A High Court judge yesterday ordered the Metropolitan Police to settle a multi-million pound bill for the destruction of an Enfield warehouse during the riots that took place in the summer of 2011.
Many commercial properties were damaged during the riots
The 260,000 sq ft Sony warehouse was looted and set alight on the night of 8th August and burned for ten days. It was one of many commercial properties damaged or destroyed during the unrest which spread from London to other locations costing insurers an estimated £200 million.
Sony’s insurers, Mitsui Sumitomo, and the property owners’ insurers, Royal and Sun Alliance, took the Mayor’s Office to court seeking damages of £49.5 million and £9.35 million respectively.
They claimed that the police were responsible for the costs under the 1886 Riot (Damages) Act. This piece of legislation states that the police are liable for damages to property caused during disturbances involving more than 12 people ‘riotously and tumultuously assembled.’
Lawyers representing the Mayor’s Office argued that the looting and arson attack on the building had been a ‘planned criminal enterprise’ rather than a riot, and that they were not liable for the damages under these circumstances.
But the judge, Mr Justice Flaux, rejected this claim ruling that the looting and damage to the property did not occur during a ‘systematic burglary’ but was perpetrated by a group of 25 youths ‘riotously and tumultuously assembled’ together.
“The behaviour of the group throughout the period can properly and objectively be described as the behaviour of an agitated, excited and volatile group, not the behaviour of a gang of professional thieves,” the judge said.
He added that the police had received numerous calls from the public about the disturbances in the area the previous evening and had the opportunity to prevent the attack on the warehouse if they had acted accordingly.
It was announced earlier this year that the government is to review the 1886 act which could lead to a change in the definition of what constitutes a riot.
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