Birmingham riots: Bereaved father who helped end violence believes it could happen again

Tariq Jahan believes we could see a repeat of 2011's events

Today marks exactly 10 years since rioting erupted on the streets of Birmingham and other West Midlands towns, and one man who lost his son in 2011 believes it could happen again.

Over three days in August 2011, Birmingham burned. Spurred on by riots in London over the fatal shooting of a black man by police, violence erupted on the streets of the second city and several other West Midlands towns.

Shops were looted, vehicles set on fire, and police riot squads confronted marauding groups, mobilised by word of mouth and social media.

Derrick Campbell was the then Prime Minister David Cameron's chief advisor on gangs and youth crime.

He'd warned the government, local authorities and the police that social deprivation and a mistrust of the force meant the London riots would inevitably spread to the West Midlands - and with potentially even more serious consequences.

On the second night of the riots, things did turn deadly.

A group broke into and set alight the Bartons Arms in Aston, one of Birmingham's most famous pubs.

Then, as police arrived, shots were fired at officers on the ground - and at the force helicopter as it hovered overhead. 

Seven men and a teenager, some with links to gangs in Birmingham and West Bromwich were later jailed for a total of 188 years.

Relations between Birmingham's black and Asian communities were already strained and after the previous night's looting, as a group stood guard outside a petrol station in Winson Green, a car was driven into them at high speed. 

Brothers Shazad Ali who was 30 and Abdul Musavir, 31 (pic) were killed, as was 20-year-old Haroon Jahan.

His father Tariq Jahan rushed to help the victims, only to discover that his son was one of them.

Eight people would later be cleared of the murders. Demands for a public inquiry into the case were repeatedly turned down.

Within hours of the deaths, David Cameron rushed up to Birmingham, meeting police chiefs and community leaders including Derrick Campbell, over what to do next.

But that night, at a vigil held for the three men, Tariq Jahan, the grieving father, appealed to the crowd.

His plea, repeated to the world's media the next morning, rang out across the city and across the country. 

Soon after those words, peace returned to the streets.

But both men, who played such pivotal roles in staving off what Birmingham might have descended into, warn that for young people in the city, not that much has changed - and those at the top should take heed.