Ely riot: Police relations often tense with area - Drakeford

Cars were set on fire during Monday night's riot in Cardiff

By James Williams

BBC Politics Wales

The relationship between police and residents in Ely in Cardiff is "too often tense and anxious", First Minister Mark Drakeford has said.

Some want a South Wales Police crackdown on bad behaviour, but others back a different approach, he said.

Mr Drakeford, whose Cardiff West constituency includes Ely, spoke after Kyrees Sullivan, 16, and Harvey Evans, 15, were killed in a crash on Monday.

It sparked a riot which led to nine arrests and 15 officers injured.

Hayley Murphy, the aunt of Harvey Evans, has said she believes the police are to blame for the boys' deaths.

Mr Drakeford arranged a meeting of community representatives, public agencies and councillors to discuss support for Ely on Friday.

He said they agreed to "jointly sponsor a grassroots-led initiative to create a community plan for Ely, to respond to the long-term needs of residents".

Mr Drakeford said the government wanted to support the residents of Ely who "are so sad and disappointed to find the reputation of the area being affected in this way again".

Image source, Family photos

Harvey Evans, 15, and Kyrees Sullivan, 16, died in a bike crash on Monday

"The fabric of some of our communities across Wales has suffered now for over 10 years - rebuilding that is a job that will take not just a few years, but many years," he said in an interview with BBC Politics Wales following the meeting.

Asked about the relationship between police and residents, Mr Drakeford said it was "too often tense, too often anxious, too often worried that the police don't have the resources they need in order to respond to those issues of criminality or a disaffection that we see on the estate".

Pushed as to whether there was an issue with police behaviour in the community, he replied: "Policing is a very challenging job. I'm not going to make easy criticisms of the police.

Image source, Getty Images

Nine people were arrested and 15 officers injured following the Ely riot

"On the one hand, there will be people on the estate who feel that the police need to respond more directly and to crack down on some of the behaviour that is seen there.

"And on the other hand, there will be people who expect the police to be a solution to the issues that drive young people and others into behaviour that causes difficulty for other residents," he added.

The two boys died in crash on Snowden Road, Ely, on Monday evening. Word then spread on social media that a police van had been following them before the crash.

South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Alun Michael initially said officers had not "chased" the two boys.

Watch: What the CCTV tells us about teens' final moments

CCTV recordings then emerged showing a police van had been following the boys before the fatal crash.

But the force has declined to answer further questions, citing an ongoing probe by Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).

Cardiff West Labour MP Kevin Brennan has questioned whether Mr Michael was the "right person" to communicate to the public "in these circumstances", in an interview on the BBC's Walescast podcast.

Mr Drakeford told Politics Wales the commissioner's comments "added a layer of complexity into it, but it is hardly the central issue".

He said: "The central issue here is everything that happened on the night and a forensic examination of that and then the work that we have started today to look behind those events, the underlying deeper causes, the things that matter to the different communities that live in Ely and what we can do to address those together."

Image source, Getty Images | PA Media

Mark Drakeford says Alun Michael's comments about the deaths are not the central issue

Speaking earlier on Radio Wales' Sunday Supplement, Mr Michael said: "The IOPC is undertaking direct investigation, speaking to the community and gathering evidence in Ely, which means we can't talk about it."

But he went on to say that "in the last few days, I can say that police officers have, in some cases, been insulted, attacked by members of the local community".

"Also, many members of the local community have thanked the police for the bravery with which the police dealt with the incidents last Monday night and protected the public.

"It's also the case that, on the one hand, you have some who dislike the activities of the police and others who say the police ought to be doing more," he added.

Later, on Sunday Politics, when Mr Michael was asked if had any regrets about some of his initial comments, he replied: "I think it's possible to regret that we didn't have a full picture to be discussed right from the beginning."

Police said, in a previous statement, that it "cannot comment any further" due to ongoing investigations by the force and the IOPC.

BBC Politics Wales is on BBC One Wales and iPlayer on Sunday 28 May.