Video: Peter Fahy speaks following riots

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The Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, Peter Fahy, has spoken following the riots in Manchester city centre and Salford last night and said the force will “not rest” until the criminals involved are “arrested and put these criminals before the courts.”

Mr Fahy described the rioting as “challenging times” for policing both in Greater Manchester and across the country.

He added that officers and other emergency services faced significant levels of violence and were attacked last night.

Mr Fahy said: “In Salford officers faced extreme violence and we are in no doubt these were criminals who were organised using social media and mobile phones. This was a criminal element who exploited the situation to carry out criminal acts and with a violent intent. 

“The situation in Manchester was of a large group of people who split into smaller groups that were intent on breaking into shops and moved from one place to another to target businesses.

“Throughout the afternoon and evening we had hundreds of officers working to contain the sporadic disorder and criminal activity that took place in Manchester and Salford. There is no doubt that this was a tremendously difficult time.”

Mr Fahy continued: “My officers acted extremely courageously and faced the violence head on as they tackled the disturbances. There is no doubt that these were gangs that were determined to cause trouble with no regard to people or property. There were around 100 buildings targeted and some of these include big names and small family businesses. These individuals have attacked their own communities.

“We continue to receive messages of support from people across Greater Manchester and the rest of the country. They want to help us to identify the people who have been responsible for bringing these shameful scenes to our streets. They want to help us ensure that these criminals are brought to justice. We have received hundreds of images through Twitter and Facebook and we are working through these.”