Police ‘immensely brave’ but forces were unprepared for summer riots, says report
Police forces need to be better prepared for serious violence and disorder, according to a review of the response to this summer’s riots.
The report also found police failed to realise the significance of a number of events leading up to the riots, leaving gaps in intelligence linked to social media and the dark web.
Violence flared across the country following the deaths of three schoolgirls in a knife attack in Southport in Merseyside in July.
The unrest and disorder continued for several days.
In September, the home secretary asked His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services to carry out a rapid review into the policing response to the disorder.
The first part of the report, which is published today, said that officers had showed “immense bravery and personal sacrifice” throughout the disorder but that forces were unprepared for the scale of the rioting.
It said the decision by the National Police Chiefs’ Council to implement a national mobilisation plan on 6 August was made too late and should have been activated four days earlier.
The inspectorate said a number of events in 2023 and 2024 were indicators of potential future disorder but this had not been reflected in police intelligence reviews.
“Our assessment of these incidents suggests that the risks of disorder were greater than the police believed them to be,” it said. “They involved extreme nationalist sentiment, aggravated activism or serious disorder.”
The incidents included demonstrations organised by Tommy Robinson, unrest in Leeds and Cardiff and violence on Armistice Day in London.
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Two months on, Sky’s Shingi Mararike revisits the scene of one of the summer riots
The report also concluded that the dress code initially handed down by commanders could have left officers vulnerable to injury.
His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Constabulary, Andy Cooke, told Sky News: “Officers shouldn’t have to stand there and be subjected to that level of barrage that we saw.
“Policing needs to look again at how quickly it mobilises more resources in these instances to actually ensure that those officers aren’t stood in these lines for so long, that different tactics can be used. To do different tactics you need more resources.
“Getting officers to these locations where there are problems quickly is a critical part of that.”
The report praised the dedication and bravery of police. Pic: PA
He praised the dedication and bravery of officers who had protected the public. Some 302 officers were injured in the violence, with more than 50 needing hospital treatment.
He said some of the most sustained violence was faced by officers who came under siege while protecting hotels housing migrants.
Female officers and those from minority backgrounds bore the brunt of the attacks.
The quick identification of suspects helped end the disorder, says the report Pic: PA/CPS
‘A complex situation’
The inspectorate found the speedy identification and prosecution of hundreds of people involved in the riots helped to bring an end to the violence.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council lead for public disorder, Chief Constable BJ Harrington said it was encouraging the report acknowledged “the immense bravery and professionalism” of officers.
He said the finding that the national mobilisation plan should have been made earlier was a “helpful recommendation”.
He added: “Hindsight can be useful, and these learnings are important, but we are pleased that the Inspectorate also recognise how complex of a situation this was for policing to respond to, and that on the whole, the service did so well.”
In Walton on Merseyside, where rioters burned down a community library, there was broad support for the efforts of police to control to the summer’s disorder.
The Spellow Community Hub and Library reopened last week and the city council’s head of libraries Alicia Smith said: “Our emergency services were amazing.”
A second report from the inspectorate, which will look at social media misinformation among other things, is due to be published in the spring.
Mr Cooke said the focus should be on being prepared: “I doubt it will be another 14 years before we see serious disorder. I hope it is, but I doubt it.”
As a ban on the sale of disposable vapes comes into force on Sunday, a doctor who set up the first-ever clinic to help children stop vaping has said she has seen patients so addicted they couldn’t sleep through the night without them.
Professor Rachel Isba established the clinic at Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool in January and has now seen several patients as young as 11 years old who are nicotine dependent.
“Some of the young people vape before they get out of bed. They are sleeping with them under their pillow,” she told Sky News.
Professor Rachel Isba set up the first-ever stop vaping clinic for children
“I’m hearing stories of some children waking up at three o’clock in the morning, thinking they can’t sleep, thinking the vape will help them get back to sleep. Whereas, actually, that’s the complete opposite of how nicotine works.”
Ms Isba said most of her patients use disposable vapes, and while some young people may use the chance to give up, others will simply move to refillable devices after the ban.
“To me, vaping feels quite a lot like the beginning of smoking. I’m not surprised, but disappointed on behalf of the children that history has repeated itself.”
A government ban on single-use vapes comes into effect from Sunday, prohibiting the sale of disposable vaping products across the UK, both online and in-store, whether or not they contain nicotine.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said usage among young vapers remained too high, and the ban would “put an end to their alarming rise in school playgrounds and the avalanche of rubbish flooding the nation’s streets”.
Pic: PA
Circular economy minister Mary Creagh said: “For too long, single-use vapes have blighted our streets as litter and hooked our children on nicotine. That ends today. The government calls time on these nasty devices.”
At nearby Shrewsbury House Youth Club in Everton, a group of 11 and 12-year-old girls said vape addiction is already rife among their friends.
Yasmin Dumbell said: “Every day we go out, and at least someone has a vape. I know people who started in year five. It’s constantly in their hand.”
Yasmin Dumbell says she knows students who started vaping in year five
Her friend Una Quayle said metal detectors were installed at her school to try to stop pupils bringing in vapes, and they are having special assemblies about the dangers of the devices.
