24 Indian-origin people tried for London riots

Twenty four people of India-origin are among the nearly 3,000 suspects being tried for last year's shocking riots in London and other towns of England, new analysis of data shows, contradicting the belief that Asians had stayed away from the violence.

The cases of those arrested are continuing in various courts, but figures released by the Ministry of Justice show that as of February 1, 2012, the number of suspects was 2710, of whom 89% were male.

The presence of Indian-origin and other Asians among the suspects contradicts reports at the time that youngsters from the community had stayed away from the disturbances, and only members of the White and Black communities were involved.

The riots sparked by the police shooting of black youth Mark Duggan on August 4, 2011 in London led to considerable financial and reputation loss as images of shops and rampaging mobs were beamed live on television across the globe.

The figures show that 41% of those brought before the courts identified themselves as being from the White group, 39% from the Black ethnic group, 12% the Mixed ethnic group, 6% the Asian ethnic group, and 2% the Chinese or other ethnic group.

Of the Asian suspects, there were 24 suspects who identified themselves as 'British-Indian', and appeared at first hearings in courts.

Eleven of them have been convicted and sentenced for various offences, while 12 are awaiting the outcome of their cases, and one has been acquitted.

The 24 Indian origin suspects included 18 who appeared before courts in London and five in the west Midlands.

The analysis shows that the average length of all sentences pronounced by courts for the riots was longer than for other crimes at just over 14 months.