Andrew Gilligan har sett på hvor de arresterte i London-oppøtyene kom fra: ofte langt vekk fra. Han mener plyndringen ikke var spontan, men organisert.

Kriminelle bander begravde stridsøksen og organiserte plyndringen, bla. ved å starte storbranner. Det er skremmende perspektiver.

However, it suggests that there appeared to be two kinds of riots. The first was heavily orchestrated, either by professional criminals seeking high-value goods or by gangs or more disparate groups of young people through means such as BlackBerry Messenger, with rioters travelling long distances at short notice to take part. Some local opportunists then joined in.
The second was less orchestrated, though there may still be an element of orchestration, with more local, opportunist and «copycat» rioters.
Our figures may also understate the extent of the orchestration since those charged to date are more likely to be «second-wave» rioters – those too slow to avoid getting caught – rather than initiators.
Croydon, which has seen the most serious damage to property and the highest numbers of charges, appears to be a special case with a mixture of both young local suspects and older people who have converged from long distances, including two from Maidstone, Kent and Cliffe, near Rochester, caught separately going equipped to steal.
The town also offers the clearest evidence of orchestration. The acting borough police commander, Detective Superintendent Jo Oakley, said that «some [rioters] were minibused in».
The local MP, Gavin Barwell, said: «I have spoken to well into double figures of people who saw people with walkie-talkies and radios directing people around.»
Witnesses to the Croydon riot supported these accounts.
Saber Ahmadi, 26, working at Pizza GoGo in London Road on the night of the riots, described the looting as a highly organised operation.
«A white van came down Hathaway Road and parked on the corner,» he said. «Ten people came out of the van. They had hammers, crow bars and wire cutters. Two or three cars also turned up.»
Mr Ahmadi said: «There were a lot of teenagers, maybe 14, 15, 16 years old. But they had a leader who was telling them [what] to take.»
He said the ring leader was «a massive guy» who was driving the van.
Other witnesses described «two or three co-ordinators» who were standing in the middle of the street dictating which shops the looters should hit. From about 7.30pm until 1am, Dr Kannappar Jeyanthan stood outside his friend’s grocery shop as about 300 looters went on the rampage on London Road.
«People came with cars and parked on the side streets,» he said. «Then in amongst the crowds you could see a couple of people organising it, instructing people which shops to do. Everything was pre-planned.»
Mahbub Bhatti, vice president of the local residents’ association, said: «People came in with vans, loaded them up and drove off. They would be back again within half an hour for more.»
Peter Truman, a local journalist, said: «I certainly saw older kids directing younger kids. There were a load of kids on their phones taking directions.»

Venstreliberale journalister og forskere liker å skylde på sosiale faktorer, men noen av de fattigste områdene, som Tower Hamlets, var rolige. Teorien stemmer ikke.

There is also a very strong correlation between the home addresses of those charged and areas of known gang activity.
Across London, The Sunday Telegraph has established, about three-quarters of the accused live in such areas and police have said that at least a quarter of those charged have known gang links.
Croydon has a serious gang problem, with three main rival youth gangs, Don’t Say Nothing (DSN), Gipset and Shine My Nine (SMN), claiming different parts of the borough.
They are multiracial but mainly black. Last year, dozens of rival gang members fought openly in North End, the town’s main pedestrianised shopping street, in the middle of the afternoon.

The boroughs of Tower Hamlets and Newham have the highest levels of poverty and youth unemployment in London, matched only by Hackney. But unlike Hackney, they saw relatively little rioting.
There was looting in Bow, Whitechapel, Stratford, Plaistow and Beckton, but not on the scale seen elsewhere.
The borough of Brent, which also has significant deprivation and high crime, was also notably quiet.
«Compared to surrounding boroughs Newham was relatively calm,» said the acting borough police commander, Sean Vickers.
Part of the reason may be that there are relatively few shops selling expensive goods in Tower Hamlets and Newham. However, from the court data, few people from these two boroughs travelled to other areas to loot either.
Another part of the explanation may be the racial mix of these areas. Brent, Tower Hamlets and Newham have London’s biggest Asian populations and from the court lists it is clear that disproportionately few rioters have Asian names.
There are serious and dangerous youth gangs in all London’s Asian areas.
But they do not have the same rap-derived culture as black and white London gangs and are more likely to be involved in longer-term organised criminality, such as drug-dealing, which riots can disrupt.

London riots were orchestrated by outsiders
The orchestration of the London riots can be revealed following analysis of court data.