A young man from Liverpool recalls the riots and his part in them, which he says cost him his job
An 18-year-old man from Liverpool lost his job after the riots and is now unemployed:
"I was watching the news. It was London, just was kicking off big time. All my mates going on about it. I was worried 'cos I was at work in town and I just remember all the bars closing down. Like everyone was talking about it. I couldn't say that there was one person that weren't talking about it. It was basically: 'Fuck the law.' It was just, like, against the law, really.
"There was, like, 200 people on Smithdown Road. It was unbelievable. I never, ever witnessed something like that. It was mad. The police couldn't do nothing. Like they were pushing people back and we were getting pushed forwards. It was mad, crazy.
"I didn't get involved but there was people going crazy and like setting cars on fire and doing all sorts of madness. There was even some looting but I weren't down with that. The 200 people on Smithdown wasn't looting.
"They [the police] all got shields and stuff and they were just pushing us back. There was too many people; they couldn't cope with it. The thing that shocked me most was a car got pushed down Smithdown on fire. The police were just going for it. It was crazy. Three of my mates got proper hurt by the police.
"I was out until two and then I got arrested on the next day … The police was there in my face just shouting and screaming. And I basically told them: 'This is some next-level revolution coming.' I was just going crazy.
"I've never been to court. Have been arrested, but never been charged. I lost my job over it too … It was just stupid. I heard someone who did something to Tesco in Liverpool got 10 years each. That's like ridiculous."