London: Despite the crackdown by British Prime Minister David Cameron, some of the looters seem be unfazed. In an interview with UK broadcaster Sky News, a group of young men, who claim they were involved in the rioting and looting, said they felt no remorse for their actions. On the contrary, they point the finger at the British government for ignoring the plight of young people.
"Obviously, I saw an opportunity so I went to it," says one of the men, his face carefully wrapped up to conceal his identity.
Another young man who looked 16 said that he looted primarily to provide for his young son.
"I got him clothes. I got him nappies, powder, the whole Johnson set," he says with a chuckle.
Another man claimed that he looted electrical goods worth 163;2,000 pounds ($3,240 US). "Not paying for nothing, it was all free. Two grand in a couple of days, a week, that's nice, that's good pay," he says.
One of the self-confessed looters says that he deliberately targeted a shop which had once turned him down for a job. "This is payback," he said.
When asked whether he felt any remorse for what they claimed to have done, the young men insisted that they did not.
"No, because I'm watching my plasma that I just got. Feels like Christmas came early," one of the men says, as his friends laugh.
However, the tone becomes much more serious when they are asked about what they think is the cause of the recent unrest. "Right now it looks like there isn't a future for young people, that's how I see it because the government they are not helping anyone out except the rich people. They don't care for us. They just leave us on the blocks to do whatever we do," says one of the young men, standing close to some ageing council flats, which lie just across the river from the gleaming Canary Warf at the heart of London's financial district.
One of the other men is more specific in his demands from the government.
"They should put back on EMA (Education Maintenance Allowance - a grant given to the poorest teenagers to help them say in education), help all the single mothers that are struggling, uni cuts (university tuition fee rises), everything."
"This isn't just like we're doing it for the fun of it, we're doing this for money to survive in this world but until we get that or a little bit of support from the government, it's not going to stop," he warns.
Police in London said on Friday they have charged almost 600 people with violence, disorder and looting over deadly riots in Britain's capital, as the city's mayor said Londoners wanted to see "significant sentences" handed out to the guilty.
Hundreds of stores were looted, buildings were set ablaze and several people died amid the mayhem that broke out Saturday in London and spread over four nights across England.
Across the country, more than 1,700 people have been arrested. Courts in London, Birmingham and Manchester stayed open through a second night to deal with hundreds of alleged offenders
"Obviously, I saw an opportunity so I went to it," says one of the men, his face carefully wrapped up to conceal his identity.
Another young man who looked 16 said that he looted primarily to provide for his young son.
"I got him clothes. I got him nappies, powder, the whole Johnson set," he says with a chuckle.
Another man claimed that he looted electrical goods worth 163;2,000 pounds ($3,240 US). "Not paying for nothing, it was all free. Two grand in a couple of days, a week, that's nice, that's good pay," he says.
One of the self-confessed looters says that he deliberately targeted a shop which had once turned him down for a job. "This is payback," he said.
When asked whether he felt any remorse for what they claimed to have done, the young men insisted that they did not.
"No, because I'm watching my plasma that I just got. Feels like Christmas came early," one of the men says, as his friends laugh.
However, the tone becomes much more serious when they are asked about what they think is the cause of the recent unrest. "Right now it looks like there isn't a future for young people, that's how I see it because the government they are not helping anyone out except the rich people. They don't care for us. They just leave us on the blocks to do whatever we do," says one of the young men, standing close to some ageing council flats, which lie just across the river from the gleaming Canary Warf at the heart of London's financial district.
One of the other men is more specific in his demands from the government.
"They should put back on EMA (Education Maintenance Allowance - a grant given to the poorest teenagers to help them say in education), help all the single mothers that are struggling, uni cuts (university tuition fee rises), everything."
"This isn't just like we're doing it for the fun of it, we're doing this for money to survive in this world but until we get that or a little bit of support from the government, it's not going to stop," he warns.
Police in London said on Friday they have charged almost 600 people with violence, disorder and looting over deadly riots in Britain's capital, as the city's mayor said Londoners wanted to see "significant sentences" handed out to the guilty.
Hundreds of stores were looted, buildings were set ablaze and several people died amid the mayhem that broke out Saturday in London and spread over four nights across England.
Across the country, more than 1,700 people have been arrested. Courts in London, Birmingham and Manchester stayed open through a second night to deal with hundreds of alleged offenders
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