The 45-year-old became an internet sensation after a video of her giving an ear-bashing to yobs running through Hackney made its way onto YouTube, attracting more than a million hits.
Heroine of Hackney Pauline Pearce was 'petrified but angry' as she confronted a rioting mob (Pic: YouTube)
It has now been revealed that the jazz-singing grandmother, who also goes by the name of Lady P in a regular slot as a DJ on Conscious FM, later fought to defend a youth who was being attacked.
Speaking to The Evening Standard, Ms Pearce said she was scared by the angry hordes she was faced with, but couldn't contain her rage at what they were doing to her community.
'It was petrifying but I was just so angry. People's cars were being set on fire. What has that got to do with the cause of the fellow shot in Tottenham? How does that support his family?' she said.
After berating the rioters, Ms Pearce then saved a young white male from being beaten up by a mob, despite needing to use a walking stick due to a slipped disc.
She also expressed her disgust that the troublemakers seemed to want to turn the violence into a racial incident.
'I shouted "why are you turning this into a black-white thing" and one of them shouted back "of course it's a black-white thing". That was devastating,' she added.
Mother-of-four Pauline Pearce was dubbed the Hackney Heroine when she gave a group of looters the benefit of the sharp edge of her tongue during the August riots. She lambasted them for stealing rather than fighting for a cause and told them they made her feel "ashamed to be a Hackney person". Her heart-felt speech was captured on film and became an internet sensation. Pearce had previously campaigned against gang culture after her teenage son Ronald was stabbed in the street. She has since spoken about the issue on national TV and radio.
The widespread public disorder of August 2011 started in London before moving on to other cities, including Birmingham and Manchester
It is one year since riots spread across cities in England in what was the biggest display of civil unrest in the UK for 30 years.
More than 3,000 people were arrested in connection with the unrest, which saw streets in parts of the country awash with looting, arson and violence.
One year on, what are the recollections of those affected and what has been the impact on their lives?
Tottenham post office owner: 'You can't destroy our soul'
The summer riots of 2011 began after Mark Duggan was shot dead by the police.
The 29-year-old father-of-four was shot on 4 August in Tottenham, north London.
Within days riots broke out in Tottenham, which then spread to other parts of London and were mirrored in other cities in England to form the worst disorder of a generation.
Vipin Rao, who runs the post office in Tottenham, set up in a new premises just months after the riots
In Tottenham, the epicentre of the initial disturbances, five buildings were gutted by fire.
The local post office was among the burned out sites.
But within months Vipin Rao, who owns the local branch, had set up again in a new premises nearby.
One year on, he has a message of defiance for those who threatened his livelihood.
"I always wanted to tell people who did the riot that you can destroy the building but you cannot destroy our soul, our willingness to serve the customers, our willingness to serve the community and we will come back again," he said.
Some of the businesses on Tottenham's high street say they still have not received adequate compensation, but the government says the vast majority of claims have finally now been settled.
Hackney resident: 'It brought the community together'
Mother-of-two Graciela Watson could only watch from her window as youths went on the rampage in her road in Hackney, east London.
Youths clashed with police and set bins on fire on what had hitherto been a quiet residential street.
Graciela Watson has lived in Hackney for six years
"At the time it was scary - they were outside our house," she said.
"It didn't feel that their agenda was political. It felt like an excuse to vent frustrations. I think it was a lot of young people having a laugh. Since then it's been fine. There's been no trouble.
"There are still posters up around here and adverts in the Hackney Gazette but I don't recognise any of the youths who were on the streets."
Life quickly returned to normal and "those who enjoy living in the area" united behind the clean-up operation.
"If anything, it brought the community together. One shop was badly damaged and there was a response to raise money for them. Thousands was raised which paid for a new shop front and replaced stock that had been lost."
And the freelance video producer says that, despite last year's unrest, the area she has lived in for the last six years is continuing to change for the better.
"Hackney is going through a huge period of regeneration and there's pride in the area. It's attracting younger, wealthier people to the area."
'Toxteth Against Riots': 'We learned from our 1981 experience'
Jimi Jagne was on the streets of Toxteth in 1981. He was part of the wave of public disorder that swept the streets of inner city Liverpool.
