A street sign is shown Monday, Nov. 7, 2011, in Bellevue, Wash., near the stretch where a woman told investigators her 2-year-old son disappeared after she left him alone in her car Sunday after it ran... (Associated Press) 
 
 A street sign is shown Monday, Nov. 7, 2011, in Bellevue, Wash., near the stretch where a woman told investigators her 2-year-old son disappeared after she left him alone in her car Sunday after it ran... (Associated Press) 
 
 Police searching for a 2-year-old Washington state boy focused their efforts Monday around the home of his mother, who reportedly told investigators she last saw him in her stalled car on a city street as she walked away for an hour to get gas. 
 
 It wouldn't be the first time Sky Metalwala had been left alone in a car. When he was just 3 months old, court records revealed, his parents left him in their sport utility vehicle in a Target parking lot for 55 minutes on a 27-degree day. They only came out of the store to get him after police arrived and asked for the vehicle's owner to be paged. 
 
 The toddler's disappearance Sunday in Bellevue, a city of 122,000 across Lake Washington from Seattle, came at the height of a custody fight between his parents, Julia Biryukova and Solomon Metalwala. They separated in March 2010 amid back-and-forth protective orders and allegations of abuse and psychiatric problems. 
 
 Last December, a social worker determined that there was a "preponderance of evidence" that Metalwala had struck his daughter hard enough to cause bruising, court records show. The social worker also said Sky had troubling bruises, but because the boy could not talk, it wasn't clear where he got them. However the attorney for Metalwala, Leslie Clay Terry III, said Monday that case worker had only interviewed the mother and that Child Protective Services later conducted an investigation that cleared Metalwala. 
 
 "He was exonerated completely," Terry said. 
 
 Last week, at a mandatory mediation session, a tentative agreement was hammered out that would allow Metalwala to have some visitation with Sky and his older sister, his lawyer said. 
 
 Biryukova reported that her car ran out of gas in Bellevue on Sunday morning, police said. She said she left Sky in the unlocked vehicle and walked with her daughter, who is 4, about a mile to a gas station. When she returned to the car, Sky wasn't there, she said. 
 
 Investigators searched a 20-block area and even went door to door but found no sign of him. There was no gas can at the car, police said. 
 
 The Bellevue Police Department said both parents were cooperating, and Biryukova had consented to have her vehicle and home in nearby Redmond searched. The older child has been placed in protective custody. 
 
 "We're looking at it from all angles, at this point," said Bellevue Police Maj. Mike Johnson. "Missing person, abduction, foul play has not been ruled out." 
 
 Biryukova did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Her younger brother, Stanley Biryukov, said Julia was crying frantically when she called him Sunday afternoon and explained what had happened. 
 
 "I'm hoping they'll find the child," he said. 
 
 Metalwala spoke with reporters at the office of his lawyer, Terry. They said his estranged wife's story was bizarre: Why didn't she call for help, knock on a nearby door, or take the child with her? 
 
 "I don't understand why she would leave a little baby in the car," Metalwala said. "The whole story is puzzling." 
 
 Several TV stations reported that Metalwala took a polygraph test Monday evening. His lawyer, Terry, told KING-TV the results were "inconclusive right now." He said his client was too tired to give an accurate result and would take another test later. Terry did not immediately return an Associated Press call. 
 
 In December 2009, Redmond police cited both parents for reckless endangerment at the Target parking lot. A shopper who heard the baby crying in the SUV called police, and a responding officer reported that the car felt cold. 
 
 Paged inside the store, the couple said they had left the baby in the car for 15 to 20 minutes because they didn't want to wake him up. Surveillance video of the parking lot later proved it had actually been 55 minutes. 
 
 The case was dismissed early this year after the pair completed a year of probation, 40 hours of community service and a 10-week parenting class. 
 
 The couple had been together for 14 years. He was 21 and she was a high school sophomore when they began dating, according to one of her court declarations. In another declaration, her mother, Nadia Biryukova, wrote that they married in 2003 in her kitchen just before he was to be deported to Pakistan. 
 
 In court documents filed in connection with their divorce, Julia Biryukova said their relationship deteriorated in 2008 after they bought an expensive home in Kirkland and couldn't keep up with the payments on that property and a condominium they also owned. 
 
 The couple separated in March 2010, court records show. In June 2010, the same month Metalwala filed for divorce, Biryukova, 30, filed for a protection order on behalf of herself and their two children. 
 
 She said Metalwala, 36, had a severe anger problem, was verbally abusive and that he had beat her for the first time on Christmas Day, just weeks after the incident at the Target parking lot. The reason was that she had allowed Sky to sleep later than expected, she said. 
 
 "He became furious like I have never seen him before, he grabbed me by my hair (in front of our 3 1/2 year old daughter), dragged me into our hallway, threw me down on the floor and then threw me against a decorative column we have in the entrance of our home," Biryukova wrote. "He continued to assault me with his feet _ by kicking me and then he took out his car keys and continued to scratch me in any area he could." 
 
 The abuse escalated after that, with Solomon telling her to go live on the street and work as a prostitute, she said. 
 
 "The most, most recent have been his threats to kill me if I say anything against him or if in any way I proceed with action of seeking custody of our two small children," Biryukova added. "I live in constant fear for my life and my children's life. Please investigate and help me!" 
 
 He responded that she had mental health problems and was involuntarily committed to a mental clinic in 2010. 
 
 "The accusations against him were totally false," his lawyer said. 
 
 Earlier this year a social worker with state Child Protective Services reported that a doctor found her to be in good mental health and an appropriate caregiver for the children. 
 
 One psychologist who evaluated Biryukova wrote in July 2010 that though she was dealing with "a severe form of obsessive compulsive disorder, I do not believe that interferes with her ability to be a compassionate, effective parent to her children." 
 
 CPS received six referrals about the family from late 2009 to late 2010, state officials reported in court documents. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Johnson and Le reported from Seattle. Associated Press writer Donna Gordon Blankinship contributed to this report. ||||| Buy Photo Superior Court Judge Paul Armstrong, sitting in Morristown, listens to testimony in case of woman who wants to starve herself over opposition by the state Department of Human Services. (Photo: Peggy Wright/Daily Record)Buy Photo 
 
 MORRISTOWN - A 29-year-old Morris County woman who suffers from extreme anorexia nervosa and wants to die is at the center of a legal battle on whether she should be force-fed at a hospital or has the necessary mental capacity to choose starvation. 
 
