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| Victim profiles: 'it was sickening. We had nothing left at all' | Victim profiles: 'it was sickening. We had nothing left at all' |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| Father Simon Morris, 29, parish priest of St Mary's, opposite the Carpetright building that was torched in Tottenham. He was on an annual pilgrimage in Walsingham, Norfolk, when the riots broke out | Father Simon Morris, 29, parish priest of St Mary's, opposite the Carpetright building that was torched in Tottenham. He was on an annual pilgrimage in Walsingham, Norfolk, when the riots broke out |
| It wasn't a case of coming back from pilgrimage and checking emails and catching up on phone calls. It was a case of dumping my bag and going straight back out on to the street to talk to people, in full cassock. | It wasn't a case of coming back from pilgrimage and checking emails and catching up on phone calls. It was a case of dumping my bag and going straight back out on to the street to talk to people, in full cassock. |
| We were all just stopping and staring at what used to be buildings. It was not just burning buildings, it was everything else: trainer boxes from JD Sports all over the streets where people had got their trainers and left the boxes, and those polyester balls, whatever's used in packing, strewn all over the place. On one of the streets it was like there was snow, it was incredible, there were so many of them, being blown gently up the road. | We were all just stopping and staring at what used to be buildings. It was not just burning buildings, it was everything else: trainer boxes from JD Sports all over the streets where people had got their trainers and left the boxes, and those polyester balls, whatever's used in packing, strewn all over the place. On one of the streets it was like there was snow, it was incredible, there were so many of them, being blown gently up the road. |
| I don't know what I hoped to achieve by going out and wandering around; if I achieved anything. I'm not sure I did, necessarily. I still think it was the right thing for the parish priest to be doing. Talking through things with people, really. I suppose it's like any shock, often one feels the need to talk it through with someone. | I don't know what I hoped to achieve by going out and wandering around; if I achieved anything. I'm not sure I did, necessarily. I still think it was the right thing for the parish priest to be doing. Talking through things with people, really. I suppose it's like any shock, often one feels the need to talk it through with someone. |
| In that, say, 36 hours of no electricity, people came to our hall, which must be on a different circuit. They charged their mobile phones there and we were taking hot water over to the vestry and to people's flats, people who had young children. People coming to us with flasks to fill up with hot water, initially, and the builders and the demolitioners and the police and everyone coming to use toilets and things, and that continued even when the electricity came back on, so the church stayed open 16 hours a day for six days, 8am till midnight, providing food and a loo for the emergency services. | In that, say, 36 hours of no electricity, people came to our hall, which must be on a different circuit. They charged their mobile phones there and we were taking hot water over to the vestry and to people's flats, people who had young children. People coming to us with flasks to fill up with hot water, initially, and the builders and the demolitioners and the police and everyone coming to use toilets and things, and that continued even when the electricity came back on, so the church stayed open 16 hours a day for six days, 8am till midnight, providing food and a loo for the emergency services. |
| It sounds a bit corny to say, but it was a bit like the blitz almost. In the face of a really awful situation, actually getting on with it and almost having quite a jolly time. I'd come and play the organ in the evenings. | It sounds a bit corny to say, but it was a bit like the blitz almost. In the face of a really awful situation, actually getting on with it and almost having quite a jolly time. I'd come and play the organ in the evenings. |
| I don't think I would have thought about it so much if we hadn't had the whole cathedral fiasco, you know, St Paul's cathedral closing, the tents outside. I think in terms of juxtaposition, that was even more stark. People went to them and the cathedral shut its doors, and people came to us and we were busting a gut trying to keep everything open. | I don't think I would have thought about it so much if we hadn't had the whole cathedral fiasco, you know, St Paul's cathedral closing, the tents outside. I think in terms of juxtaposition, that was even more stark. People went to them and the cathedral shut its doors, and people came to us and we were busting a gut trying to keep everything open. |
| Brothers Jaswant Rai Gogna, 60, and Kuldip Rai Gogna, 57, joint owners of Nanakson & Sons, a jeweller's on Grove Lane, Birmingham. The shop was heavily looted | Brothers Jaswant Rai Gogna, 60, and Kuldip Rai Gogna, 57, joint owners of Nanakson & Sons, a jeweller's on Grove Lane, Birmingham. The shop was heavily looted |
| We were devastated. Sickened by it all. [It was] traumatic. First time I saw it [CCTV footage] I cried. We put all our effort into that shop, we spent so much money and 12 years into the business totally to build it up and it just went to rubble. | We were devastated. Sickened by it all. [It was] traumatic. First time I saw it [CCTV footage] I cried. We put all our effort into that shop, we spent so much money and 12 years into the business totally to build it up and it just went to rubble. |
