RIOTING broke out in London after police shot and killed 29- year-old Mark Duggan while trying to arrest him near Tottenham Hale station.

Following an initial peaceful protest march, the rioting – accompanied by widespread looting and arson – erupted first in Tottenham, before spreading to other parts of London and then further afield, to Bristol, the Midlands and the North West.

One journalist described the riots as “the worst disturbances of their kind since the 1995 Brixton riots.”

Prime Minister David Cameron, meanwhile, blamed a ‘broken society’ and ‘moral collapse’.

Several countries issued warnings advising caution to travellers visiting Britain.

In York, more than 100 campaigners marched through the city to protest against the 12- month jail sentence given to student Frank Fernie for his part in the ‘Stop the Cuts’ demonstrations.

Parents Alison and Matt Gilbert spoke of their joy at their ‘Facebook baby’ Katie – born after an online appeal to raise money for private IVF treatment; and a pet dog – Junior the bloodhound – was saved from going blind after an £8,000 facelift to remove excess flesh from his face. The cost of the operation was covered by pet insurance. Junior’s owner Denise Smart said; “He’s a lot happier with life.”

Three men were jailed for running a massive cannabis farm in York; controversial plans to sell the Union Terrace car park were finally abandoned following a huge public backlash; and Pocklington motel owner Michael Brown spoke about having his face completely rebuilt following a vicious attack a year earlier by baseball bat-wielding thug Sean Craib.

Good weather greeted the Ebor Festival at York Racecourse; and the experiment of putting the event back so the final day fell on a Saturday was hailed a ‘brilliant success’ following a record-breaking year.

In other good news, paraplegic microlight pilot Dave Sykes reached Sydney after an epic four-month journey in which he braved sandstorms, monsoons and high winds. Dave, a member of York Flying Club at Rufforth who lost the use of his legs in a motorcycling accident in 1993, had set out from York on April 28 to fly more than 11,600 miles across Europe, the Middle East, India and Malaysia, with his wheelchair strapped to the back of his aircraft. “It’s a wonderful achievement,” said York Flying Club’s chief flying instructor John Teesdale. So it was.

In other national and international news, oil prices fell following speculation that Col Gaddafi’s 40-year rule in Libya was on the edge of collapse; and in the UK, Fiona Donnison, 45, was sentenced to a minimum of 32 years in prison for the murder of her two children Harry, aged three, and two-year-old Elise.