 Morris County Superior Court Judge Paul W. Armstrong, sitting in Morristown, is handling the case and is a pioneer in bioethics: In the 1970's he successfully represented Joseph and Julia Quinlan when they sued in a landmark case to have their 21-year-old daughter, Karen Ann Quinlan, who was in a vegetative state, removed from life support. Karen Ann lived for nine more years without the ventilator, at Morris View Nursing Home. 
 
 Buy Photo Superior Court Judge Paul Armstrong, sitting in Morristown, hears testimony from psychiatrist Dr. Michael Pertschuk. (Photo: Peggy Wright/Daily Record) 
 
 On Friday, Armstrong conducted a trial that focuses on a woman, identified as A.G., who weighs about 65 pounds and subsists on diet sodas and black coffee, with occasional bites of food she immediately purges. A day earlier, the judge, along with others, visited A.G. at Morristown Medical Center, where she has been treated since June. After hearing from at least six witnesses Friday, the judge is expected to review final written arguments and write a decision. 
 
 Buy Photo Superior Court Judge Paul Armstrong, sitting in Morristown. (Photo: Peggy Wright/Daily Record) 
 
 A.G.'s mother and court-appointed guardian and attorney are among the people advocating for her right to stop taking nutrition. A.G. was an involuntary patient at Greystone Psychiatric Hospital in Parsippany before she was sent to Morristown Medical Center in June, and the state Department of Human Services, which runs Greystone, wants an order for A.G. to be force-fed. 
 
 A.G.'s mother on Friday offered brief, emotional testimony to the judge, saying that she and her husband for more than 10 years sought every available treatment option they could for their daughter. She said she would still try if her daughter ever asked again for help. 
 
 "She hasn't been able to take the treatment and thrive," the mother said. She said she accepts her daughter's decision to die because she is suffering and the thought of being force-fed "is causing tremendous anxiety" to A.G. 
 
 "The thoughts of this whole process are running through her head and she has no peace. She never seems to have a moment where she's just relaxed. She's tormented," the mother said. 
 
 The state Supreme Court ruling that let Quinlan be parted from the ventilator launched a multitude of other right-to-die decisions so that today, a person of sound mind has the right to forgo life-saving measures and prepare advance directives that indicate their medical wishes should they become incapacitated. At some point in the past, A.G. also had filled out a POLST form, which is a set of medical orders similar to a do-not-resuscitate order that is completed by a person who is close to death. 
 
 In A.G.'s case, Armstrong must decide whether A.G. is of sound mind in making the decision and whether a rejection of forced feeding is in her best interests. A.G. was involuntarily committed in 2014 to Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital in Parsippany, which is run by the state Department of Human Services. The commitment was ordered after A.G., who also suffers from alcoholism and depression, was found in a stupor sleeping outside a motel. Being a Greystone patient does not automatically mean that A.G. is mentally incompetent. 
 
 This past June, the Department of Human Services turned to Superior Court to appoint a guardian for A.G., who was severely anorexic, and obtained a court order to have her force-fed at Morristown Medical Center. According to A.G.'s court-appointed attorney, Edward G. D'Alessandro Jr., she was fed through a procedure called total parenteral nutrition (TPN) which caused her to gain more than 20 pounds but led to refeeding syndrome, a metabollic disturbance that damaged her heart. 
 
 TPN was stopped and A.G. now receives some nutrition intravenously, along with medication. She wants feeding to end and to enter palliative care - the point before hospice that focuses on pain and symptom management, according to D'Alessandro and A.G.'s guardian, attorney Susan Joseph. 
 
 Morristown Medical Center, through its bioethics committee, is supportive of A.G.'s wishes. The opposition is from the state Department of Human Services, which operates Greystone. Representing the state, deputy Attorney General Gene Rosenblum called as one of her witnesses Dr. Michael Pertschuk, who specializes in eating disorders. A.G. underwent unsuccessful treatment at a facility in 2007 at which Pertschuk served as medical director. 
 
 Pertschuk told the judge that anorexia nervosa is not a terminal illness by itself but will lead to death if irreversible organ damage occurs. Pertschuk advocated on behalf of force-feeding A.G., saying it might mean restraining her three times a day because she has said she would pull out any tubes or lines running nutrients into her body. 
 
 But Pertschuk, who has not personally treated A.G., said he believes A.G., if initially resistant, can get better. Right now she is considered ill with "severe and enduring" anorexia. 
 
 "It can be managed so the patient has some quality of life," Pertschuk said. 
 
 He noted that malnutrition affects the mind and he believes that A.G. may not be fully competent and is in denial, believing she could live a year or two with palliative care. He also suggested treating her depression with Ketamine and said that while there haven't been any amazing breakthroughs in the treatment of anorexia in the past 15 years, there's been a shift toward supportive treatment that involves focusing on underlying depression or emotional disorders and keeping the patient included, not isolated. 
 
 "Wouldn't that be transforming the patient into an experiment?" the judge asked of Pertschuk's proposal that A.G. be treated with Ketamine. The doctor acknowledged that it was worth a try but that her body might not absorb it. Ketamine is an anesthetic that has some hallucinogenic effects and has recently been used with some success to treat certain kinds of depression. 
 
 "I don't think any talking therapy would work at this juncture," Pertschuk said. "She is very depressed. I don't know what might work with extreme malnutrition." 
 
 Advocating for A.G.'s right to choose not to eat, D'Alessandro posed critical questions to Pertschuk about the quality of life A.G. would have if she were force-fed, gained some weight, was discharged, and returned to a psychiatric hospital, only to repeat the cycle all over of starving and purging. Pertschuk had said he believed there was some hope that A.G. could get better and be in the community for at least a while. 
 
 "She has already made it very clear she is not going to take nutrition unless she is forced to do so," D'Alessandro said to the doctor. "So if she's not going to take nutrition unless she's forced to do so, how is she going to get out of the hospital, whether it be a private institution or a state mental hospital?" 
 
 "How is she ever going to get out if the only way for her to get nutrition is to restrain her and shove a tube up her nose?" D'Alessandro asked. The doctor said he knows that A.G. has managed to be in the community at various times. 
 
 "The hope would be that with better nutrition, some nutrition, some repletion, her outlook might change to the extent that she might be willing to sustain at least some higher weight that would be compatible with survival," Pertschuk said. 
 
