Police Scotland identify several 'co-ordinators' behind shocking Bonfire Night petrol bomb and firework attacks in Edinburgh

Eight police officers were injured in a series of incidents across Scotland

Police Scotland have already identified several adults responsible for co-ordinating the shocking petrol bomb attacks on its officers in Edinburgh on Sunday evening, with one of the force’s most senior officers warning a number of those involved were engaged in violence and disorder during previous Bonfire Nights.

Assistant Chief Constable Tim Mairs, the force’s executive lead for local policing east, said his officers felt “frustration” and “anger” at the attacks. And while he stressed they remained committed to supporting the community, there was a need to address deep-seated “underlying issues”, including the exploitation of young people by criminal elements.

In what has been described as “unprecedented levels of violence”, four officers sustained minor physical injuries in the alarming attacks in the Niddrie area of the city after a group of around 50 youths threw petrol bombs, fireworks, bottles and masonry at police. They were among eight officers injured on a night of flashpoints across major cities in Scotland. First Minister Humza Yousaf condemned the "thuggish and reckless behaviour" in parts of the country, particularly in Niddrie.

Vehicles and buildings were also targeted in the attacks in Niddrie. Drone footage from the area showed a mob of black-clad youths throwing pyrotechnics at riot police. Officers retreated as a petrol bomb hit the ground and fireworks exploded next to them. The footage, filmed from a nearby sports centre, captured the assault continuing, before officers ran at the assailants.

In an interview with The Scotsman, ACC Mairs said his team was working through a large amount of CCTV and still footage, including video shot on the scene by specially trained evidence gathering officers, to bring those responsible to justice. He said police had already started the process of identifying those responsible.

ACC Mairs said while the majority of those actively involved in targeting officers were young people, it was “really concerning” that adults were involved in directing an incident he said bore “all the hallmarks of a co-ordinated attack on police and on the community".

“It's very, very clear to us from the footage that we've seen and from the information that we've already acquired that there were adults in the area of Niddrie who were actively encouraging those young people to get involved in the violence and, indeed, were going as far as supplying them with fireworks and other weapons with which to attack the police,” he said.

Drone footage of the riots in Niddrie. Picture: Press Association.

“We've already identified a number of people involved last night and we know that a number of those will have been involved in the previous year's disorder as well, so they've come back out again.”

The attacks represented a marked escalation on previous Bonfire Night disorder in Niddrie, one of the most deprived parts of the capital. Last year, a road in the area was blocked, with youths throwing fireworks at police and members of the public, with one police vehicle struck with a bottle containing a flammable liquid.

In an attempt to curb a repeat of the disorder, Police Scotland utilised stop-and-search powers in specific areas of Edinburgh in anticipation of “serious violence”, which uncovered offensive weapons, including knives, as well as fireworks and drugs. The force also issued around 55 dispersal orders, making several arrests in the process.

“Those powers were used effectively by the officers in an effort to prevent this violence and disorder,” ACC Mairs said. “Notwithstanding that, what we faced within Niddrie was significant. But we were in a position where we were well resourced and well prepared, and we were able to contain that effectively.”

Damage was visible on Monday in the wake of the Bonfire Night attacks in Niddrie. Picture: Lisa Ferguson

Despite new powers in the Fireworks and Pyrotechnic Articles (Scotland) Bill, which allow local authorities to designate firework control zones (FCZs) – areas in which it is an offence to ignite a firework – no such zone was in place in Edinburgh, or indeed, Glasgow and Dundee, where there were also scenes of violence and anti-social behaviour.

A spokesman for the City of Edinburgh Council said: “Unfortunately, due to the timing of the guidance and the anticipated minimum four to six-month timescales involved, it wasn’t possible to implement any FCZs for this year’s Bonfire Night.”

ACC Mairs said divisional commanders would engage with local authorities, and that FCZs would be “one of the options that everyone will consider next year”. However, he stressed the nature of the violence witnessed on Sunday in Niddrie indicated the need for a broader approach.

“It was not just limited to fireworks,” he said. “It involved petrol bombs, masonry, and bottles as well. We're into a space where the issues driving this are a lot deeper than simply what we started with, which is the misuse of fireworks.”

Police Scotland's Assistant Chief Constable, Tim Mairs, said his officers felt “frustration” and “anger” at the attacks. Picture: Police Scotland

The events in Edinburgh have also intensified calls for an outright ban on the public sale of fireworks – a move that garnered majority support in the Scottish Government’s own consultation four years ago. Such proposals was backed on Monday by Edinburgh council leader Cammy Day and Tommy Sheppard, the SNP MP for Edinburgh East.

Asked if he sensed the tide was turning around public sales, ACC Mairs emphasised those intent on carrying out disorder had “turned to other means”, such as the “extensive use” of petrol bombs in Niddrie. He said if there were plans to bring forward other legislation, the force would engage with it, but reiterated that changes in the law were not the only answer.

“There is a need to think about the underlying issues here, about control in communities and exploitation of young people by criminal elements to attack the police,” he said. “That’s not a legislative issue, that’s a partnership issue.”

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said there were nine attacks on its crews during an eight-hour period across Scotland on Bonfire Night. No firefighters were injured, but an fire appliance in West Lothian had its windscreen smashed by a brick.