THE family of a man shot dead by police say they “are not condoning” the riots and looting that rocked Tottenham in north London on Saturday night.

The trouble flared up two days after Mark Duggan, 29, was gunned down.

It followed a peaceful march by members of the local community demanding “justice” for Mr Duggan’s relatives.

Mr Duggan's brother's Shaun Hall told Sky News: ``We're not condoning any kind of actions like that at all.

“It seems to be the press who are generally saying that it is linked to my brother. OK, some questions were supposed to have been answered, they weren’t answered, therefore there was a domino effect from that, we don’t condone that at all.

“I know people are frustrated, they’re angry out there at the moment, but I would say please try and hold it down. Please don’t make this about my brother’s life, he was a good man.”

He said that the family is “devastated” at his death.

“We’re all devastated about the mishap, we don’t actually know what has actually happened.

“Nobody’s has actually come forward and told us ’this is what has taken place’. There should be somebody here putting my parents’ minds at rest about whatever’s going on.

“The whole family’s devastated. We don’t want Mark portrayed as some kind of gangster, he was a family man.”

Scotland Yard said 26 police officers were injured during the unrest and 48 people were arrested for offences including violent disorder, burglary and theft.

A major investigation has been launched, codenamed Operation Withern.

The riots were roundly condemned as the shocked community surveyed the devastation caused.

Community and political leaders were swift to criticise the rioting, looting and arson that swept through the area after the mood at the protest turned nasty after dark on Saturday.

Buildings and vehicles including a double-decker bus and two police cars were engulfed in flames. Their burnt out shells remained in the High Road yesterday.

Local residents were left destitute after being forced to flee their burning homes, and looters went on the rampage in Tottenham Hale Retail Park half a mile away, smashing shop windows and grabbing whatever they could.

Downing Street labelled the rioting “utterly unacceptable”, while Home Secretary Theresa May said: “Such disregard for public safety and property will not be tolerated.”

Local MP David Lammy said the community “had the heart ripped out of it” by “mindless people”, many of whom had come from outside Tottenham to cause trouble.

Speaking from behind the police tape in the High Road he said: “What happened here on Thursday night raised huge questions and we need answers.

“The response to that is not to loot and rob. There are homeless people standing back there.

“We have officers in hospital, some of whom are seriously injured. It’s a disgrace. This must stop.”

The sense of anger at what the rioters and looters had done was clear among the local community.

Nadine Knight, 24, who works in administration at a planning and architecture firm, said: “I’m completely and utterly disgusted by what the community has managed to do here.

“They need to come together a bit more and help the community, not damage it.”

Commander Adrian Hanstock said a peaceful demonstration had been hijacked by a “small number of criminal elements”, using it for their own gain.