ARMOURED cars have been spotted cruising London’s streets after cops splashed out on military 4x4s to tackle extreme rioting.
With matte-grey paint, flashing blue lights and the word “police” on the side written in block capitals, the hefty vehicles are hard to miss.
Several of the military-grade tanks intended to tackle rioting have been spotted weaving between lanes in London.
These are the “Sandcats” – the newest addition to the Met Police‘s fleet, estimated to cost around £180,000.
The mammoth 9,000kg 4x4s can transport up to 11 officers and stands at 7ft 7in tall.
The new armoured cars will be used for “high-risk armed policing operations” and 18 have been ordered in total.
The Met Police said the new trucks aren’t yet being used in operations.
The force is currently training drivers, which is why they have been seen driving around London.
A spokesperson said: “These are specialist armoured vehicles used for high-risk armed policing operations, by officers deployed at airports and as a contingency option for use in the most serious public disorder the like of which we thankfully rarely see.”
Sandcats are manufactured by Israeli company Plasan and have been used by the military in several countries.
According to the company website, the Sandcat Tigris is the preferred choice for both the IDF and Ministry of Defence.
They replace the older Jankel models, which were deployed during the 2011 riots but have very rarely been used.
The bullet-resistant Jankel Guardians that the force previously used cost about £100,000 each.
The seven-tonne personnel carrier could withstand AK-47 bullets and had a bomb-proof floor.
Over the past year or so, the UK has been rocked by disorder and rioting in the streets.
This week, masked yobs lobbed petrol bombs and fireworks at cops across four days of chaos across Northern Ireland.
Police described the riots as “racially-motivated hate attacks” with a senior officer slamming the scenes as “racist thuggery”.
Several houses even put up signs identifying their residents as British or Filipino in an apparent attempt to avoid being targeted.
Violence originally erupted on Monday, stemming from an initially peaceful gathering to support a girl and her family after an alleged sexual assault.
Girl ‘whose sex assault by teen boys’ sparked ‘racist’ riots wants violence to end as 4th night of carnage erupts
By Emily Jane Davies
A YOUNG girl whose sexual assault by teenage boys sparked riots across Northern Ireland has called for an end to the violence.
Northern Ireland Police Chief Jon Boutcher said the girl had been “further traumatised” by the riots – as the fourth night of chaos unfolded yesterday.
Police quickly clamped down on hundreds of rioters who were spotted throwing missiles and petrol bombs in Portadown – less than an hour from where the riots started – last night.
Shocking footage showed thugs lobbing live fireworks at rows of police riot vans.
The chaos began in Ballymena on Monday night, hours after two 14-year-old boys appeared in court charged with attempted rape of a girl.
The boys confirmed their names – which cannot be reported – and their ages through a Romanian interpreter at Coleraine Magistrates’ Court.
Cops decried the mass carnage which followed as “racist thuggery”.
Northern Ireland‘s Chief Constable told how the girl’s family had been left “mortified” by the horrific scenes.
Speaking yesterday, he said: “I reiterate the retraumatising of this poor girl, she’s been through enough through what happened to her on Saturday evening. She doesn’t want any of this.
“I know the family are mortified. I’ve spoken to them personally, they’ve asked me to make this plea.#
“This girl’s family and this girl want it to end. Our communities want it to end. We need it to end.
“Stop this violence. We will come after you. We will arrest you. We will prosecute you successfully.
“I want to specifically mention the 41 police officers who’ve been injured. Each of those officers have put themselves in harm’s way to protect our communities.
“It is not in any way a way for a civilised society to behave and it must stop now.”
Northern Ireland Police Chief Jon Boutcher said the girl had been “further traumatised” by the riots.
Last summer, Britain was a tinderbox as widespread unrest and disorder broke out following misinformation about the Southport child killer.
Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice Da Silva Aguiar were murdered in a knife attack and social media posts falsely claimed they were killed by an illegal migrant.
The disgraceful rioters torched cars, police stations and mosques.
In 2020, Scotland Yard put out a notice saying it wanted to buy a new fleet of military-style trucks to tackle public disorder, firearms incidents and riots in the capital.
It wanted security, fire-fighting and defence equipment and armour plating.
Last year, it was reported that Police Scotland’s £282,000 battle machine meant to be driven by “action man officers” has never been used.
The gas-guzzling 4×4 beasts are used by military specialists in warzones and by police tackling drug cartels in South America.
Yet, Police Scotland’s bulletproof Sandcat has been locked in storage collecting dust for two years.
Insiders have previously claimed the reason it has remained idle is from a lack of officers able to drive it, with regular training needed to operate it.
The force has refused to comment on how many of its staff can use the 4×4 Sandcat.
Underneath the Sandcat’s hood lies a huge 6.7-litre V8 engine that only does around nine mpg, which is about as fuel-efficient as an F1 racing car.
Although the armoured car hasn’t seen any action, the force still believes it’s necessary to keep it.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said at the time: “The specialist vehicle can be used in a number of scenarios linked to a major incident and improves our options to keep people safe.
“While it has not yet been deployed to a major incident, it has been used for training purposes and it provides additional operational capabilities.”
