Jamelia: “I was heartbroken by the UK riots”

Jamelia has revealed that she was left “heartbroken” after witnessing the recent UK riots. The singer, who is due to return to music this year, told the BBC that she appealed for calm when the violence spread to locations across the country, including her home city of Birmingham.

“When I saw the first day of the riots I was surprised more than anything, I didn’t expect anything like that,” she said. “But then when I saw how it escalated and spread, and how other cities around the UK joined in, I was heartbroken, I really was.

“I actually sent out my own broadcast, I wrote: ‘Dear rioters, whoever’s thinking of doing this, this is ridiculous.

“Stop and think about what you are doing, you are ransacking local businesses. People are helping to keep your own communities on their feet and you are going to go there and loot’.”