| We make it [the jewellery]. It's so fine and takes so many hours to do it. It was just sickening. We had nothing left at all. It was about £15,000 [lost]. We wasn't insured. The prices of the insurance doubled and we couldn't afford it. | We make it [the jewellery]. It's so fine and takes so many hours to do it. It was just sickening. We had nothing left at all. It was about £15,000 [lost]. We wasn't insured. The prices of the insurance doubled and we couldn't afford it. |
| The high street fund from London, they gave us some money. Then the council gave us the money for better CCTV and the shutters. We sent the papers [for the riot fund] but they haven't got back to us. | The high street fund from London, they gave us some money. Then the council gave us the money for better CCTV and the shutters. We sent the papers [for the riot fund] but they haven't got back to us. |
| It's just scary to come back to the area. You have to think twice before you open the door to anybody. Some of the customers are scared to come in now. We used to have a lot of business with the old ladies; we don't see them any more. | It's just scary to come back to the area. You have to think twice before you open the door to anybody. Some of the customers are scared to come in now. We used to have a lot of business with the old ladies; we don't see them any more. |
| Zak Hussein, 35, owner of the Green Mango cafe in Ealing, west London. His shop was destroyed by water damage | Zak Hussein, 35, owner of the Green Mango cafe in Ealing, west London. His shop was destroyed by water damage |
| What destroyed my business completely was not the fire [next door] but the gallons and gallons of water which the fire brigade poured over the building. I was in complete shock when I saw the water pouring, even the following morning. | What destroyed my business completely was not the fire [next door] but the gallons and gallons of water which the fire brigade poured over the building. I was in complete shock when I saw the water pouring, even the following morning. |
| Even now when I go back to the shop my heart sinks because I put [in] so much effort trying to lift the business off the ground. The initial loss adjuster from the insurance company said the damage is anything from 80-90%. That's everything, including furniture to the machinery to the stock, everything. | Even now when I go back to the shop my heart sinks because I put [in] so much effort trying to lift the business off the ground. The initial loss adjuster from the insurance company said the damage is anything from 80-90%. That's everything, including furniture to the machinery to the stock, everything. |
| My source of income has come to a standstill. I've had to put my house on the market well below the market value. I'm really, really struggling. I've got nothing. I've got nothing to live off. I've had no source of money from the insurance company. They've only recently paid out for the contents, which is the machinery and so forth. I still have not had a penny from them in regards to business interruption. | My source of income has come to a standstill. I've had to put my house on the market well below the market value. I'm really, really struggling. I've got nothing. I've got nothing to live off. I've had no source of money from the insurance company. They've only recently paid out for the contents, which is the machinery and so forth. I still have not had a penny from them in regards to business interruption. |
| Marianne Simons, 37, owner of Avant Garde hairdresser's in Croydon. Her shop was looted and vandalised | Marianne Simons, 37, owner of Avant Garde hairdresser's in Croydon. Her shop was looted and vandalised |
| I felt like I was in Iraq or somewhere like that because it was like … it was just different, wasn't it? It looked like Iraq, one of those wartorn films, the dust, the dirt. | I felt like I was in Iraq or somewhere like that because it was like … it was just different, wasn't it? It looked like Iraq, one of those wartorn films, the dust, the dirt. |
| When we came in there was champagne bottles, cranberry sauce on the walls; they'd been eating, left faeces in the toilet. They'd been from top to bottom around the whole of the shop. | When we came in there was champagne bottles, cranberry sauce on the walls; they'd been eating, left faeces in the toilet. They'd been from top to bottom around the whole of the shop. |
| Basically [they] vandalised everywhere. They stole TVs, all the products, everything was vandalised and demolished. All our products, all our utensils, everything was cleaned out, top to bottom. | Basically [they] vandalised everywhere. They stole TVs, all the products, everything was vandalised and demolished. All our products, all our utensils, everything was cleaned out, top to bottom. |
| No one knows how long it took me to open this shop. No one knows how hard it was for me to open the shop, so that's why I was just thinking I wanted to kill them because they don't understand what I went through. | No one knows how long it took me to open this shop. No one knows how hard it was for me to open the shop, so that's why I was just thinking I wanted to kill them because they don't understand what I went through. |
| You saw everyone initially after saying what they were going to do to support and help. After a couple of weeks that's it, you don't hear nothing. No one's interested now. It's come and gone, isn't it? | You saw everyone initially after saying what they were going to do to support and help. After a couple of weeks that's it, you don't hear nothing. No one's interested now. It's come and gone, isn't it? |
