour orders to keep them out of the city.
And she promised officers would make a “significant” number of fresh arrests in a tough crackdown on troublemakers.
Ms Rowe said members of the English Defence League had shown their claims of wanting a peaceful protest in the city centre were false.
She pledged any future plans to demonstrate in the city centre would be met with short shrift.
Police put equal blame for the trouble on the EDL supporters and groups of youths who came to the city centre on Saturday intent on violent confrontation.
A team of detectives is now analysing CCTV footage and evidence from police video crews to identify those behind the trouble and any race or religious hatred.
