Birmingham riots: police chief visits bereaved father Tariq Jahan

After a private meeting with Tariq Jahan, whose son Haroon was killed early yesterday, Chris Sims paid tribute to the grieving father's ''powerful and generous'' appeal for calm.

Mr Jahan, who battled to revive his son after the incident near his home in Winson Green, Birmingham, took to the streets last night to plead for communities to remain united.

Haroon Jahan, 21, was killed alongside brothers Shazad Ali, 30, and Abdul Musavir, 31, when they were stuck by a car which failed to stop.

In an emotional appeal to members of the local community last night, Mr Jahan's father called on people to ''respect the memories of our sons'' by halting the violence which has spread across the UK.

Speaking to reporters at the scene of the tragedy in Dudley Road, Mr Sims described Tariq Jahan's appeal as a ''powerful, generous and far-sighted intervention'' at a moment of absolute grief and devastation.

After a largely trouble-free night on the streets of the West Midlands, Mr Sims was asked what impact Mr Jahan's words had had.
''I think it was a decisive impact,'' Mr Sims replied. ''Those words were so powerful, so heart-felt and so spontaneous and generous that I think anyone that heard them must have been moved.
''I think that was a decisive intervention in terms of Birmingham not suffering tension and violence between communities.
''Certainly, anyone that felt that there was any mileage from continuing a cycle of violence in the name of those young men that died will have thought twice about it.''
Urging the people of Birmingham to use Mr Jahan's words as a starting point to work to break down any remaining community tensions, Mr Sims stressed that last night's large-scale police operation had also helped to prevent disorder.
The senior officer added: ''We will keep that sort of presence on the streets until we are absolutely sure that these moments of madness that we have experienced in the past few days are absolutely behind us.''