It was one of those microseconds when you know exactly what is about to happen, without the slightest chance of stopping it.<\/span><\/p>\n The big black boy rode his bike straight at me, crashing me off my own and leaving us both tangled up on the ground. Then four more of them were racing towards me, clawing at my legs to get them off my bike, kicking me in the head as I tried to hold on. Two minutes later, it was all over. Ten minutes later, no doubt, it was being used to loot a newsagent\u2019s.<\/span><\/p>\n Bleeding a little, I thought I might as well call 999. It was a recorded message. After four and a half minutes, a tired man answered. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing we can do,\u201d he said. \u201cYou know what\u2019s going on. We have to give priority to saving people\u2019s lives. I suggest you just go home.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n He was right, of course. I was in Hackney – which, that evening at least, was a law-free zone. That\u2019s the worst thing about riots. <\/span>Across much of London on Monday night<\/span><\/strong><\/a>, if someone had decided to break down your door and rape your daughter, there would have been nothing to stop them. There would have been no one to call.<\/span><\/p>\n When I was mugged, I was on my way home from a day in Tottenham, listening to the stories of the people who had lost far more and been at far greater risk than me, burned out of their homes at 30 seconds\u2019 notice.<\/span><\/p>\n They called 999 too, frantically, desperately, as the riot moved closer. There were 100 police just up the road. The emergency operator could do nothing but listen to their terror.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>I finished my journey in a cab. Three or four times, we had to stop and skirt round hooded boys spilling into the road, our windows closed and the door lock on. If they had fancied my taxi, there would have been nothing I or the driver could have done about that, either.<\/span><\/p>\n Even on Monday, the victims of Tottenham, black and white, were already tired of outsiders blaming racism, police brutality, or cuts. (What were they rioting about in prosperous, suburban Enfield \u2013 rising season-ticket prices?) The real reason for the rioters\u2019 behaviour is much simpler: because they can.<\/span><\/p>\n