 A.G.'s mother told the judge that she supports her daughter's transfer to a palliative care unit at Morristown Medical Center or another facility, where she could receive pain and symptom management but no artificial life support measures. 
 
 "We've spent the last 10 years looking into programs, taking her to doctors, going to family therapy. Taking her to the psychiatrist, helping her manage the medications," the mother said. "I came to a point where I said I can't make her do this anymore. She has said for the past three years she doesn't want any more treatment. She doesn't want it. If she said she wanted it, I'd be there in a heartbeat." 
 
 Staff Writer Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@GannettNJ.com. 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://dailyre.co/2f5UriB ||||| 21.45 We'll wrap this up here. Tomorrow's paper splash says that young thugs 'should fear the police', says David Cameron's new crime adviser: 
 
 In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Bill Bratton, the former New York police chief, said many young people, especially gang members, had been “emboldened” by over-cautious policing tactics and lenient sentencing policies. 
 
 Losing public confidence in its ability to provide security — through force if necessary — created “incredible difficulty” for a police force, he said. 
 
 21.10 Duncan Gardham, the Telegraph's security correspondent who was caught between police lines and rioters in Hackney, writes in tomorrow's paper that there were two groups on the streets: "hardened drug gangs wanting to get their own back on police and the young looters out to get what they could." 
 
 As I stood a couple of yards from a group of youths setting fire to a Transit van it became clear that the police had lost control of the streets of Britain. 
 
 Standing between the police and the rioters, I saw masked youths, black and white, tear the scarves from their faces as they marched up to the police lines and challenged them to a fight. 
 
 Behind the riot shields of the line of helmeted officers in front of him, a sergeant with red epaulettes held his arms wide and screamed: “Come on then!” 
 
 And the rioters responded in kind with a volley of bricks that came close to smashing into the faces of the advancing officers, protected only by well-manoevered shields. 
 
 Brandishing pieces of wood the rioters charged back at the police who were forced to retreat, then set fire to large wheeled rubbish bins and drove them into the police lines. 
 
 Two youths carried a pole as a battering ram, glass bottles came raining down and the van, by now with its headlights on and alarming screeching, began to explode. 
 
 The police, screaming at me to get off the streets, retreated leaving that part of Hackney to the rioters. Behind their lines lay a wounded officer, receiving treatment. 
 
 I stayed – watching as the gangs set fire to car after car along Clarence Road, four in total. 
 
 21.00 A typically robust tweet from Great Manchester Police: 
 
 Just locked up another man for stolen goods after he bragged on Facebook he couldn't be caught. Wrong. 
 
 The force reports several suspects have handed themselves in after their faces were displayed on a 'Shop a Looter' advertising van. 
 
 The Metropolotian Police have made 1144 arrests over the last week. So far 693 people have been charged. 
 
 20.58 Channel 4 news observe the looters and rioters in Manchester are older and less likely to be in work than those in London. In Manchester, 58 per cent of those arrested were under 25, compared to 91 per cent in London. View our data team's analysis of suspects here. 
 
 20.50 Sky News have conducted a remarkable interview with a gang of looters who travelled from shop to shop stealing goods. One sixteen year old said he stole nappies for his son. Another looter blamed his actions on the withdrawal of the Educational Maintenance Allowance and poor housing. 
 
 The channel showed the footage to communities secretary Eric Pickles. He said they were indulging in "retrospective justification", adding: 
 
 I was brought up in a home much more humble than the home they showed. They have absolutely no excuse. 
 
 20.42 David Cameron tells BBC North West he is pleased by the 'speedy justice' against looters and he backs calls to have those convicted of a part in the disorder evicted from their council houses. The Prime Minister said: 
 
 I think for too long we have taken a too soft attitude to people that loot and pillage their own community. If you do that you should lose your right to the sort of housing you had at a subsidised rate. Obvious that will mean they’ll have to be housed somewhere else and they’ll have to find housing in the private sector and that will be tougher for them but they should have thought about that before they started burgling. In some cases it may break up the criminal networks on some housing estates if some of these people are thrown out of their houses and I think quite right too. 
 
 Law-breaking has to be punished. One of the heartening things we are seeing now is because the courts have been sitting round the clock we are seeing a much tighter timetable between getting your collar felt by a police officer, going to a police cell, appearing in front of a court and being sent to prison. I hope one of the learnings of the past few days is we can have that speedy justice as it were this time, why can’t we have speedy justice all of the time. 
 
 There can be no excuse for what we saw: people going out, smashing down windows, stealing televisions and trainers and all the rest of it. It was criminality. It’s no good saying well I did that because it’s an unequal society. There’s simply no excuse for the lawbreaking, and we shouldn’t get into some mushy relativist argument that says somehow it’s ok. 
 
 20.24 Earlier on Sky, Louise Mensch, the Tory MP, Lord Prescott and Guardian journalist Paul Lewis debated the rights and wrongs of blocking Twitter and social media in the event of major social unrest. Here's the debate on video: 
 
 19.59 Are appropriate sentences being handed out to looters and rioters, or are draconian steps being taken in the light of public anger? At least in the case of Nicholas Robinson, who was given six months in prison for stealing £3.50's worth of water from Lidl in Brixton, the legal blogger MTPT says no: 
 
 Far from being harsh but fair, the sentence imposed on Nicholas Robinson simply looks expensive and unnecessary. 
 
 19.22 Sky News's Mike McCarthy reports that a mother has forced her son to hand himself in after the riots in Manchester - the third mother to do so. 
 
 18.33 Our data journalist Conrad Quilty-Harper has put together this statistical breakdown of the suspects involved in the UK riots. 
 
 18.06 Flowers have been left for riot murder victim Richard Mannington Bowes: 
 
 (Photo: Tessa Chapman/Twitpic) 
 
 17.54 Wandsworth Council says that a council tenant whose son has been charged in connection with the riots may face eviction. 
 
 17.34 Reports of a dozen or so police vans, including several Humm-Vees, driving up Holloway Road in north London, past Holloway Road station towards Archway. No indication of what it's about yet, if anything. 
 
 17.16 The Ministry of Justice says that 1,600 people have been arrested and 796 have appeared in court in connection with the riots. 17 per cent of those people are under 18, they say. 
 
