First person charged after bus set on fire during rioting in Leeds
Police have charged the first person in connection with the rioting in Leeds on Thursday evening.
Iustin Dobre, 37, has been charged with violent disorder and arson after a bus was set on fire during the disturbance in the Harehills area of the city.
He is the first person to be charged amid an investigation which has seen at least 10 people arrested so far.
West Yorkshire Police says four people who had been arrested on suspicion of violent disorder have been bailed pending further investigation.
The force arrested another five people earlier today, and they are still in custody.
Dobre, of Clifton Mount in Harehills, has been remanded in custody and will appear at Leeds magistrates court on Monday (July 22).
Police say an increased police presence in the area will remain for at least a few more days.
On Friday evening, a vigil was held in Harehills which passed off peacefully. One woman was arrested on suspicion of a public order offence, but she was released and given a conditional caution.
The disturbance began outside a home where an incident involving some children and social workers took place.
West Yorkshire Police says the workers and youngsters were moved to a ‘safe place’ after crowds gathered outside the home and became agitated.
The hours-long disruption saw a double-decked bus burned to a wreck, a police car overturned, and windows pelted with rocks and bricks.
Officers were deployed, some of whom were in riot gear – but the force decided to withdraw officers temporarily as ‘it was evident that the police was there sole target’.
The streets were left littered in broken glass and debris after people clashed with lines of officers in formation.
Footage also shows many people observing calmly or trying to ease the situation, with some pouring buckets of water on the burning bus in an attempt to extinguish it.
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