Deaths of two teenagers sparks night of violence and riot police response

Report and images by WALES NEWS SERVICE for the Glamorgan Star

Glamorgan Star news 23/05/2023

8 minutes read

Two teenage best friends were killed in a smash riding a powerful e-bike just hours before 150 rioters turned on police to hurl fireworks, bricks and petrol bombs.

Kyrees Sullivan, 16, and Harvey Evans, 15, were killed in an horrific crash before friends poured into the streets of the close-knit Cardiff housing estate to accuse the police of chasing the pair – even though senior officers denied being involved in the crash.

Grieving mum Belinda Sullivan, 42, called for calm after anger erupted on the streets after her son and teenage friend Harvey died – amid the rumours that police were in a chase.

She said she was stopped from seeing her son’s body on the housing estate of Ely, Cardiff, after crowds gathered in the street to attack police with petrol bombs and rocks.

She wrote: “My son is still laying on the floor due to this riot I’m sat at home heart broken there are 2 familys broken right now.

“I just want to see my son and I can’t because of this riot that have happened pls I beg you all to stop and let my son be moved to hospital so I can see him we need to see our sons.”

The well-known boys were friends with many on the sprawling housing estate of Ely where they grew up – and grief turned to a night of violence and rioting.

The pair were known for riding the electric motorbike around the streets even though there had been a clampdown on the illegal riding.

Harvey’s godmother said he had his haircut and had eaten his dinner with his mother Nadine just 10 minutes before he died alongside his “best friend” while riding together on a £4,000 Sur-Ron electric bike.

Bridy Bool(corr) said the youngster “loved motorbikes, bikes and football” – and had done nothing to spark before what she described as a police chase.

She said: “We know the boys have been chased, there are videos of it.

She said: “The poor boy was laying there until 2.40am they have taken his body and they won’t tell anybody where he is.

“We don’t know what hospital he was taken to or nothing. His mother is going to send herself into a frenzy as she doesn’t know where her son is.

“They don’t know how the incident happened, they know he was chased by police but that’s all they know.

“There were enough witnesses that the police were involved and there’s videos of it going around.

“The boys were bare faced, they wasn’t balaclavad up. They just left their mums’ houses, they had just had their tea.

“He had just had his dinner. He had left his mum’s house for 10 minutes and this happened. He had been home all day with his mum.

“He had his haircut, come home, had his food and this has happened and he was bare-faced he wasn’t balaclavad up.

“These poor families, they were bare-faced innocent children. The police knows they were 15 and 16.”

She said the families had no support and that family liaison officers still had not attended the parents’ home because of fear over the riots.

“They haven’t been told nothing of the incident they have been left in the dark. The police haven’t confirmed his identity, no one has been told nothing.”

She said her godson was a “typical young boy who loved socialising”.

She added: “He was a social butterfly, loved his motorbikes, loved bikes, loved his football, He was a typical 15-year-old.”

She said the boys were “best friends”.

She said: “They were friends, they were best friends, they were in to the same sort of thing. They had been best friends for a long time it wasn’t unusual for those two boys’ faces to be together.

“They were known as best friends it was to go to, you’d say there’s one there’s the other.”

“They were on a Sarong an electric bike and it’s illegal to chase anyone on a bike without a helmet on and they didn’t have helmets on. There was no reason for them to be chased.”

Tributes have been paid to the teenagers after riot police swooped on the scene when crowds set fire to cars and threw fireworks at officers.

Riot police in Ely, Cardiff have joined emergency services at the scene of a crash after objects were thrown at officers. Some people wore balaclavas and masks and were seen breaking up paving slabs to hurl at police. Photo: WALES NEWS SERVICE.

One friend said: “This isn’t a fight for “justice” just a bunch of wanna be gangsters acting the fool.

“For hours after the accident those boys lied on the floor with no way out because of Hooligans blocking the streets and abusing police for what?

For a bit of fun?”

She added: “The boys were happy to cut up cars and and run their bike at them all day long. Everyday.

“I was a good friend of both boys and have watched them almost get run over 1000 times, eventually you get hit, and unfortunately this was the outcome.

“Either way the claim that the rioting was for their sake is a joke.

“Rest easy to both the boys and I hope the family get a better chance at grieving than they did last night.”

Another friend said: “You will forever be missed by everyone you was the most funniest people I could ever meet.

“You didn’t deserve to get taken so young I’m so glad I made memories with you only 15 and 16.