Thirty years later, he was back on those streets for another riot. But this time he was talking to young people, urging them to go home and not get involved in the unrest.
Jimi Jagne was involved in the Toxteth riots of 1981
The youth and community worker was among a group of between 10 and 30 people, called Toxteth Against Riots, who went out on the streets in bright yellow vests over a two week period.
"We wanted to do anything we could to get them off the streets.
"Young people were travelling across the city - across the River Mersey - to cause trouble in Toxteth because of its reputation from 1981.
"We held public meetings attended by up to 300 people and then a small group went out on the streets. We carried on for two weeks because we remembered the previous riots which reignited after a brief hiatus."
Mr Jagne says a separate group, which goes under a different name, was set up following the success of Toxteth Against Riots. It devises initiatives aimed at benefiting young people and has secured funding.
Shop owner: 'Development is key'
Ajay Bhatia runs Machan Express coffee shop, in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter, which suffered almost £20,000 of damage and lost more than £15,000 of stock during the disturbances.
Mr Bhatia, who was visited by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in the immediate aftermath of the riots, says he had decided to sell his business this May, nine months after the riots.
The pressure of rebuilding his business had started to take its toll.
"It's been a struggle to get insurance claims sorted and rebuild. And business hasn't been good. The bills don't stop - we still have to pay them.
"It's been a big shock mentally, physically and financially.
Ajay Bhatia said 70 looters had targeted his coffee shop last summer
"We haven't had any major problems with the young people since the riots.
"I decided to shut down the business because nobody was coming forward to help us. But the bank has stepped in to provide an overdraft facility and we've been given a small business loan."
But he has since decided to persevere and keep the business going amid signs that development in the area might turn his fortunes around in years to come.
"A new school is opening in September nearby with 200 pupils starting in September and a further 700 next year. It's a two-minute walk away. That will improve footfall. And there are plans to build a new hotel.
"Local development is the key. There has been none in the area for about five years. The government needs to encourage people who want to invest in the Jewellery Quarter. Most of the shops in the area are up for sale."
Youth worker: 'We warned against funding cuts'
"Before the riots we tried to get help to fund our workshops which build relationships between young people and the police through role playing," says youth worker Kelly Reid.
"The workshops give young people the opportunity to speak to the police and ask them about their work, rather than meeting in more volatile and hostile situations.
"We had a team of 12 youth workers which was cut to six last April. We also ran a club for up to 60 young people twice a week which had to close in June last year.
"We warned about the effects of cutting funding. Since the riots we've been able to obtain more funding from the Metropolitan Police, who have been really good."
She says a lot of youngsters she works with, who had been on the periphery of a group but had not actively engaged in violence or looting, were severely punished.
Many who were involved now regret getting caught up in the frenzy, she says - a feeling which is echoed elsewhere anecdotally.
"Everybody has to face up to consequences but a lot of young people were just in the area and now have a criminal record.
"I don't think riots will happen again because the police came down hard on people. The young people know about the consequences of their actions and they know not to act in the same way again.
"Of course, it would've been better if it hadn't happened in the first place.
South Londoner: 'It was like a war zone'
The riots will always remain etched in Kevin Marshall's mind.
His younger brother, an engineering student, was shot twice in the chest during an unprovoked attack in Upper Brockley, south-east London, the day before riots broke out in Tottenham.
Mr Marshall believes the timing of the attack wasn't a coincident. There was already a febrile atmosphere in "certain communities" after Mark Duggan was shot, he says.
Kevin Marshall broadcasts an online discussion show for young people
The London he describes was a tinderbox on the verge of being set alight.
During the riots, the marketing executive from Greenwich, south-east London, regularly travelled through the worst-hit parts of south London to visit loved ones.
He spent time with his brother at a hospital in Camberwell, while looters took to the streets of nearby Peckham, visited his parents at their home near Croydon and checked that his Clapham-based girlfriend was safe too.
"I saw people kicking in newsagent shops and setting cars on fire. It was like a war zone. I felt scared and angry. What do you do if the police aren't doing anything?"
