§ Mr. Proctorasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the chief constable of Merseyside concerning the incidents which took place in Toxteth on the evening of Thursday 29 July; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Mayhew:We understand from the chief constable that during the course of the evening there was a large number of incidents, many of a minor nature, in the Toxteth area. There were intermittent skirmishes between police officers and disorderly youths. Officers wearing protective clothing successfully dispersed groups of these youths as they formed. In the course of four hours there were three fires at premises on the edge of the area, which appeared to be cases of arson. A petrol bomb failed to ignite fully at a betting office but caused smoke damage; the door and window frame of a greengrocer's shop were damaged by rubbish burnt at the rear of the building; and an unoccupied block of flats was damaged by smoke from rubbish ignited in it.
Three people were arrested for, and have been convicted of, offences related to the incidents in the evening, two for using threatening behaviour and one for being drunk and disorderly. One police officer incurred minor injuries when the windscreen of his car was broken by a stone.