Editing Toxteth (section)

== Unrest and crime ==

The economic decline of Britain during the 1970s and early 1980s hit Toxteth and most of the rest of Liverpool particularly hard, leaving it with some of the highest unemployment rates in the country. Crime increased as a result. The standard of housing in both the public and private sector also declined, which would lead to eventual widespread demolition and refurbishment.

July 1981 [[1981 Toxteth riots|saw riots]] in which dozens of young males clashed with police, resulting in numerous injuries on both sides as well as extensive damage to properties and vehicles. Poverty, unemployment, racial tension, racism and hostility towards the police were largely blamed for the disturbances, which were among the worst scenes of unrest seen during peacetime in Britain. Hundreds of people were injured, one man was killed by a police [[Land Rover]], and numerous buildings and vehicles were damaged. This wave of rioting was perhaps the most prominent of a series of riots which other inner city areas during the spring and summer of 1981, with [[Brixton]] in [[London]] being the scene of another similarly violent riot.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1419981.stm |publisher=BBC News |title=Toxteth riots remembered |date=4 July 2001}}</ref>

A second, less serious riot occurred in Toxteth on 1 October 1985. This was largely overshadowed by the riots which occurred that autumn in the [[Handsworth, West Midlands|Handsworth]] area of [[Birmingham]] and the [[Tottenham]] area of [[London]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/1/newsid_2486000/2486315.stm |publisher=BBC News |title=1985: Riots erupt in Toxteth and Peckham |date=1 October 1985}}</ref>

Vehicle crime has also blighted Toxteth since around 1980. A notable tragedy occurred on 30 October 1991, when two children (nine-year-old Daniel Davies and 12-year-old Adele Thompson) were fatally injured by a speeding sportscar driven by 18-year-old [[joyride (crime)|joyride]]r Christopher Lewin in Granby Street. Lewin was found guilty on a double [[manslaughter]] charge at Liverpool [[Crown Court]] on 24 September 1992 and sentenced to seven and a half years in prison, as well as being banned from driving for seven years. At the end of his trial, relatives and friends of the two victims pelted him with missiles and threatened to attack him. Five of them were ejected from the court.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/angry-scenes-as-joyrider-jailed-for-child-deaths-1553483.html |location=London |work=The Independent |title=Angry scenes as joyrider jailed for child deaths |date=25 September 1992}}</ref>

With Toxteth still fresh in the mind of British people a decade after the 1981 riots, it was reported in the international media during December 1991 that the area still suffered from many of the problems that were said to have triggered the original riots, and some local residents claimed that things had gone from bad to worse. Despite the efforts of community groups and other services to help train young people for jobs, youth unemployment in the area was reported to be above 50%.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-12-22-mn-1490-story.html|title=Decaying Liverpool No Better Off Than During '81 Riots : England: Spotlight shifts to disenchanted youths who joy ride in stolen cars.|first=Helen|last=Smith|date=22 December 1991|work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref>
In April 1994, ''[[The Independent]]'' newspaper highlighted that Toxteth was still one of the most deprived areas in Britain, with unemployment in some districts exceeding 40%, and theft, drug abuse and violent crime abundant.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/no-go-britain-where-what-why-1370749.html|title=No-Go Britain: Where, what, why|date=17 April 1994 |work=The Independent}}</ref>

A third wave of rioting broke out in Toxteth on the evening of 8 August 2011 at a time when [[2011 England riots|riots flared across England]]. This was again overshadowed by worse riots happening in Birmingham and London. Vehicles and [[wheelie bin]]s were set alight in the district, as well as in nearby [[Dingle, Liverpool|Dingle]] and [[Wavertree]], and a number of shops were looted. Two police officers suffered minor injuries as a result of the rioting. It was brought under control in the early hours of the following morning.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-14455814 |publisher=BBC News |title=Riots: Violence flares in Liverpool for up to five hours |date=9 August 2011}}</ref>
Individuals arrested and charged were from addresses all across the city, with Toxteth residents being a clear minority.
Just like in 1991, once again at a time when unemployment and social unrest were high as a result of a recession, various districts of [[London]] were even more affected by this wave of national rioting than [[Liverpool]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.merseyside.police.uk/index.aspx?articleid=10760|title=Update: Details of those charged in connection with the violent disorder|date=2 December 2011|work=Merseyside Police|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120404124323/http://www.merseyside.police.uk/index.aspx?articleid=10760|archive-date=4 April 2012}}</ref>