 16.48 William Bratton, the former police chief of New York and Los Angeles, has been asked by David Cameron to become a police adviser. Bratton told AP he had been called by Cameron, who asked him for help in calming the violence in Britain but nothing formal has been agreed yet. He said: 
 
 This is a prime minister who has a clear idea of what he wants to do. He sees this crisis as a way to bring change. The police force there can be a catalyst for that. I'm very optimistic. 
 
 16.39 Police in Birmingham have CCTV footage of the moment the three men in Birmingham were killed in an apparent hit and run, Sky News is reporting. They have taken 60 witness statements so far. 
 
 16.22 Quite a startling video of police apparently performing a stop and search on Barking Road. 
 
 16.11 Richard Alleyne files on a defendant prepared for any evenutality: 
 
 A man apeared in court going equipped to steal just after the riots - with balaclava, rubber gloves and swimming goggles. 
 
 Levent Mustafa, 22, said they were to keep his face warm and he liked wearing masks. 
 
 The defendant, wearing a superman t-shirt in the dock, was arrested on Thursday in north London. 
 
 15.52 Former NUS president Wes Streeting reacts to news of the eviction notice: 
 
 Throwing people out of their homes solves nothing. It does, however, create more social problems and higher cost for taxpayer Wes Streeting 
 
 wesstreeting 
 
 15.42 A council tenant has been served with an eviction notice after her son appeared in court charged with rioting, the Wandsworth Guardian reports. The notice is thought to the be the first of many attempts by councils to boot out residents accused of taking part in the riots. 
 
 Wandsworth Council must make an application to the courts and a judge must give authority before the eviction can take place. Council leader Ravi Govindia said: 
 
 Our officers will continue to work with the courts to establish the identities of other council tenants or members of their households as more cases are processed in the coming days and weeks. 
 
 Most residents on our housing estates are decent law-abiding citizens who will have been sickened at the scenes they witnessed on their TV screens this week. Many will have seen their places of work trashed at the hands of these rioters. 
 
 15.37 The IPCC, the police watchdog, says it "may have inadvertently given misleading information to journalists" in the wake of the killing of Mark Duggan last week. 
 
 Reporters were given guidance that it was believed Duggan had died in an exchange of fire with officers trying to arrest him. 
 
 The IPCC said: "Any reference to an exchange of shots was not correct and did not feature in any of our formal statements, although an officer was taken to hospital after the incident." 
 
 15.05 The Prime Minister spoke a little bit earlier on a visit to a fire station in Salford. He addressed claims there was a rift between police and ministers, saying: 
 
 Clearly there was a need for more on the street, there was a need to change tactics. And I think it's right that police took those decisions nd changed those tactics, and increased the number of police officers. Where I think the Government and the police worked well together was through the Cobra emergency planning committee. 
 
 14.58 An optician who lost £20,000 worth of glasses said one thug asked him whether he had any Ray Bans left. Keith Rowland, who owns KA Rowland Opticians in Catford, south London, had rushed back to his store on Monday after seeing it being broken into on TV. But when the 60-year-old arrived he found most of his stock gone - around £20,000 worth of glasses and shades. He said today: 
 
 Looters had already been and taken most of the goods, but there were still a few people around outside the shop. One guy even asked me whether I had any Ray-Bans left. I just told him to go and have a look as there was no point trying to stop him - there were too many of them. 
 
 14.49 A judge has said he has no powes to jail a 13-year-old school boy who tried to go into Manchester carrying a hammer. The teenager, who cannot be named, was carrying the weapon strapped to his leg when he was stopped by a police patrol. 
 
 When asked if he was carrying anything he shouldn't have been, he replied: "I am not going to lie to you. I have this hammer, it is not a big one." 
 
 District Judge Khalid Qureshi said: 
 
 If you had been 15 you would be going straight through that door (to the cells). No question about it. Nothing your mum would have said would have prevented that happening. 
 
 The stupidity of arming yourself with a weapon is unbelievable. 
 
 Never, never does it make it a less dangerous situation to arm yourself with a hammer, particularly upon an occasion when there was chaos at the time. The whole situation was far more tense than ordinarily it would have been. 
 
 The teen was given a nine-month referral order after he pleaded guilty to possessing an offensive weapon without lawful excuse. 
 
 14.44 Boris Johnson is on a walkabout in Croydon at the moment, while David Cameron is on a visit in Salford. The Mayor said: 
 
 People's sense of safety is starting to come back, people's sense of confidence is starting to come back but we can't be complacent. 
 
 14.40 Martin Beckford has the story on the Twitter revolt facing Louise Mensch after she called for Twitter and other social networking sites to be shut down during riots. 
 
 Mrs Mensch said the blackouts would stop rumours about trouble spreading online, which cause fear among residents and trigger unnecessary calls to police. 
 
 She insisted it was just the same as the authorities interrupting road or rail services briefly during emergencies. 
 
 But her comments, made on Twitter itself, prompted criticism that her idea was unnecessary and unworkable as well as authoritarian. 
 
 During the past week many claims about where violence has broken out have been made, and then disseminated widely, on social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook. 
 
 13.54 Theresa May, the Home Secretary, has just announced that the high numbers of police on the streets of cities across the country will be maintained until further notice. The authorities appear concerned that more drink-fuelled trouble will break out over the weekend. Speaking in Enfield, she said: 
 
 We will be sustaining the numbers for a period of time. We have had some quieter nights but we are not complacent about that. The police will maintain their tough arrest policy, their presence on the streets. 
 
 13.35 Oh dear.. 
 
 Family of defendants in court have just come out and tried to hit the TV cameras shouting "what is the matter with you people?" to us. Lia Hervey 
 
 SkyNewsOlympic 
 
 13.24 Our own Harrison Jones has had a look at council proposals to evict looters from public housing and says it will cause more problems than it will solve. 
 
 The councils of Greenwich, Westminster, Hammersmith, Fulham, Southwark and Manchester, will all have to deal with difficult questions, should their proposals be imposed. Where exactly do they expect these looters and rioters to go - is this not merely be a relocation of potential troublemakers? 
 
 Would this only serve to weaken the already tense relationships between the poorer members of the community (many of whom have been convicted of riot-related offences) and police? And what would happen if children - as young as 10 in some cases - are evicted from the houses in which their parents live? 
 
