Barbed wire and looking over your shoulder: Middlesbrough residents fearful after riots! B
Sky News revisited the scene of riots in Middlesbrough two months after what had been advertised as a peaceful protest turned into violent disorder.
Wednesday 9 October 2024 13:19, UK
Parliament Road in Middlesbrough feels a world away from the establishment it shares a name with, but for one Sunday in August, the terraced streets of central Middlesbrough were at the centre of national attention.
That afternoon, what was advertised as a peaceful protest, turned into a riot, with hundreds of people, many of them wearing masks, targeting livelihoods and businesses in one of the city’s most diverse areas.
They lit fires, smashed windows and clashed with the police.
Hundreds of arrests have been made and dozens of those people sentenced, but months on, the impact of that day can still be felt.
Not just in the cracked windows and debris still on the street, but in the deeper fabric of a community who are concerned about not just those events, but bigger issues they feel have blighted the area for far longer.
One of those people is Pervaz Akhtar, who has lived in Middlesbrough for more than three decades and runs a phone shop on Parliament Road.
After having his stock burgled on more than half a dozen occasions in two years, he decided to take matters into his own hands.
“I’ve got the police alarm, I’ve got the CCTV cameras, I’ve got the shutters, everything.”
“But I think this is the best thing to do,” he says, gesturing to the razor wire, which he has to fold into wooden crates every morning while wearing protective gloves.
That process, which has become a daily routine, takes him around 40 minutes.
‘I’m depressed’
Even with a deterrent in place however, he still feels unsafe and is now considering leaving the business altogether.
“I just put the shop up for sale now,” he says.
“I think, before I’m not giving up, but (now) I’m depressed, because all the time I never know when somebody will come and show me a knife and take the phones away.”
Mr Akhtar’s discontent only deepened this summer when his home and car were damaged by rioters.
In footage he shared with Sky News, a group of young men climbed on top of the vehicle, smashing the windscreen.
The shop owner says his whole family were impacted by what happened.
His wife, who is a carer, needed to find another vehicle to get to work, while one of his two young sons has been left fearful about the prospect of more disorder.
“About one week later, he saw about 10, 12 people playing in the park, he ran back and said, ‘Dad, they’re coming again’,” recalls Mr Akhtar.
Another person living in the area and impacted by the disorder that day is John, who moved to Middlesbrough from Ghana and shares a house with three others from the West African country.
His wife, who is a carer, needed to find another vehicle to get to work, while one of his two young sons has been left fearful about the prospect of more disorder.
“About one week later, he saw about 10, 12 people playing in the park, he ran back and said, ‘Dad, they’re coming again’,” recalls Mr Akhtar.
Another person living in the area and impacted by the disorder that day is John, who moved to Middlesbrough from Ghana and shares a house with three others from the West African country.