But, she said, students “find ways to get around the scanners though – they hide them in their shorts and go to the bathroom and do it”.
Una Quayle says metal detectors installed at her school won’t stop students using vapes
The girls said the ban on disposables is unlikely to make a difference for their friends who are already addicted.
According to Una, they’ll “find a way to get nicotine into their system”.
As well as trying to address the rise in young people vaping, the government hopes banning single-use vapes will reduce some of the environmental impact the devices have.
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Although all vapes can be recycled, only a tiny proportion are – with around eight million a week ending up in the bin or on the floor.
Pulled apart by hand
Even those that are recycled have to be pulled apart by hand, as there is currently no way to automate the process.
Scott Butler, executive director of Material Focus, a recycling non-profit group, said vapes were “some of the most environmentally wasteful, damaging, dangerous consumer products ever sold”.
His organisation worries that with new, legal models being designed to almost exactly mimic disposables in look and feel – and being sold for a similar price – people will just keep throwing them away.
He said the behaviour “is too ingrained. The general public have been told ‘vapes are disposable’. They’ve even been marketed this way. But they never were disposable”.
A ban on disposable vapes comes into force on Sunday, with a warning issued about the “life-threatening dangers” of stockpiling.
From Sunday it will be illegal for any business to sell or supply, or have in their possession for sale, all single-use or disposable vapes.
Online nicotine retailer Haypp said 82% of the 369 customers they surveyed plan to bulk purchase the vapes before they are no longer available.
But the vapes contain lithium batteries and could catch fire if not stored correctly.
A sign for customers at a Tesco store in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire. Pic: PA
While more than a third (34%) of people surveyed by Haypp said they would consider buying an illegal vape after the ban, the overall number of people using disposable products has fallen from 30% to to 24% of vapers, according to Action on Smoking and Health.
Shops selling vapes are required to offer a “take back” service, where they accept vapes and vape parts that customers return for recycling – including single use products.
Read more: Everything you need to know about the ban
The Local Government Association (LGA) led the call for a ban two years ago, due to environmental and wellbeing concerns, and is warning people not to stockpile.
Cllr David Fothergill, chairman of the LGA’s Community Wellbeing Board, said: “Failing to store disposable vapes correctly could cost lives, given the significant fire risk they pose.”
How disposable vapes catch fire – or even explode
Figures obtained by the Electric Tobacconist, via Freedom of Information requests, found an increase in vape related fires – from 89 in 2020 to 399 in 2024.
Many disposable vapes use cheap, or even unregulated lithium-ion batteries, to keep the costs down. These batteries often lack proper safety features, like thermal cut offs, making them more prone to overheating and catching fire.
If the battery is damaged, or overheats in any way it can cause thermal runaway – a chain reaction where the battery’s temperature rapidly increases, causing it to overheat uncontrollably.
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Then, once these fires start start, they are very hard to stop. Water alone can make things worse if the battery is still generating heat, so they require specialised fire suppressants to put them out.
Batteries can then re-ignite hours, or even days later, making them a persistent hazard.
Disposable vapes are a hazard for waste and litter collection and cause fires in bin lorries, even though customers have been warned not to throw them away in household waste. They are almost impossible to recycle because they are designed as one unit so the batteries cannot be separated from plastic.
Some 8.2 million units were thrown away, or recycled incorrectly, every week prior to the ban.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said usage among young vapers remained too high, and the ban would “put an end to their alarming rise in school playgrounds and the avalanche of rubbish flooding the nation’s streets”.
Circular economy minister Mary Creagh said: “For too long, single-use vapes have blighted our streets as litter and hooked our children on nicotine. That ends today.
“The government calls time on these nasty devices.”
‘One in five say they will return to cigarettes’
Separate research by life insurance experts at Confused.com found two in five people (37%) planned to stop vaping when the ban starts.
Nearly one in five (19%) said they would return to cigarettes once the ban comes into force.
The research was based on the answers of 500 UK adults who currently vape.
Vaping and smoking also appears to be on the rise, with Confused.com saying there was a 44% increase in the number of people declaring they smoke or vape on their life insurance policy since 2019.
Russell Brand has pleaded not guilty to rape and sexual assault charges as he appeared in court in London.
The British comedian and actor, from Hambleden in Buckinghamshire, was charged by post last month with one count each of rape, indecent assault and oral rape as well as two counts of sexual assault.
The charges relate to alleged incidents involving four separate women between 1999 and 2005.
The 49-year-old, who has been living in the US, was flanked by two officers as he pleaded not guilty to all the charges at Southwark Crown Court today.
Russell Brand appears at Southwark Crown Court. Pic: Reuters
Brand stood completely still and looked straight ahead as he delivered his pleas.
The comedian, who has consistently denied having non-consensual sex since allegations were first aired two years ago, is due to stand trial in June 2026.
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Russell Brand arrives at Southwark Crown Court on Friday
He previously told his 11.2 million followers on X that he welcomed the opportunity to prove his innocence.
The allegations were first made in a joint investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4 Dispatches in September 2023.
As Friday’s hearing finished, Brand replaced his sunglasses before exiting the dock and calmly walking past reporters.
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