 13.21 A teenager with a nine day old daughter was sentenced to four months youth custody for telling three off duty police officers they were "going to get shot" during riots in Enfield on Monday night. Renaldo Tekle Giorgies, 18, spotted three community support officers as they left Enfield and made a gun motion with his hand before ominously reading out the number plate of the officers' car. 
 
 13.18 A 60-year-old councillor was earlier told he couldn't fill up a can of petrol for his motorboat because staff at Morrisons were concerned it might be used to for a petrol bomb. Norrie Donald, 60, was refused at a store in Inverness. He said: "I was left completely speechless when the the woman at the counter told me I wasn't allowed petrol in a can because of the riots in England." 
 
 13.10 The prison population in England and Wales reached a record high of 85,931 today, Ministry of Justice figures show. 
 
 By lunchtime yesterday, more than 530 people had been brought before the courts charged over the four nights of rioting, excluding those in Manchester. Most of them were remanded in custody. 
 
 A Prison Service spokeswoman said: "We will always ensure there are sufficient prison places for offenders sentenced to custody by courts. 
 
 "There is currently a substantial gap between our available capacity and the actual population at this point. 
 
 "New accommodation continues to become available and in the next 12 months 2,500 new places will become operational. 
 
 13.07 One of the stranger explanations for the looting 
 
 Footlocker Marketing Dept to blame!? from Paraic O'Brien on Vimeo. 
 
 13.04 John Prescott has joined Louise Mensch's growing number of critics: 
 
 .@LouiseMensch You used parliamentary privilege to make false accusations about @piersmorgan. Why stop others free speech? #handsofftwitter John Prescott 
 
 johnprescott 
 
 13.02 A quick update from James Hall at Westminster Magistrates'. 
 
 One of defendants, Charlie Burton, 18, admits mob was like 'a pack of animals' when attacked Hugo Boss store in Sloane Square. 
 
 He then went home and told his mother what happened. Mr Burton has been accused of violent disorder, not burglary of Hugo Boss store, it should be added. 
 
 12.50 A shopkeeper fought off a gang of rioters with a cricket bat, a court heard earlier. Kiran Bhowan, 50, defended his store in Newham against three thugs who tried to steal cigarettes from his store. He told the Evening Standard: 
 
 Nothing was going through my mind when the gang came in. You've just got to make a decision. It had to be done, as simple as that. You have to take the first one, even if 20 of them come in. 
 
 You just can't let them walk over you. I have had other incidents like this. Two boys came in before and sprayed a substance at me and tried to steal things but I fought with them and threw things at them and then they ran off. 
 
 A 17-year-old arrested near the scene earlier pleaded guilty to violent disorder and trespass with intent to steal. "Prison is not simply an option, it's a likelihood," Judge Elizabeth Roscoe told him. 
 
 12.47 Case relating to theft of £1,133 of clothes from Hugo Boss on Sloane Square on Monday about to be heard at Westminster Magistrates Court, James Hall reports. 
 
 12.37 Louise Mensch MP is taking a lot of flak on Twitter for her comments that the site should be temporarily shut down if it was being used by rioters. 
 
 I agree with Louise Mensch re Twitter blockout. We should also confiscate biros and everyone should be forced to put corks in their ears. Andy McLoughlin 
 
 andyandkate 
 
 12.32 Associated Press is reporting that facial recognition technology planned for use in the Olympics is being used to identify rioters. 
 
 The system used by police treats the human face like a grid, measuring the distance between a person's nose, eyes, lips and other features. 
 
 A source told the agency: "You have to have a good picture of a suspect and it is only useful if you have something to match it against. In other words, the suspect already has to have a previous criminal record." 
 
 12.15 Judges are expressing anger about the number of young offenders appearing in court without their parents. The Telegraph's Richard Alleyne at Westminister Magistrates reports that district judge Elizabeth Roscoe told a 14-year-old riot defendant she was lucky her mother was coming to collect her as most "don't seem to care". The youngster is accused of stealing clothes, CDs and perfume during the riots last weekend. She was bailed to her home in north London under curfew and wearing a tag. Due to appear 18 Haringey Youth Court. 
 
 12.08 Great fun from Inspector Winter, an anonymous tweeting police officer, taking part in raids against suspected looters: 
 
 Suspect (still in bed) "who the F are you", was too good a chance to pass up. "We're the old bill son, get your trousers on, you're nicked" Insp Winter 
 
 InspectorWinter 
 
 12.05 I hadn't seen this video before of a young man barracking Boris Johnson over the cuts during a walk about in south London on Tuesday: 
 
 12.00 The Home Office has decided that a planned EDL march in Telford this weekend cannot go ahead. Theresa May said: 
 
 I have given my consent to a ban on marches in Telford this weekend. It is clear that a ban is needed to ensure communities and property are protected. 
 
 What this ban does not do, however, is stop an EDL presence or a static demonstration in Telford this weekend. 
 
 West Mercia Police have a significant number of officers being deployed to police any EDL presence. I encourage all local people to work with the police to ensure community relations are not undermined. 
 
 11.56 The Union Jack over Ealing Town Hall is at half mast today in honour of Mr Bowes and an appeal to help victims of the the riot is to be called the Richard Mannington Bowes Relief Fund. Council leader Julian Bell said: "Although I did not know Mr Mannington Bowes, what I know about him I liked and my thoughts are with his family and friends. 
 
 Peter Firstbrook, a film maker who knelt beside Mr Bowes as he lay senseless on the pavement, said: 
 
 I'm very shocked about his death, the whole neighbourhood is shocked. Ealing is such a quiet prosperous middle-class area. It is one of the most peaceful parts of London. I can only assume that most of the youths involved came from outside the area. 
 
 11.52 And an update from James Hall who is in court: 
 
 23 year old Iannick Pinto refused bail at Westminster Magistrates Court. Accused of stealing from a Sports Direct store in N4 on Sunday. He works part-time in supermarket on same retail park. 
 
 Says he was in the sports shop for less than a minute, he is on Sports Studies course in Hertfordshire, and his young daughter is due to christened next weekend. However bail declined. 
 
 11.50 Interesting snippet from our crime correspondent, Mark Hughes: 
 
 Just spoken to a police contact who tells me that they believe the price of stolen electronic goods on London's black market has dropped dramatically since the raids and looting. 
 
 Criminals are being caught red-handed because they can’t get rid of their stolen wares before the police arrive at their doors. 
 