Mr Marshall, 28, said he also felt acutely aware of his race during the riots.
"A year ago people looked at me clearly wondering whether I would start trouble. The riots weren't a black issue, it was a youth issue, but there were clear undertones."
His response was to set up an online discussion programme for young people in his spare time.
Launched in late August, in the immediate aftermath of the unrest, Pandora's Box is broadcast every fortnight.
"It was sad to see youths being allowed to run wild but it made me realise we need to listen to what the kids are saying."
Yesterday, Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt won the 100m Olympic gold medal. What’s interesting is how audiences responded in social media. Were there more comments when Bolt won live at 4:50pm EST or when the event was televised on NBC at 11:15pm EST?
Both the real-time response and tape-delayed response had virtually the same impact in social media (23K comments per minute and 25K comments per minuterespectively). The other buzzworthy moments during yesterday’s telecast included Bolt’s 100m semi-final win and McKayla Maroney’s disappointing silver medal performance during the vault competition.
London 2012 Olympics: Usain Bolt's 100m sprint win sent Twitter crazy with 74 thousand posts per minute
06 August 2012
Usain Bolt's second 100m sprint win broke a record on Twitter during the Olympics with 74,000 tweets being sent about it each minute.
It is the highest number of tweets during the Olympic Games since the opening ceremony.
According to Twitter's communications service, the Jamaican sprinter's win, which made him the second man ever to retain the title at the Olympics, was mentioned 74 thousand times a minute, setting a new record since the Games began.
Twitter's Communications service wrote: "New peak in #Olympics conversation: 74k TPM (tweets per minute) about @usainbolt winning the 100m yesterday."
Bolt won the final in 9.63 seconds, the fastest time the race has ever been run at the Olympics.
His sprint attracted a TV audience of 20 million people, the highest of the Games so far.
The Cameroon Ministry of Sports and Physical Education has announced the disappearance of seven athletes while in Britain for the London 2012 Olympics.
The seven – five boxers, a swimmer and a soccer player – are suspected of having left to stay in Europe for economic reasons.
According to Reuters, “What began as rumour has finally turned out to be true. Seven Cameroonian athletes who participated at the 2012 London Olympic Games have disappeared from the Olympic Village,” David Ojong, the mission head said in a message sent to the ministry.
Ojong said a reserve goalkeeper for the women’s soccer team, Drusille Ngako, was the first to disappear. She was not one of the 18 finally retained after pre-Olympic training in Scotland. While her team-mates left for Coventry for their last preparatory encounter against New Zealand, she vanished. A few days later, swimmer Paul Ekane Edingue and his personal belongings were also not found in his room.
Ojong added that five boxers eliminated from the games, Thomas Essomba, Christian Donfack Adjoufack, Abdon Mewoli, Blaise Yepmou Mendouo and Serge Ambomo, disappeared on Sunday from the Olympic village.
It is not the first time Cameroonian athletes have disappeared during international sports competitions. Last year, 15 Ethiopian athletes disappeared after competing in the All Africa Games in Mozambique.
Mozambique is a popular transit route for illegal immigrants from Ethiopia, Somalia and central Africa. It was reported that they went to South Africa, in the hope of finding better opportunities.
Photo Credit: Yahoo News
Algeria's Taoufik Makhloufi left the rest of the field trailing to win the first global title of his career.
Makhloufi, 24, finished in a time of three minutes 34.08 seconds, racing away from American Leonel Manzano who took silver in 3:47.79, with Moroccan Abdalaati Iguider in bronze.
Defending champion Asbel Kiprop was last, apparently hampered by injury.
Makhloufi, a semi-finalist at last year's World Championships in Daegu, set off quickly and led alongside Iguider after the first lap, before falling back to sixth after the second lap.
He was battling hard with Kenya's Kiprop, but as the Beijing champion's challenge faded, the Algerian positioned himself well to attack the frontrunners in the closing stages.
He took the lead in the back straight and, with around 200m to go, accelerated easily away from his nearest rivals to race unchallenged towards the finishing line.
