Tottenham fires: 'There were no police in sight' during riots

Those whose flats and houses were burnt in riots give their accounts of the events that cost them their homes

It is only when the people burned out of their homes in Tottenham last Saturday tell their stories that the full horror of their experience strikes you.

Their quiet, prosaic words tumble out and they shake their heads, still in disbelief that people of similar ages, similar backgrounds and ethnicities, people who lived and worked nearby, could set fire to their buildings, knowing they were inside and not caring what happened to them. The anguish is palpable.

They have told their stories many times now, to family and friends, to the media and to passing politicians – Labour leader Ed Miliband – and still the incomprehension continues.

"What is my opinion of the people who did this to us?" says Stuart Radose, a 36-year-old Waitrose retail manager, who lived in a flat above the Carpetright showroom on Tottenham High Road with his wife, Lynn, until it was burned to the ground. "I am not sure Lynn agrees with me but I think they are complete scum."

"No, I agree," says Lynn, a chartered accountant. "Scum. We have been taxpayers all our lives. We paid towards the police and they left us to die in that building."

Haringey council, which has swung into emergency mode, estimates 54 families lost their homes. They are now staying with friends or in B&Bs and hotels across north London, spending their days meeting lawyers and advisers. The residents above did not even know whether their building was properly insured by its management company until Thursday, nor whether the disturbance qualified as a riot for insurance purposes until David Cameron spoke in the Commons. Their resentment spreads out from the mob to the police who failed to protect them.

Help has poured in from all over the country, though the council is surprised that Tottenham Hotspur, the local football club, has shown little sign of helping.

The Radoses watched the mob surge down the road shortly after midnight. They saw them break into a garage opposite, toss tyres out into the road and then throw them through the plate-glass windows of the shop downstairs and set the building on fire.

The couple woke their neighbours, then sidled out hand in hand, past the hooded, masked and threatening mob, to seek refuge with Stuart's parents, 10 minutes' walk away.

Stuart says: "Lynn packed a handbag but we decided not to take it. I said: 'A designer handbag? You are going to get mugged' ... so we left it. We thought there might be smoke damage. Our flat was on the second floor, we thought that we would be all right. It was a naive thought. When I went back with my dad at 5.30am, the place was burned out."

Lynn adds: "We have lost everything, all our wedding presents and mementos from our travels. I am still wearing what I wore to escape."

Their neighbour Mehmet Asdoyuran, 36, a store manager, tells how he was woken by the sound of breaking glass:

"I could see them smashing windows across the road and could see what was going to happen. When I went downstairs Carpetright was already on fire and I knew I just had to get out. Adrenaline just kicked in. There was no alarm. There was a police helicopter overhead but there was no one telling us to get out, no policemen in sight. It was a nightmare to be honest. I am just happy to be alive."

Others in the flats have told of being woken by hammering on the door. Some were attacked by looters as they fled.

As Miliband toured the Tottenham Green leisure centre, where food and donated clothes are piled high, he was accosted by two victims of the riot.

Dean Pursey, 29, and his girlfriend Vina Andersson were in their flat above a hairdresser's when the mob broke in to the jewellers' shop next door and set it alight.

They have lost everything and now face the prospect of moving into a studio flat, much smaller than their old home, at twice the rent. Vina, an art student, has lost all her work.

"I cannot understand why they did it. No one is that hard-up in this country," says Dean, who works for a roofing company. Vina says: "Our lives have literally come to a standstill. We have nothing left. We were going to start a family but we are not sure we want a baby now, to be brought into this sort of world."

What do they think of the people who did this? "Scumbags. Total scumbags." It is a word you hear an awful lot today.

Contributor

Stephen Bates

The GuardianTramp

Related Content

Article image
Politicians condemn Tottenham riots
David Cameron among those to denounce violence in north London, while local MP calls riots an attack on ordinary people

Andrew Sparrow, political correspondent

07, Aug, 2011 @7:12 PM

Article image
Tottenham riots: a peaceful protest, then suddenly all hell broke loose

Shops looted, vehicle torched and police injured in full-scale riot that spread across north-London suburbs

Paul Lewis

07, Aug, 2011 @7:52 PM

Article image
Tottenham riots: relatives of dead man say they didn't want violence

Police have been criticised for failing to communicate clearly with the family who say they feel isolated, unsupported and ignored

Sandra Laville, crime correspondent

07, Aug, 2011 @6:18 PM

Article image
Riots in Tottenham: 'We are broken but we are coming back to life slowly'
One of London's worst-hit areas begins to repair damage, as a local barber has a surprise visit from footballer Peter Crouch

Alexandra Topping

16, Aug, 2011 @8:23 PM

Article image
Mark Duggan: profile of Tottenham police shooting victim
Conflicting portraits of man whose death sparked Tottenham riot and London-wide looting

Patrick Barkham and Jon Henley

08, Aug, 2011 @6:49 PM

Article image
Tottenham riots: the warnings to police that went unheeded

Metropolitan police face claims they were underprepared for disturbances despite warnings there could be trouble

Vikram Dodd, crime correspondent

07, Aug, 2011 @7:40 PM

Tottenham riots: A suburb in flames | Editorial

Editorial: There is every indication, as unemployment climbs and cuts are made, that the sense of alienation will burgeon

Editorial

07, Aug, 2011 @9:22 PM

Article image
Tottenham riots: This could happen in a dozen boroughs | Dave Hill

Dave Hill: I don't know what could have been done to avoid last night's explosion of resentment and criminality. But I'm grimly confident of its potential elsewhere

Dave Hill

07, Aug, 2011 @1:17 PM

Article image
Tottenham riots: Police 'had not anticipated' extreme violence

Met police commander Adrian Hanstock says situation in north London suburb 'escalated out of all proportion'

Sandra Laville, Paul Lewis and Caroline Davies

07, Aug, 2011 @12:18 PM

Article image
A fire lit in Tottenham that burned Manchester: the rioters' story

Rioters from across England describe how it felt to be caught up in the chaos that engulfed the country last summer

Paul Lewis

05, Dec, 2011 @12:28 AM