Racist chants rang out, and homes, businesses and hotels housing asylum seekers were attacked – for a week this summer English towns and cities seemed on the brink of chaos. Josh Halliday reports on what we know so far about the people at the centre of the violence

From Aldershot to Southport, riots broke out in English towns and cities this summer. Mosques, homes, shops and cars were attacked. A library was looted. Drivers were stopped and interrogated about their ethnicity, police officers were attacked. In a matter of days, however, many rioters found themselves in court and the violence stopped abruptly.

Josh Halliday was in court to hear what many of the rioters, including children, said about why they had caused such havoc. He explains to Helen Pidd how the Guardian’s data team tracked the court filings of 500 rioters to glean information that helped build a picture of the people who terrified communities.