| A male 29-year-old jeweller in Birmingham | A male 29-year-old jeweller in Birmingham |
| It was [pathetic]. Pathetic of the police not attending on site, and especially when it was around our area. [It] makes you feel [like] what's the point of being in England? It's like a third-world country where the police don't even turn up. When you're paying your taxes and everything and they don't turn up. | It was [pathetic]. Pathetic of the police not attending on site, and especially when it was around our area. [It] makes you feel [like] what's the point of being in England? It's like a third-world country where the police don't even turn up. When you're paying your taxes and everything and they don't turn up. |
| We couldn't do much for defence, we just stood outside during the day making sure no one caused any trouble. I did notice the neighbours had some weapons on them, defending their shops. They had bars and things like that. | We couldn't do much for defence, we just stood outside during the day making sure no one caused any trouble. I did notice the neighbours had some weapons on them, defending their shops. They had bars and things like that. |
| It was like everyone was ready to beat someone up, if the police didn't do it. Why not? We're living here, this is what I'm earning my bread and butter from, so this is it, if you lose this, that's it. There's no comeback to it. Damage is damage at the end of the day, you're not getting that hourly wage, I'm a self-employed jeweller. | It was like everyone was ready to beat someone up, if the police didn't do it. Why not? We're living here, this is what I'm earning my bread and butter from, so this is it, if you lose this, that's it. There's no comeback to it. Damage is damage at the end of the day, you're not getting that hourly wage, I'm a self-employed jeweller. |
| Someone had to do it, and the people who are sitting in their shops for the last 20-odd years, only they are going to defend what they've got. I think it's just a community thing that everyone was helping each other. The whole Asian community were defending themselves. I believe the hooligans were scared. | Someone had to do it, and the people who are sitting in their shops for the last 20-odd years, only they are going to defend what they've got. I think it's just a community thing that everyone was helping each other. The whole Asian community were defending themselves. I believe the hooligans were scared. |
| A 28-year-old man who works at a family-owned restaurant in Dalston, east London | A 28-year-old man who works at a family-owned restaurant in Dalston, east London |
| Our initial response was: look, we know the police will do anything they can to prevent it or protect us, but at the end of the day there might not be enough police officers to be here on time, so it's our responsibility to protect ourselves. It's not illegal to protect ourselves. | Our initial response was: look, we know the police will do anything they can to prevent it or protect us, but at the end of the day there might not be enough police officers to be here on time, so it's our responsibility to protect ourselves. It's not illegal to protect ourselves. |
| Well, there was about 10 of us here, just workers and stuff, I didn't have to call anyone else. So, I mean, we didn't attack anyone, it was just simply people pulled our shutters down, standing in front of our businesses and saying: look, we are here, so if you are going to be attacking us, the police aren't around and so we have to protect ourselves. It's not that we're vigilantes or anything like that. It was just for self-defence reasons. | Well, there was about 10 of us here, just workers and stuff, I didn't have to call anyone else. So, I mean, we didn't attack anyone, it was just simply people pulled our shutters down, standing in front of our businesses and saying: look, we are here, so if you are going to be attacking us, the police aren't around and so we have to protect ourselves. It's not that we're vigilantes or anything like that. It was just for self-defence reasons. |
| I obviously advised everyone not to interfere with anything, not to hit anyone, not to attack anyone, but if anyone starts hitting you that's just self-defence. If I'm being honest I was going to do what it takes to protect my business physically. If I'm attacked I'm going to protect my business. | I obviously advised everyone not to interfere with anything, not to hit anyone, not to attack anyone, but if anyone starts hitting you that's just self-defence. If I'm being honest I was going to do what it takes to protect my business physically. If I'm attacked I'm going to protect my business. |
| It was a good way of preventing things, to actually stand in front of a business and having all the numbers here. We weren't here to fight or to hurt anyone, we were here to show our bodies, we were big in numbers, so don't come to this area. | It was a good way of preventing things, to actually stand in front of a business and having all the numbers here. We weren't here to fight or to hurt anyone, we were here to show our bodies, we were big in numbers, so don't come to this area. |
| It did affect the business a lot, but it was good. Then we had customers coming in and saying thank you, people giving us flowers, saying thanks for protecting the area. | It did affect the business a lot, but it was good. Then we had customers coming in and saying thank you, people giving us flowers, saying thanks for protecting the area. |
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