Rioting continues over joyriders' death

RAMPAGING gangs of youths continued to set cars ablaze and clash with riot
police last night as violence spread to at least six towns in the northern Paris suburbs, 24 hours after two teenagers were killed when their motorbike collided with a police cruiser.

Police and French officials urged calm, fearing the continuing violence was about to spread to the troubled public housing projects nearby where there were the bloody riots of two years ago.

It has been claimed by the relatives of the victims that the police fled their damaged vehicle after in collision with the motorcycle and did not stop to
assist the youths after their bike hit the police car early Sunday evening
in Villiers-le-Bel, north of Paris.

Police said that the two teens, aged 15 and 16, were travelling at high speed and were not wearing helmets at the time of the crash.
"I call on everyone to calm down and let the justice system decide who was
responsible," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said during an official visit
to Beijing late yesterday.

Last night demonstrators in Villiers-le-Bel threw Molotov cocktails and fireworks at police, who responded with rubber-coated bullets and tear gas. Eight police officers have been injured in the scuffles so far on top of the 21 police officers and fire fighters injured in the initial outbursts of trouble on Sunday evening.
“We have seen cars set on fire and building attacked in six other towns outside Paris,” a police spokesman said.

Speeding Police Chief wastes court time

MEREDYDD HUGHES, Britain’s most senior traffic policeman, has been slated for wasting court time after he failed to answer a speeding charge yesterday.

Hughes, 49, the was due to appear at Wrexham Magistrates’ Court charged with driving at 90mph in a 60mph zone. Sources say the high-flying copper pleaded for an adjournment as he couldn't find a solicitor to represent him. Funny that.

Supersonic Hughes, who was allegedly caught on camera on the A5, has admitted committing two speeding offences in the past and having six penalty points, despite being one of the UK's strongest critics of speeding motorists.

Teenage joyriders killed in Police pursuit

Published: 26 Nov 07

TWO FRENCH teenage bike thieves were killed when their motorbike collided with a police car.

The incident sparked riots in the northern suburbs of Villiers-le-Bel and Arnouville, near Paris. Sources said the two were riding a stolen mini-motorcycle, and that neither was wearing a helmet.

Witnesses have accused the police of leaving the scene and of preventing local people from trying to help the youngsters as they lay in the road. The brother of one of the victims has called for the officers involved to be convicted.

The mayor of Villers-le-Bel, Didier Vaillant, appealed for calm and said he would ensure there was "an impartial investigation, for full light to be shed" on the accident.

A brother of one of the dead teenagers, Omar Sehhouli, said the rioting "was not violence but an expression of rage".

In 2005, country-wide riots erupted after the electrocution of two teenagers from another Parisian suburb - Clichy-sous-Bois - in an electricity sub-station. They were reported to have been fleeing police at the time.

Relations between police and young people in many deprived areas have continued to be tense ever since.


Source: BBC News