manchester riots

counting the cost – Manchester riots

Posted on

I met Neil Mutter, of AE Mutter jewellers in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, at 6am this morning, as he was arriving at his shop to survey the damage from last night’s riot. The business was set up by a great-great uncle in 1884 and has been at its current premises for more than 50 years. He estimates the stock lost last night had a retail value of £75,000. Neil was finding his own jewellery boxes 500 metres away when he parked his car. Despite what he discovered, he was quite philosophical – humorous even – about what had happened. I hope he manages to get his insurance to pay out for his lost stock.

Full gallery here

Kick off – Manchester riots aftermath

Posted on

I stayed away from last night’s riots in Manchester city centre as I wasn’t on commission, but when I passed through Salford Precinct a few hours before it all started, I could sense that something was brewing. Like many local people I spent last night glued to my radio and getting increasingly angry about what was happening, and so this morning I got up early to check out how the city was looking. It felt very much like certain kinds of business had been targeted by looters – jewellers, pawn shops, bookies, mobile phone dealers and sports shops. The rest of the centre was relatively clear – the street cleaners had done a good job before I arrived at 6.15am. The atmosphere in Manchester was relatively defiant today but over in Salford people were decidedly jittery and expect more trouble tonight.