 Apparently no one wants to buy stolen televisions and other goods because they know there’s a huge police operation dedicated to finding the goods. 
 
 11.48 Sky's Frazer Maude is at Manchester Magistrates' court. 
 
 13 y-o tells judge "it's the worst thing I've done. It was stupid." Mum says he's usually "perfect". Frazer Maude 
 
 frazeratsky 
 
 11.43 Sir Hugh spoke a little earlier and appeared to be trying to defuse the tensions with the government. He said the Home Secretary had been "quite outstanding" and "understands the complexity" of the situation. 
 
 But he added that "the vital distinction" between policing and politics remains and police "rightly take the tactical decisions". 
 
 11.29 Nick Clegg was just asked whether Sir Hugh Orde was right to say that politicians were irrelevant in stopping the violence. He said politicians couldn't be "armchair generals" and said police are "operationally independent, it's one of the cornerstones of the great policing tradition in this country." 
 
 11.03 The BBC has a very good zoomable image of the Peace Wall in Peckham, where hundreds have been posting messsages of support for the community. 
 
 10.59 Police in Manchester have charged a man following the fire at Miss Selfridge in the city centre. Dane Williamson, 18, has been charged with criminal damage and recklessly endangering life. He will appear in court later today. 
 
 10.45 A bit of mischief from blogger Guido Fawkes.. 
 
 Guido sources say police intending to arrest high profile online inciters of riots. That should worry Guardian.co.uk editorial staff. Guido Fawkes 
 
 GuidoFawkes 
 
 10.39 Ed Miliband is in Brixton this morning where he once again called for a public inquiry into the riots. He threw down a strange gauntlet to the Prime Minister, saying: 
 
 If he doesn't set up that national conversation then I'm going to do it myself because we can't let a situation develop where there's a focus for a few days on this issue and then we go back to normal. 
 
 Meanwhile, Nick Clegg is visiting Nottingham. Hopefully his trip will be more successful than his one to Birmingham two days ago, where he was booed by a crowd. 
 
 10.35 The Guardian has been highlighting Peter Oborne's piece on moral decay in Britain. A little more from it: 
 
 Something has gone horribly wrong in Britain. If we are ever to confront the problems which have been exposed in the past week, it is essential to bear in mind that they do not only exist in inner-city housing estates. 
 
 The culture of greed and impunity we are witnessing on our TV screens stretches right up into corporate boardrooms and the Cabinet. It embraces the police and large parts of our media. It is not just its damaged youth, but Britain itself that needs a moral reformation. 
 
 10.26 An 18-year-old woman has been charged with using BlackBerry messaging to encourage others to take part in violence - thought to be the first time this has happened. 
 
 The woman, from Clacton, Essex, is accused of sending a message encouraging others to take part in violent disorder on Monday. 
 
 She has been charged with intentionally encouraging or assisting in the commission of an offence under the Serious Crime Act 2007. The woman, who was arrested yesterday, has been released on police bail to appear at Colchester Magistrates' Court on September 1. 
 
 10.13 Boris Johnson and Metropolitan Police Acting Commissioner Tim Godwin just emerged from this morning's COBRA meeting and did an interesting little political two-hander. Johnson was asked about criticisms of the police made by David Cameron and Theresa May and replied: 
 
 Anybody can have 20/20 hindsight about actions that could have been taken on Saturday night. 
 
 Godwin chimed in with a clear dig at the Prime Minister and Home Secretary, who were both on holiday when the violence erupted, saying: 
 
 I think after any event like this, people will always make comments who weren't there. 
 
 He then took a question about cuts to police numbers and replied that negotiations with the government were at "a delicate stage" but police were getting "a lot of support from the Mayor on this". 
 
 Finally Godwin was asked whether he was getting enough support from Theresa May. He replied that he was getting support from "a lot of quarters" including the courts service, the CPS and government departments but pointedly left the Home Secretary off the list. 
 
 If the main theme of today is an escalation of the row between police and government one thing is clear - London's Conservative mayor is firmly on the side of the Old Bill. 
 
 10.06 The fearless Mr Oborne is winning plaudits from left and right on Twitter and is even trending for his piece on the moral decay of the political elite. Freelance journalist Heather Brooke describes him as "the moral compass of the nation". 
 
 09.59 Magistrates in Solihull worked from 7.30pm on Wednesday until 6am this morning to clear the backlog in the Midlands. One of those jailed was Ryan Kelly who admitted stealing £3,500 worth of cigarettes from a newsagent in Birmingham. He was sentenced Wednesday night in the first ever twilight court hearing held in the West Midlands. 
 
 09.54 We're hosting an online debate about rioters' sentences over at My Telegraph. Nick Petrie writes: 
 
 Nicolas Robinson was jailed for 6 months for stealing a £3.50 case of water during the London riots. 
 
 Are the sentences being handed out to the looters over harsh, or do the looters need to be made an example of? Is the cost of imprisoning someone for stealing £3.50 of water worth the message it sends? 
 
 Let us know what you think in the comments. 
 
 09.52 A little more on that hearing at Westminster Magistrates' 
 
 14 yr old girl charged with three counts of burglary on the High St in Wood Green: Boots / H&M and HMV. Lia Hervey 
 
 SkyNewsOlympic 
 
 09.46 The suspect in killing of Ricahrd Bowes was held in west London on suspicion of murder, rioting and carrying out three burglaries, Scotland Yard said. 
 
 09.39 Interesting note from Sky's Lia Hervey at Westminster Magistrates' Court: 
 
 The judge also expresses incredulation as next defendant up is 14 yr old girl. Why are her parents not here? Judge says. Lia Hervey 
 
 SkyNewsOlympic 
 
 09.32 Our own Peter Oborne argues that the moral decay is not just happening in the most deprived parts of our country: 
 
 David Cameron, Ed Miliband and the entire British political class came together yesterday to denounce the rioters. They were of course right to say that the actions of these looters, arsonists and muggers were abhorrent and criminal, and that the police should be given more support. 
 
 But there was also something very phony and hypocritical about all the shock and outrage expressed in parliament. MPs spoke about the week’s dreadful events as if they were nothing to do with them. 
 
 I cannot accept that this is the case. Indeed, I believe that the criminality in our streets cannot be dissociated from the moral disintegration in the highest ranks of modern British society. The last two decades have seen a terrifying decline in standards among the British governing elite. It has become acceptable for our politicians to lie and to cheat. An almost universal culture of selfishness and greed has grown up. 
 