“I love you and going to miss you so much you both was each other’s best friends and I’m so happy you got taken together.”

The boys were killed in a road accident which started the crowds gathering on the streets of the Ely estate in Cardiff before violence broke out.

Cars set alight and police cars were damaged. *Photo: WALES NEWS SERVICE*.

Police say the smash had “already occurred” when they were called to attend the scene just after 6pm yesterday (Mon).

The statement was made following speculation that the teenagers had been involved in a police chase before allegedly crashing into a bus.

Riot police swooped on the scene after crowds gathered to burn cars and hurl fireworks as the violence erupted.

Social media messages flashed up with RIP and Gone Too Soon messages to the boys with pictures of them together. Their identity has not been confirmed nor officials details of the road crash.

South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner Alun Michael said the connection between the crash and the disorder was unclear.

He said up to 12 officers may also have been injured in the disorder as cars were set on fire and fireworks were thrown at police.

Mr Michael said the incident in which the two teenagers died was “being investigated in its own right.”

He added that “something like a dozen officers were injured – fortunately none of them life-threatening”.

He said: “So obviously there’s going to be investigations going on this morning to try and establish what happened.”

Mobile phone footage from the scene showed rioters wearing balaclavas while others were breaking up paving slabs to hurl at officers.

An overturned and burnt out car at the scene of the incident the morning after the riots. *Photo: WALES NEWS SERVICE*

Neighbours woke up to a scene of destruction today (Tues) as a burnt out car was left tipped on its roof in the middle of the road.

Jane Palmer, of Ely, said she and her family watched from a window as people outside set fire to her car.

She said: “I’m disabled so now I’m trapped without my car. Why are they doing this? It’s just silly now.”

John Urquhart, of Ely, said the majority of people were in the street because they “wanted to know what would happen next.”

He said: “There was a very small number of people actually doing any sort of violence.”

Mr Urquhart said he was very “counter-violence” and offered first aid to people during the evening.

One senior officer at the scene said a member of the public was attacked because rioters thought they were an undercover police officer.

The disorder continued into the early hours of the morning as police attempted to disperse the crowds and arrests were made.

One mum held back tears as she said: “The riot was bad but people need to look at what started it. The police handled this terribly.

“This wasn’t done to destroy things. This was people meeting up in an act of love for those two boys and the police ruined it.

“Instead of blaming the community of Ely people need to dig into what the police have done here and how this started.”

One dad watched terrified as a car was turned over and set alight just yards from his front door.

The man, who asked not to be named, said: “About 15-20 kids stopped a woman driving as she tried to get home and took her car. They were taking ages trying to push it over before they set it alight.

“I called the emergency services because I thought the hedge might go up and set fire to our cars. My daughter is only five and in the front bedroom and I was scared that if that happened it would be it. I’m disabled and I would not have been able to get her out.

“They told me if there was a danger to life they would send someone to get us out but they wouldn’t come otherwise. They wouldn’t send the fire brigade because it was too dangerous for them.

“How can it be too dangerous for the fire brigade and the police but alright for us to have to be in the middle of it. The police were too scared to do anything.”

The National Police Air Service also said it had assisted with the incident.

A South Wales Police spokesman said: “South Wales Police is investigating a serious road traffic collision and scenes of violent disorder which happened in the Ely area of Cardiff last night (Mon).

“Shortly after 6pm yesterday we received a report of a serious road traffic collision on Snowden Road which resulted in the deaths of two teenage boys.

“Police responded to this collision which had already occurred when officers arrived, and they remained on scene to manage a large-scale disorder until the early hours of this morning.

“Specially-trained public order officers were also deployed, including officers from neighbouring police forces.

“Several vehicles were set alight, property was damaged and police officers were injured during the incident.”

Assistant Chief Constable Mark Travis, of the force, said: “First and foremost our thoughts are with families of the two boys who have died following the collision in Ely and with those affected by the disorder which followed.

“These are scenes we do not expect to see in our communities, particularly a close-knit community such as Ely. We received a large number of calls from residents who were understandably frightened by the actions of this large group who were intent on causing crime and disorder.

“The level of violence towards emergency services and the damage to property and vehicles was totally unacceptable.

“Our focus now is to fully investigate the circumstances of the collision and the appalling scenes that followed.

“Arrests have already been made in connection with the disorder and more will follow. We shall be maintaining an enhanced police presence throughout the week and into the weekend.

“We would like to thank the public for their support and appeal to anyone with information or video footage to come forward and provide that to us.”