Met Police Deny Radio Failure In Royal Attack - Sky News

12:47pm UK, Saturday December 11, 2010

Kat Higgins, Sky News Online

The Metropolitan Police have denied reports a breakdown in communication led to a royal car containing Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall being attacked during violent student protests.

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The couple were on their way to the theatre in the West End when protesters threw paint at the car and smashed a window.

It has been claimed that officers escorting the prince and his wife were using radios on a different channel to their colleagues patrolling the riots in central London.

Up to 20 demonstrators set upon the Rolls-Royce, some with bottles, chanting "Off with their heads!", "Tory scum" and "up the republic".

There has been widespread criticism of the apparent lapse in security which left the pair visibly shaken and shocked but unharmed.

A major criminal investigation has been launched into the day's events. A spokesman for the Met said the probe would be looking into "all areas".

There was a lot of anger about the Government's fees decision

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson said armed protection officers showed "real restraint" in not opening fire as the situation slipped out of control.

The protests spread over a large part of the capital on Thursday as MPs voted to raise the cap on tuition fees to almost £9,000 a year.

A police spokesman said the Regent Street route taken by the royal couple's driver had been checked minutes earlier and had been considered a safe option.

However, some protesters had made their way to the area from Parliament Square and the violence continued.

Prime Minister David Cameron condemned the attack, saying the "mob" that attacked the car must be arrested and punished.

There were violent confrontations with police

"We want to learn the lessons from that but, above all, we want to make sure the people who behaved in these appalling ways feel the full force of the law," he said.

Police have arrested 33 people and the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) is investigating one incident where a 20-year-old student needed brain surgery after allegedly being hit with a truncheon.

Scotland Yard has said it will examine the police response and tactics used for all of the student protests since they began on November 10.

National Union of Students president Aaron Porter stressed that protests should be peaceful, but said young people were "engaging with the issues" over tuition fees.

"Peaceful protest is an integral part of our heritage and it is the responsibility of the police to help facilitate that," he said.