More than a fifth of those arrested in the 2024 summer riots were subsequently accused of domestic abuse, new figures show.
Of 949 people detained by police in England and Northern Ireland for alleged participation in the unrest, 21% were later reported for intimate partner violence,.
The figures, which represent a majority of the 1,280 arrested over the riots, were obtained by the Guardian under freedom of information laws.
The alleged offences included threats to kill, actual bodily harm, common assault, controlling and coercive behaviour, breach of domestic violence protection notices (DVPNs) and orders, and criminal damage.
The newspaper previously found that 41% of 899 arrested in the riots had been reported for domestic abuse-related crimes prior to their involvement in the disorder.
Many of the anti-migrant 2024 protests that descended into riots featured slogans such as “protect our women” and “save our girls” – based on the false claim that immigrant men pose a greater threat to women than people born in the UK.
The riots broke out following a mass stabbing of girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, Merseyside on 29 July 2024.
Three young girls – Bebe King, 6, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, 9 – died in the attacks, while an additional six children and two adults were taken to hospital with injuries.
False accounts that the perpetrator was a migrant were circulated by rightwing social media personalities including Tommy Robinson and Andrew Tate.
The flames were further fanned on mass Telegram groups, with the protests quickly spreading to towns and cities including Manchester, Leeds, Hartlepool and Sunderland. A number of hotels housing asylum seekers were targeted.
Farah Nazeer, the chief executive of Women’s Aid, told the Guardian: “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.
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