Cardiff riots: Police assess CCTV footage of a van following an electric bike

Police are looking into closed-circuit television footage showing a police car following two people on an electric bike minutes before a fatal accident sparked riots in Cardiff.

The video analyzed by BBC Verify was time-stamped to 17:59 GMT on Monday on Frank Road in Ely 900 meters, or just over half a mile, from the suspected crash site.

But South Wales Police said there were no police cars on Snowden Road – where the accident took place – when it happened.

“We have received footage showing a police car following a bicycle at just around 6pm,” said CH Supt Martin Stone in a statement outside Cardiff Bay police station.

He declined to answer questions after the statement.

He added that the footage “will help us determine the circumstances that led to the collision.”

“You should study the carefully worded statement from the Chief Superintendent,” he said.

“We can confirm that the following investigations have been conducted so far, and that when the collision occurred there was no police vehicle on Snowden Road,” said CH Supt Stone.

We do not believe at this point that any other compounds were involved.”

He confirmed that the force made a mandatory referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

An IOPC spokesperson said: “We will send investigators to a post-incident police procedure to begin gathering information and assess whether the IOPC will conduct an independent investigation.”

Cars were set on fire, fireworks were set off and paving slabs were thrown at police as more than 100 people gathered in the aftermath of the incident.

“Fifteen policemen were injured, 11 were taken to hospital, and four were treated at the scene,” said Che Subet Stone.

A number of arrests have already been made, he said, “and there will be more to come.”

“The residents have assurances that we will do everything we can to catch those responsible,” he added.

Police were called to the crash shortly after 18:00 GMT on Monday.

At around 20:00, the police tweeted that they were still at the crash site but were also working to “calm down the ongoing disturbances”.

The force said it had received a large number of calls from “understandably frightened” residents.

The Welsh Ambulance Service said it was called to the scene at 22:30 and five people were taken to hospital.

Local resident Ahmed Abdullah, 34, said he heard threats from rioters to “kill” police officers at the scene.

They said they wouldn’t stop until they killed a police officer.

“People in this community don’t feel safe right now. We feel it could escalate at any time,” he said.

He said that young men chased police officers onto the road, throwing rocks and rockets at cars.

The force said its thoughts were with the families of the two boys who died, as well as with those affected by the riots.

Bridie Poole, who knows the Evans family, said Harvey had “a lot of friends” and loved motorcycles and football.

He was Kerris W’s best friend [they] They were into the same things. “It was not surprising that they were together,” she said.

Ms. Ball said she believes the officers are after the two men “because there are videos going around”.

Social Justice Minister Jane Hutt told the Snead newspaper on Tuesday afternoon that more arrests are expected.

Wales Minister Mark Drakeford said he was “deeply concerned” by the “disturbing reports”.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesman said what happened was “horrific and totally unacceptable”.

Blade Cymru and the Welsh Liberal Democrats have called for a full investigation. Andrew RT Davies, leader of the Welsh Conservative group Snead, called it “extremely troubling”.

Cardiff Council Chairman Hugh Thomas called for calm, and said the local authority was “helping to clean up, so we can rebuild and give Ely a more positive image”.