Man arrested on suspicion of attempting to murder police

Police have arrested a man on suspicion of attempted murder after two police officers were mown down while chasing looters during last week’s riots.

The 31-year-old was detained after he handed himself in at an east London police station yesterday.

Scotland Yard has released CCTV footage of the incident. It shows the officers being hit by a green Citroen which was driven at them at speed in Waltham Forest, north-east London, as they dealt with reports of a group looting a clothing store at around 1am on 8 August.

Detectives investigating the attempted murder of the officers said the footage had been released to encourage people to come forward and identify those responsible.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said the Citroen was driven at the PCs, who are both based at Paddington Green police station, in Royston Avenue as they tried to deal with reports of looting at the Aristocrats clothing store in Chingford Mount Road.

The footage shows the car appearing at high speed as a group of officers chased looters, knocking two to the ground.

One suffered knee and leg injuries and the other sustained shoulder injuries, the spokesman said. They were both taken to hospital and are recovering at home while they wait for further specialist treatment.

The spokesman said one PC was hit so hard that some of his body armour came off and he was seen lying in the middle of the road after the collision.

Police said the unknown number of occupants had not been identified and officers were trying to trace them.

Detective Inspector Cliff Haines said: “We are treating this as attempted murder.”