Police have turned to the public to identify their 21 most wanted following the Camden riots.

After trawling through thousands of hours of CCTV footage from the Camden riots, police are turning to the public to root out their 21 most wanted.

Work by a dedicated team of officers has led to about seven arrests a week, including a suspect who appeared in the Harry Potter films.

But with police struggling to identify outstanding suspects, stills of those believed to have been involved in August’s mayhem have been released to the public.

Borough Commander John Sutherland said: “While public interest and opinion moves on, the police’s responsibility remains until the job is done. The team is dedicated to this role and working full-time and we’re making arrests every week and every day.”

56 charged

The Ham&High was shown footage of a mob smashing shop windows, ripping grills from LA1 clothes shop and raiding it, and masked men holding up a bendy bus before trying to break the windows. Footage has been passed on to the courts to give judges a sense of the violence. So far, 56 people have been charged after the Camden disorder and five people have been sentenced.

Images have already been circulated to schools, which have helped to identify four alleged perpetrators.

Detective Inspector Tressey Clarke is working with the 13-strong Camden team. She said the operation could go on for another two or three years. “This will be ongoing for some time and we just want to keep that interest,” she said. “We’re not going to stop until we have brought everyone to justice.”

A spokesman for civil liberty campaigners Big Brother Watch said it was a myth that CCTV helped to solve crime, with less than one incident solved for every 1,000 cameras.

He added: “Big Brother Watch has called for the resources currently soaked up by CCTV to be used to prevent crime. In the case of the London riots, it was all too clear that there were not enough police on the streets.

“It is of little consolation to the families who lost homes and business owners who lost their livelihood that the police have video of the destruction.”

Anyone with information about the suspects shown in the CCTV pictures can call 101 and ask to speak to Detective Sergeant David Cann or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

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