One in five people arrested over 2024 riots have since been reported for domestic abuse

One out of every five people arrested after their participation in the 2024 summer riots has since been reported to the police for domestic abuse, the Guardian can disclose.

Police data released under freedom of information (FoI) laws shows that 21% of 949 people arrested for taking part in the violent disorder have been reported for crimes associated with intimate partner violence since August 2024.

For individuals arrested by Cumbria police, this figure was as high as 54%.

Offences for which alleged rioters have since been reported include common assault, controlling and coercive behaviour, breach of domestic violence protection notice and injunctions, threats to kill, actual bodily harm, and criminal damage.

The Guardian previously revealed that two out of every five arrested for participating in the riots had been the subject of a domestic abuse report before their involvement in the public disorder.

Calls to protect women and children alongside anti-migrant rhetoric have been a common feature of these rallies.

The Guardian’s data was obtained through FoI requests sent to 21 police forces covering the 27 towns and cities across England and Northern Ireland where the 2024 riots took place.

The 27 towns were identified as sites of significant disorder in a House of Commons briefing document published in September 2024. Between 30 July and 7 August 2024, an estimated 29 anti-immigration demonstrations and riots took place.

Thousands participated in rioting in some locations and many involved significant property damage.

In Hull, 116 people were arrested. Just under three in 10 – 33 in total – have since been reported for domestic abuse, Humberside police said.

In Rotherham, where hundreds attacked and set fire to an asylum hotel, 171 people were arrested, 40 of whom have since been reported for domestic abuse, South Yorkshire police said.

In Bristol, Avon and Somerset police reported that of the 60 people arrested, 12 have since been subject to reports relating to domestic abuse offences.

Four police forces were unable to provide information on domestic abuse reports within cost limits for FoI requests, including Merseyside police and Greater Manchester police. Southport and Liverpool were the sites of several days of rioting as Merseyside police made 221 arrests.

Keenan Sanders, 22, was arrested and charged with possession of a weapon and criminal damage while participating in the public disorder in Manchester.

After his release under investigation, Sanders subjected his partner to coercive and controlling behaviour in addition to attacks with a knife, strangling, pushing her into oncoming traffic and threatening to cripple her. Sentencing Sanders to 10 years in prison, the judge described his actions as “prolonged, persistent and cruel, at times bordering on sadistic”.

Keir Starmer, speaking in the aftermath, said that rioters could expect to be held on remand and rapidly brought before the courts. Former home secretary Yvette Cooper also promised that participants would face “swift justice”.

The first prison sentence was handed down a week after the riots took place. Justice officials have since revealed that magistrates courts came close to being shut down as prisons struggled to meet capacity for those being fast-tracked through the justice system and remanded to custody.

Data provided by the National Police Chiefs’ Council shows that 50% of individuals have now been charged after their arrests. The Crown Prosecution Service disclosed that 43% have been convicted for offences committed during the violent disorder. For one police force, this was as low as 8%.

Cumbria police reported that of the 26 people arrested, 14 have since been reported for domestic abuse offences. Only four of the 26 arrested have been convicted for any offences committed during the riots.

In Hartlepool and Middlesbrough, Cleveland police made 182 arrests, 38 of whom have since been subject to a domestic abuse report. In the month after the riots in both towns, five individuals were reported for domestic abuse offences which included malicious communication, threats to destroy property and assault.

Farah Nazeer, the chief executive of Women’s Aid, said: “Since 2024, we’ve seen many of those attending the protests that erupted into riots carrying placards with the likes of ‘protect our women’ scrawled on them. It’s worrying to think that in those same crowds were people who had themselves committed, or been accused of, domestic abuse offences.

“It’s important to remember that the most common danger for women does not come from the streets or from strangers, but from people they already know. Most commonly, current or ex-partners.

“It is vital that myths surrounding domestic abuse, and who is most likely to perpetrate it, are called out. We need the government to do more to challenge these harmful stereotypes and to raise greater awareness that it is misogyny that underpins domestic abuse, not immigration status.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “Violence against women and girls is a national emergency, and we will continue to deploy the full power of the state to bring vile perpetrators to justice, and prevent harm before it occurs.

“Our violence against women and girls strategy sets out how we will pursue and manage domestic abuse perpetrators. This includes through the rollout of new domestic abuse protection orders to help police forces identify and target the most dangerous perpetrators.”