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Undoubtedly, however, the lion’s share of those gathered there were young: teenagers or not far into their 20s.
Some of the laughing “spectators”, yelping as a firework exploded and then peering back for more, may have been as young as 13. 
 

The scene begged the question as to how a crowd of angry young faces had reached this point. They were dismissed as looters and little else in many quarters this week. Camden’s youth experts, psychologists, comunity workers and social analysts have divided opinions.
 

But they agree that the borough’s Youth Service is facing one of its greatest challenges at a time when the coalition government and local authority cutbacks threaten services they believe in.
 

They have called for a full debate about the roots of the revolt and how funds can be better used to ensure young people have a stake in their communities.
 

Political campaigner and writer Tariq Ali, who lives in Highgate, said: “We know violence on the streets is bad. We know that looting shops is wrong. But why is it happening now? Why didn’t it happen last year? Because grievances build up over time.
 

“All three [political] parties are equally responsible for the crisis. They made the mess. Dehumanising the ‘enemy’ cannot work for ever. The young unemployed or semi-employed know full well that the system is stacked against them.”
 

Kids Company youth charity founder Camila Batmanghelidjh, who lives in West Hampstead, also believes the “community fails when the poor are described as dysfunctional”. 

She told the New Journal: “It costs money to care – but it also costs money to clear up riots, savagery and anti-social behaviour.”

Of all areas in Camden, Chalk Farm would not have been so low on a list of places that disturbances might have been expected if – or when – national riots came here.
 

There has been volatile tension in the area for at least ten years. A flick through the New Journal’s back issues says it all. Residents have in the past been alarmed by disturbances on the nearby estates like the Denton tower. Around the coroner in Prince of Wales Road, there have been stabbings and a gun incident in recent weeks. 
 

And amid the crowd on Monday, the word ‘centric’ was used by some in the crowd, albeit a very small minority; this a loose reference to a gang of youths who once congregated here. It’s important to note that the name would not be in the minds of the majority out on the streets and causing trouble on Monday. The grievances instead were a jumbled mix.
 

Some of the teenagers covering their faces on Monday blamed unfair treatment from police over months and years. They rail against what they describe as needless stop-and-searches in the streets and claim they are being watched by the authorities at all times. 

That doesn’t wash with many of those who looked on at the destruction caused of Monday night. A rash of voices in authority simply say: ‘Stop making excuses – this was just wanton vandalism, small independent businesses were wrecked on a whim.’
 

Dr Christopher Cocking, an expert on crowds and a senior lecturer in psychology at London Metropolitan University, said: “To young unemployed people, taking goods that they cannot normally afford may seem like quite meaningful behaviour. 

“Even behaviours such as trashing local charity shops may seem acceptable to those who feel no sense of connection with their local community.”
 

Camden Council has slashed £2.3million from its Youth Service budget over the next three years, blaming the government for not investing. Its policy is now officially “to ensure money is directed to services that lead to behaviour change” and to “no longer prioritise provision where high numbers of young people are coming through the door but whose results in terms of participation and accreditation are low”.
 

Sceptics say those words may be just be too abstract for many teenagers who have no interest in going to community centres. The rush of adrenaline was clear on the faces seen by New Journal reporters on Monday night.
 

Paul Perkins, chief executive of The Winch youth project in Swiss Cottage, said: “If we want to see real impact on young people’s behaviour and aspirations and opportunities it’s going to cost a lot more than what we’ve got.
 

“The youth workers I’ve spoken to were not surprised by what happened on Monday. It is not about protest, it is a kind of nothingness – a sense of ‘why not?’ ‘what’s stopping me?'

“Some of our young people we spoke to were not down in Camden that night, when some of their friends were. The difference may be that they feel that they have a stake in their community.”
 

Louise Lyon, director and clinical psychologist of the Tavistock – the NHS mental health centre – said it was important to look at relationships between the family, community and the state, adding that images of violence during the riots would have affected and provoked young people. 

“But we are also affected by seeing the reparative actions demonstrated by those coming together to clear up the aftermath,” said Ms Lyon, referring to the hundreds who volunteered to fix up the damage caused by the rioters.
 

Pat Maguire, the youngest of the “Maguire 7”, was wrongly imprisoned for four years aged 13 in one of this country’s most shameful miscarriages of justice. Wrongly found guilty of making bombs for the IRA, he left prison to his home in Kilburn like an unguided missile and later suffered a breakdown and he was struck down by bipolar.

“I am a man that understands anger,” he said. “But if I had let my anger get to these limits that we are seeing I wouldn’t be here talking to you today. 
 

“I think the kids today are seeing the way the elderly are treated in this country and it filters down to them. My father told me that the louder you shout, the less you’re heard. If I could speak to these kids, I would be telling them that.”

He said he was shocked by how commercial interest had fuelled the “lawlessness”, adding: “When I was young, we didn’t care what you had on your feet or your arse. 

“We were just about going out and enjoying ourselves. Life’s too short for all that – we have got to find a way of showing these youngsters that.”
 

Arts philanthropist Sir Torquil Norman, the man who helped restore the Roundhouse, said 20,000 young people in Camden had benefited from youth performance projects at the venue.

He is in talks with government ministers about widening the reach of youth projects at the Chalk Farm playhouse.
 

But he said the best solution to Camden’s youth problem would be to trial a scheme where 18 to 24-year-olds are given paid and skilled jobs in the areas they live in.

He said: “If these kids were being paid to do jobs in the community they would not be getting up to these antics. They would think twice about destroying a shop if they had worked in the day painting one.”
 

“Successive governments are to blame. And, throughout this week, in all the debate, I haven’t heard a single politician talk about unemployment. There are millions of jobs that could be done around here. If you took people off benefits and gave these people local jobs, paid for with this money, would any of this have happened?”
 

A Town Hall spokeswoman said young people should look at a new website – www.cmdn.co.uk – for information about community events, sports and courses, adding that the council was working with the voluntary sector to “develop specialisms and utilise time-banking opportunities.”