A year on, Tottenham still struggles to shake off the legacy of the riots
The group of teenagers who walk into the Turkish cafe on Tottenham High Road are wearing blue T-shirts emblazoned with a single word in red: "Sorry." Members of a north London church group, they stop in front of the counter and explain that, while they were not involved in the devastating riots that began in the street outside a year ago, they believe that someone from their generation should "stand up" and apologise for the damage that was done.
They have also been into the police station a few doors down, the place where what started as a peaceful demonstration against the police killing of Mark Duggan turned violent, the flashpoint for the UK's worst riots in a generation.
Duggan turned violent, the flashpoint for the UK's worst riots in a generation. Not everyone was happy with the group's initiative. In the police station, one of the group tells me, they were informed by a local man –arriving to report a crime –that it was the "police who should be saying sorry", not the teenagers. When I leave the cafe it is behind two British African-Caribbean men carrying motorcycle helmets. I overhear angry comments about the teenagers in the group and the "bitch" –a member of their own community –a fact that seems to anger them most.
Full: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/aug/04/a-year-on-tottenham-riots