Back in 2011, a few cities around England experienced rioting and violent disorder, which may remind people of the current unrest occurring around the UK.

Looting, arson and assault engulfed London at first in August that year before spreading to some other locations.

More than 3,000 arrests were made and it was considered the worst week of public disorder to hit Britain for 200 years.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer was also involved in quelling disturbances back then, The Guardian reports.

As director of public prosecutions, he kept the courts open for 24 hours a day to process offenders and allowed magistrates to pass longer and tougher sentences.

But why did the rioting start in the first place?

Why did the 2011 riots happen in England?

Small-scale disorder first occurred in Tottenham on Saturday, August 6 which happened after Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old mixed-race British man, was shot dead by police.

He was shot on Thursday, August 4, with police claiming that officers were attempting to arrest Duggan because they suspected he was planning an armed attack.

However, his family maintained that he was unarmed and had been unlawfully killed by a police officer. 

Around 300 people, including Duggan's family, walked from north London's Broadwater Farm estate to Tottenham police station two days later.

They requested to speak with a senior police officer about the Duggan case, but shortly before 9pm, Duggan’s family departed when bottles were thrown and two police cars were set on fire.

The circumstances of Duggan's death were initially unclear and controversial, stirring up longstanding mistrust between the local black community and police, according to The Standard.

The Guardian interviewed 270 people who took part in the 2011 disturbances and found that Duggan’s death sparked widespread anger and frustration at people’s everyday treatment at the hands of police with 85% saying policing was a contributory factor. 

Where did the 2011 riots spread to?

By Monday, August 8, 22 of the 32 London boroughs were affected by disturbances, with rioting, arson and looting taking place.

At this point, similar unrest began to take place in cities across the UK, including in Birmingham, Bristol, Coventry, Manchester, Derby, Nottingham, Liverpool and Leicester.

Sadly, five people also died as part of the unrest, including Haroon Jahan, Shahzad Ali and Abdul Musavir.

They were killed in a hit-and-run incident on Wednesday, August 10, while attempting to protect their neighbourhood from rioters and looters.

Meanwhile, Trevor Ellis, a 26-year-old man from Brixton Hill, was shot dead in Croydon on August 8 and Richard Mannington Bowes died on Thursday, August 11.

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He was attacked while attempting to stamp out a litter-bin fire in Ealing on August 8 and later died of his injuries.

More than 3,000 arrests were made across England, with more than 2,000 people facing criminal charges for various offences related to the riots.

It was estimated that costs to fix the damage were around £400 million.