More than one thousand charged over riots... but Met sweep goes on

More than 1,000 people have now been charged with offences in connection with the riots and disorder in London, police announced today.

Scotland Yard said 1,005 have been accused of an array of offences out of a total of 1,733 arrests so far.

About 500 detectives are working on more than 20,000 hours of CCTV footage taken from hundreds of cameras at riot scenes across London.

Forensic examiners are also working on evidence taken from more than 1,100 "crime scenes" or locations of rioting or looting in 22 boroughs.
Acting Commissioner Tim Godwin said: "This is a significant milestone but the investigation is far from over.

"Our tireless investigations to find those responsible for last week's appalling violence continue. The response from the public in coming forward with information has been fantastic."

Mayor Boris Johnson said: "Thanks to the commitment and hard work of every police officer in London, those responsible for the sickening crimes are swiftly being brought to justice."
Police say there has been a huge response to appeals to identify looters, with about 7.8 million hits of suspect images on the force's Flickr page.

It comes as the number of teenage girls and women in the London riots was graphically displayed today with the release of new CCTV images. These show some clutching items of clothing taken from ransacked shops in Croydon. Others place women at the heart of the serious disturbances that devastated Woolwich town centre.

In one image from Croydon, an Amy Winehouse lookalike is seen clutching clothes still on their hangers, including a leopardskin print bag or top.

In another, a dark-haired white girl was seen in the town on Monday last week wearing a grey T-shirt bearing a Superman logo. Other shots from Croydon show a large white woman in a red jacket and two black women clutching goods. One had a denim jacket and a black and white spotted handbag.

Images on Greenwich council's website show two men suspected of torching the Great Harry pub in Woolwich.

One shot published today showed a mother, with her son nearby, walk out of Argos in East Ham carrying a large box and a bag of looted goods. Newham council said its child protection team was likely to be involved.

Today - as Prince Charles and Camilla returned from their holiday in Scotland to visit riot-hit areas of Tottenham, Hackney, Brixton and Croydon - police continued to appeal for help in identifying the suspects.

In Peckham, the 17-year-old church-going daughter of a doctor and a nurse remains in custody until September 2 after admitting stealing a bottle of Lucozade from Poundland.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons and who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to two counts of burglary.

A photographer showed her image to police and she handed herself in on Monday. Neither of her parents was at Camberwell magistrates' court to see her remanded.

Enfield council, which has one of London's highest-resolution CCTV systems, today warned looters to hand themselves in to the police before they are caught.

The advice came after one man gave himself up at Edmonton police station yesterday, apologising and carrying the flat-screen TV he stole from a shop.