Politics
Norfolk Police deploy “significant” resources to counter three nights of racist violence in Thetford
On Thursday 6 August, police in Thetford, Norfolk imposed ‘public safety measures’ after a crowd tried to break into a property they believed housed asylum seekers. The measures allow police to order people they suspect of anti-social behaviour to leave an area, and/or to remove face coverings.
A Norfolk Police spokesperson said:
At about 9.30pm officers responded to reports that people in the group were trying to gain access to a residential property.
As police intervened, members of the group became physically aggressive towards officers – two were taken to hospital after a male officer was struck with a rock and a female officer was seriously bitten, breaking the skin.
A third officer was also spat at.
Tuesday — ‘Between 30 and 50 people’
On Tuesday night, 4 August, the mob smashed windows and fences whilst trying to break into a home on a residential street. Residents called the police at 8:12pm to report the vandalism and attempted breaking-and-entering.
An officer recounted that:
The group were shouting and preventing a workman from leaving.
A resident of the same property reported a group of between 30 and 50 people trying to get into the house.
Officers attended a second address on Bracken Road where some of the group believed to be present at the previous incidents smashed the windows of the property.
A third incident happened on Elm Road where a smaller group entered a property and forced out the resident and stole their mobile phone.
Wednesday — ‘Significant police resources’
A police spokesperson stated that the force also deployed “significant police resources” to maintain public safety on the next night, Wednesday 5 August.
Local Reform county councillor Scott Hussey posted on Facebook, in apparent support of the mob:
Situation in Thetford tonight as residents protest outside a house where a group of young male asylum seekers have been moved in by the Home Office. I’ve counted 28 police officers. The house is on a family estate, right next to a primary school.
He also posted a video of the assembled mob, in which a voice states:
They don’t want the white man anymore. They want us all gone, they wanna swap us. It’s predicted by 2050 that the f****** white man’s going to be a minority.
Another video posted to social media shows police escorting five men away from residential houses. Norfolk Police reported making two arrests. Charges included harassment, public order offences, and possession of an offensive weapon – namely a wooden bat.
Thursday — further arrests in Thetford
Last night, officers enforced public order measures from 6pm 6 August to 7am 7 August. A police spokesperson reported two further arrests – one on suspicion of inciting racial hatred, and another on failure to provide details on request and suspicion of being drunk and disorderly.
Another two men were arrested on Thursday, with one arrested on suspicion of inciting racial hatred and the other on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly and failing to provide details to police when asked.
South West Norfolk’s Labour MP, Terry Jermy, stated that residents had contacted him with fears for their safety:
People have been pulled from their homes – a place of safety – and forcibly removed, with reports of members of the public breaking into homes, taking property and smashing windows.
This would have been utterly terrifying for the people in these properties and also very worrying for neighbouring residents. I utterly condemn this behaviour, and I know many Thetford residents share my disgust and concern.
He went on to add that:
I do not know the immigration status of the people placed in these properties or their legal status, but I know they are human beings that must be afforded the same rights that we all expect in this country.
Featured image via James Linsell Clark/SWNS
By Grace
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