Makhloufi, who won his 1500m semi-final impressively on Sunday, had been forced to race in the 800m after Algeria failed to withdraw him before the deadline.
He jogged through about 200m of his heat before quitting, and was then excluded from the Games for "not providing a bona fide effort".
However, after inspecting medical evidence, the International Association of Athletics Federations decided Makhloufi could race in the 1500m final.
Analysis
Seb CoeFormer double Olympic 1500m champion
"It was a funny race. I'm really surprised those guys let it run at such a slow pace when they knew Taoufik Makhloufi had such a strong finish. They played into his hands."
Hiroshi Hoketsu on Whisper; he says his biggest motivation is to feel he's improving. Photograph: Markus Schreiber/AP
The crowd did not go wild for Hiroshi Hoketsu of Japan as he rode Whisper out on to the sand of the Greenwich Park equestrian arena at one o'clock on Thursday afternoon. It wasn't a question of bad manners; more a question of consideration.
A stadium-sized roar to acknowledge the arrival of the Games' oldest competitor – a ramrod-straight and dapper man of 71 – would have frightened the mare and probably embarrassed her rider.
Hoketsu, after all, had not travelled from his home in Germany to fly the flag for older athletes, nor had he come to court the sympathy vote.
He had come to London, as he went to his first games in Tokyo in 1964, and to Beijing four years ago, to compete and, hopefully, to win.
And beneath a bright sky that turned Whisper's brown coat a dark gold, that is what he tried his best to do.
With a formal nod, Hoketsu began his individual dressage test, guiding his 15-year-old horse around the arena for the benefit of the judges, who sat scrutinising their every move from seven shady huts.
His white-gloved hands keeping her on a tight rein, Whisper executed a neat diagonal cross of the arena before pausing and reversing neatly to one corner. Seven minutes later, after she had appeared to jog on the spot, skip and goose-step her way around the arena, Whisper came to a stop in front of the judges. As the first drops of rain began to fall from a greying sky, the crowd burst into applause and Hoketsu raised his hat in acknowledgement.
And with that, the oldest Olympian rode out of the arena, to finish 17th out of 24.
At the top of Thursday's dressage table, in first and second, were two British riders: Carl Hester and Laura Bechtolsheimer. Several places behind was Rafalca, the US horse part-owned by Ann Romney, the wife of the Republican party's presidential candidate, Mitt Romney.
If Hoketsu was disappointed by his performance, he gave no sign of it. At one point, not too long ago, it looked as if he would not be coming to London at all.
Whisper, who is getting on a bit, had been poorly with bad legs and tendinitis until a new vet helped get her back to form. It is not known, however, whether he also managed to cure her of her phobia of big screens: after finishing 35th in the individual dressage in Beijing, Hoketsu pointed the finger at technology. "My horse just hates to see that moving screen," he said.
Whisper seemed to have no such problems on Thursday afternoon and her rider blamed any failings on himself.
"I made two or three mistakes, which I shouldn't have, so I'm not totally happy, but it wasn't terribly bad," he said after the event. And the crowd, he added, had been "very good".
Asked what motivated him to carry on competing six decades after he first climbed on to a horse, Hoketsu laughed.
"Probably the biggest motivation for me [is to] feel I'm improving," he said. "I think if I feel, 'OK, I'm getting worse than before,' I will stop."
He had, he said, noticed a cultural shift in the Games since he came 40th in the showjumping in his native Tokyo in 1964.
"The Olympic Games itself has changed a little bit," he said. "At that time, participation was of more importance to everybody. But now I think medals are much more important, not only for athletes but also even for politics."
His life, too, he said, had also changed rather a lot. Had he given as many interviews at the Games 49 years ago? He smiled again.
"No, no, no, no. Fortunately not."
Faced with the inevitable question of whether this would be his last games, or whether he intended to return at Rio aged 75, he paused for an instant.
"No. I want to but I don't think I can because it's very difficult to find a horse to bring me to Brazil," he said. "My present horse is too old for that." Present. A small but significant word.
Heroine of Hackney Pauline Pearce was 'petrified but angry' as she confronted a rioting mob (Pic: YouTube)
