Britain remained tense Friday after days of rioting in major cities that have claimed five lives and prompted an unprecedented police clampdown, dpa reported. In London, 16,000 officers will remain on the streets during the weekend to prevent any recurrence of the rioting, looting and arson that erupted in the northern district of Tottenham a week ago, and spread to large parts of the capital in the following days. "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," Home Secretary Theresa May said. The riots, the worst in Britain for many decades, Friday claimed their fifth victim. A 68-year-old man, Richard Mannington Bowes, died in hospital from head injuries he sustained while confronting rioters in Ealing, west London, earlier this week. A 22-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the attack, police said. Bowes was set upon as he tried to stamp out a fire in a supermarket bin. Police have launched a murder inquiry. His death follows those of three Asian men who were run down by a car in Birmingham as they attempted to protect their community from looters. An inquest into their deaths opened Friday.