 09.29 The Guardian have done an interesting little analysis of 124 riot-related cases from across the country. They found: 
 
 -Most were aged 18-24 
 
 -97 per cent were male 
 
 -60 per cent were remanded in custody 
 
 -One quarter of cases were serious enough to be sent to Crown Court 
 
 09.09 Sky have done a fascinating interview with some looters about why they did it. Their answers are contradictory but illuminating. One is asked do you feel guilty at night? He replies glibly: 
 
 No, because I'm too busy watching my plasma screen TV that I just got. It feels like Christmas has come early! 
 
 But a moment later he reveals that he had actually applied for a job at the Comet shop that he looted, saying: 
 
 I brought down my CV and talked the politest I can but they didn't notice me. We work hard but they not are giving us any opportunities, they don't want to give us this chance. Right now it feels like there's not a future for young people. 
 
 One of his friends mentions the cutting of the Education Maintenance Allowance, help for single mothers and university tuition fees and says "We're not doing this for fun. We're doing this to survive in this world." 
 
 Eric Pickles had no time for their "retrospective justifications" and said: "It sounds like they have been talking to their social worker and picked up all the jive about being repressed." 
 
 09.00 David Cameron has just begun a fourth day of COBRA meetings. The Prime Minister will be sitting across the table from senior police chiefs who are reportedly furious with the criticism he and Theresa May made of their early handling of the riots. 
 
 08:55 And here is the leader he mentions: 
 
 Reflecting the outrage of the nation, David Cameron was uncompromising: the rioters need to be condemned and their crimes punished. “They will pay for what they have done,” he said. Yet it is by no means certain that they will. 
 
 As Kenneth Clarke, the Justice Secretary, quickly pointed out, the justice system’s ability to reflect our collective “shock and horror” will be constrained by the available sentences – and there are no plans to toughen them. Indeed, if Mr Clarke gets his way, fewer young criminals will be sent to jail, and they will receive community penalties instead. 
 
 08.53 Benedict Brogan, our deputy editor, is sceptical of David Cameron's trick of bouncing back with the right speech at the right time: 
 
 Dave seem to have pulled it off with his statement yesterday. It looked perilous when he flew back in the middle of the night on Tuesday, but his performances since have shifted things back in his favour. The FT has particularly swooning praise: "he seems vindicated and may therefore experience the equivalent of a stock market bounce". 
 
 But if he sounds good, that's not to say he is doing good. Close reading of the various announcements will identify the holes, the 'considerings', the 'examinings', the barn door's bolted - no horse. As we point out in our leader, the gap between rhetoric and reality which is a particular leitmotif of this PM is all too apparent. 
 
 08.46 Breaking A 22-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of Richard Bowes's murder in Ealing, Sky News is reporting. Police said yesterday they had "a strong suspect" for the killing but it's not known at this stage whether that was the man arrested. 
 
 08.39 Eric Pickles, the communities secretary, has just handed a pretty clear slap down to Sir Hugh Orde. Asked about the policeman's criticism of the government, Pickles delivered a lengthy tribute to his professionalism and expertise and said they had sat opposite eachother at a meeting of COBRA. But then, with a little twinkle in his eye, Pickles mused: 
 
 But I never had any doubt for a single moment who was in charge of that meeting and that was the Prime Minister. 
 
 08.24 Russell Brand has written a very long post on the riots riots from his new home in LA. 
 
 If we want to live in a society where people feel included, we must include them, where they feel represented, we must represent them and where they feel love and compassion for their communities then we, the members of that community, must find love and compassion for them. 
 
 As we sweep away the mistakes made in the selfish, nocturnal darkness we must ensure that amidst the broken glass and sadness we don’t sweep away the youth lost amongst the shards in the shadows cast by the new dawn. 
 
 08.18 Ed Miliband was asked an interesting question on the Today Programme just now: are these young looters Blair's Children? He replies: 
 
 We did better at rebuilding the fabric of our country than the ethic of our country. No government should avoid its it share of responsibility... I deeply regret that inqequality wasn't reduced under the last Labour government. 
 
 He repeats his calls for a public inquiry so that "the people of Tottenham get their voices heard". 
 
 08.10 The Mayor of London has praised Richard Bowes, the man who was killed by rioters in Ealing: 
 
 Very sad about Richard Bowes. We have seen many villains this week, but learnt of heroes too. He was one. Boris Johnson 
 
 MayorOfLondon 
 
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 08.04 The riots have done enormous damage to London's reputation ahead of next year's Olympics. Among the long list of embarassments is the arrest of an Olympics ambassador who has met Boris Johnson and Lord Coe, after she was reported to the police by her own mother. Tom Whitehead reports: 
 
 Chelsea Ives, 18, allegedly threw bricks at a police car during the violence in Enfield on Sunday. 
 
 She even boasted she had had “the best day ever”, Westminster Magistrates Court heard. 
 
 But the teenager was caught after her mother, Adrienne, saw her on a television news report and called the police. 
 
 Mrs Ives, 47, yesterday said her decision was “gut wrenching” but insisted she only did what any “honest” parent could. 
 
 She added: "I had to do what was right. Roger (her husband) and I were watching the news and it was absolutely sickening. And then we saw our daughter among the crowds. 
 
 08.00 I've done a quick tally of available arrest figures. I make these the totals: 
 
 London: 1047 
 
 Birmingham: 445 
 
 Manchester: 176 
 
 Nottingham: 105 
 
 Merseyside: 112 
 
 Avon & Somerset: 24 
 
 Gloucester: 18 
 
 Thames Valley: 15 
 
 Yorkshire: 6 
 
 Cambridge: 5 
 
 Lancashire: 3 
 
 Slough: 1 
 
 TOTAL: 1957 
 
 07.40 Tessa Jowell, the Olympics minister, says that the riots may have improved relations between most communities and the police. 
 
 I had a very interesting conversation with one of the borough commanders in my constituency and his observation was that the relationship between police and communities has changed in a way that gives him optimism. No one wanted to see the country like that. We have got now to move forward and to build on the community strength, solidarity and sense of shared values. 
 
