Teenage boy, 13, arrested for assaulting police officer during public order incident at Portsmouth Hotwalls

Police have arrested four teenagers as more than a 100 young people created a ‘public order incident’ at Portsmouth Hotwalls yesterday.
Youths at the Hotwalls in Old Portsmouth on July 25 at around 4.40pm as police are seen making an arrests.Youths at the Hotwalls in Old Portsmouth on July 25 at around 4.40pm as police are seen making an arrests.
Youths at the Hotwalls in Old Portsmouth on July 25 at around 4.40pm as police are seen making an arrests.

All of the teenagers are from Portsmouth, with the youngest being a 13 year year old boy who has been arrested for assaulting a police officer. 

He remains in custody. 

Police also arrested a 15 year old girl on suspicion of assaulting a police officer, and a 15 year old boy on suspicion of using threatening words of behaviour, with both being released under investigation. 

Youths at the Hotwalls in Old Portsmouth on July 25 at around 4.40pm as police are seen making an arrests.Youths at the Hotwalls in Old Portsmouth on July 25 at around 4.40pm as police are seen making an arrests.
Youths at the Hotwalls in Old Portsmouth on July 25 at around 4.40pm as police are seen making an arrests.
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Another 15 year old boy was arrested for failing to give officers his details, and has been de-arrested.

Police were called to the Hotwalls shortly after 4.30pm to disperse a crowd of more than 100 youths. 

One man, who asked not to be named, watched the drama unfold.

He said: ‘It was just absolute carnage. We just walked out, about to go home, and there was just this huge crowd. It was total bedlam.

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'It was all kicking off everywhere. There must have been 10 police cars.’

Officers were already in the area to engage with the community and enforce a Section 35 dispersal order, which gives the police the power to disperse crowds likely to lead to anti-social behaviour.  The order had been obtained to cover the harbour location for Wednesday and yesterday in anticipation of large groups congregating due to the hot weather.  Portsmouth Neighbourhood Team Inspector Marcus Cator said: ‘Our officers were on the ground today patrolling the area in order to prevent harm to the public.  ‘We will continue to patrol the area over the coming days to engage with the community, keep the public safe and to work in partnership with Portsmouth City Council and other agencies.’ No serious injuries following the incident have been reported. 

CCTV was installed at the Hotwalls last year in a bid to crack down on anti-social behaviour.

Two cameras, that can be monitored 24/7, were set up after large crowds of yobs caused problems in 2017 in the Camber Docks and Hotwalls.