 07.24 Laura Johnson, the university student accused of looting during the riots, could be thrown off her degree course, Martin Evans and James Orr write: 
 
 The 19 year-old, who is studying English and Italian at Exeter University, appeared at Bexleyheath magistrates’ court on Wednesday charged with theft after police stopped her car and found £5,000 of electrical items, allegedly looted from a branch of Currys in Charlton, south-east London. Exeter University has warned Miss Johnson, whose parents are company directors, that she could be thrown off her course if she is convicted. 
 
 A spokesman for the university said: “We will await the outcome of the court case.” But a source admitted the matter was being taken seriously and an investigation was under way. 
 
 07.18 And one of those arrests highlighted: 
 
 19 y/o man arrested in Haringey for violent disorder and theft. He is believed to have posted a picture on Twitter posing with stolen goods Metropolitan Police 
 
 metpoliceuk 
 
 07.15 The latest arrest figures from London: 
 
 Met Police: 1,047 people arrested in connection with the riots, 584 people charged so far Sky News Newsdesk 
 
 SkyNewsBreak 
 
 07.11 Police in Birmingham are driving a giant video screen through the streets displaying pictures of suspects. The "Digi-Van", which has a six-metre square screen, will tour the city centre to encourage peope to come forward with information. 
 
 07.06 The mother who was caught on camera trying on trainers she had apparently just looted from a sports shop has been arrested after she was identified by the Daily Telegraph. Mark Hughes and Martin Evans report: 
 
 The image of Shereka Leigh, 22, calmly inspecting and then brazenly trying on footwear in broad daylight epitomised the lawlessness which allowed thousands of stores across the capital to be looted in the aftermath of the riots. 
 
 On Wednesday The Daily Telegraph revealed the woman to be Miss Leigh, a mother of one from Tottenham. 
 
 On Thursday, Scotland Yard detectives swooped, arresting her in an early morning raid at her home just 500 yards from Tottenham Hale retail park, where she is alleged to have stolen from. 
 
 Officers broke down the door of her flat, which sits above an electrical goods shop, and later led her out in handcuffs. She tried to protect her identity wearing a hat and dark shades, with a scarf over her face. She was held on suspicion of burglary. 
 
 06.56 An inquest into the three men who died in Birmingham on Tuesday will be opened today. Brothers Shazad Ali, 30, and Abdul Masavir, 31, and their friend Haroon Jahan, 21 were killed in an apparent hit-and-run as they tried to defend shops in Winson Green. Yesterday, Mr Jahan's father, Tariq movingly appealed for calm in England's cities. 
 
 06.45 The police were criticised yesterday by both the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary. Speaking in the House of Commons, David Cameron said: 
 
 What became increasingly clear earlier this week was that there were simply far too few police were deployed onto the streets. And the tactics they were using weren’t working. 
 
 Police chiefs have been frank with me about why this happened. Initially the police treated the situation too much as a public order issue – rather than essentially one of crime. 
 
 Last night the police hit back, with Sir Hugh Orde, the president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, laying into claims by Theresa May that she had given orders to police to cancel all leave to make more staff available for riot control, saying she had "no powers to do this". The former head of the Police Service of Northern Ireland continued: 
 
 The police faced an unprecedented situation, unique circumstances. The fact that politicians chose to come back [from holiday] is an irrelevance in terms of the tactics that were by then developing. The more robust policing tactics you saw were not a function of political interference; they were a function of the numbers being available to allow the chief constables to change their tactics. 
 
 Sir Hugh also said cuts to police budgets would "inevitably" lead to fewer officers on the streets - contradicting the line the government took repeatedly in yesterday's debate. 
 
 06.43 The pensioner who was left in a coma after confronting rioters in Ealing has died from his injuries, reports Heidi Blake and our news team. 
 
 Richard Mannington Bowes was pictured lying face down in a pool of blood after being attacked on Monday while trying to stop youths setting fire to large rubbish bins across the green from the flat where he lived alone. 
 
 Yesterday it emerged that he was a recluse who was tormented by youths repeatedly urinating and throwing litter in the street outside his home. 
 
 He was placed on a life support machine but from the outset his condition was so serious that doctors did not believe he would pull through. His estranged sister travelled down from her home in Derby yesterday, for a chance to say goodbye. 
 
 06.37 Young offenders who took part in the rioting and looting that blighted Britain’s streets this week are walking free from court without facing significant penalties, James Kirkup and Tom Whitehead report. 
 
 Despite David Cameron’s promises that they would face “punishment”, a string of juvenile criminals have been allowed to return home with their parents. 
 
 Several of the young rioters have been pictured in national newspapers committing crimes. Nonetheless, they retain the court’s protection of legal anonymity. 
 
 The sentences being handed down have dismayed police and MPs after the Prime Minister’s promise that rioters would “pay for what they have done”. 
 
 Further undermining Mr Cameron’s tough rhetoric, Kenneth Clarke, the Justice Secretary, backed the courts. He rejected the Prime Minister’s call for new sentencing rules. 
 
 According to the Metropolitan Police, roughly half of the 240 people who have appeared in court so far charged with being involved in the London riots are under the age of 18. 
 
 06.29 Good morning and welcome back to our rolling coverage following a calm night that saw the courts continue to work to work through hundreds of looting and riot cases. 
 
 Follow earlier coverage of the riots here: 
 
 London and UK riots: August 11 as it happened 
 
 London and UK riots: August 10 as it happened 
 
 London and UK riots: August 9 afternoon as it happened 
 
 London and UK riots: August 9 morning as it happened 
 
 London riots: August 8 as it happened 
 
 Tottenham riots: August 7 as it happened
– The Telegraph reported yesterday on a crazy court case in the UK: After a pregnant Italian woman, in town for business, had a panic attack, social service workers in Essex got a court order allowing the woman to be forcibly sedated and undergo a C-section so they could take her baby. Fifteen months later, the little girl is still with social service workers, who won't return her to her mother. The case is now "an international legal row," the Telegraph says, and the anonymous woman's lawyers call it "unprecedented." The woman was in Britain in July 2012 for an airline training course, and called police when she suffered the panic attack. They arrived while she was on the phone with her mother, who told police the woman suffered from bipolar disorder and was off her medication, according to a Telegraph columnist. Police took her to a psychiatric facility, and restrained her under the Mental Health Act when she said she wanted to go back to her hotel. She underwent the C-section after having been there five weeks. The case is ongoing; the mother says she has made a full recovery, but a judge nonetheless ruled that her daughter should be put up for adoption. More on the case here and here.