Athenians were braced for more anarchy last night after violence marred the funeral of a teenager shot dead by police at the weekend.

Teargas wafted over the graves and the crack of petrol bombs echoed in adjacent streets as youthful mourners gathered at the Old Faliron cemetery, in southern Athens, for the burial of Alexandros Grigoropoulos, 15. Almost all were clad in black, some with teddy bears peeping out of their schoolbags.

Trouble started when hooded youths on the fringes of the gathering attacked a CNN television van, prompting a police response. Near by, more protesters clashed with riot police, while there were further outbreaks of violence in the city centre, outside parliament and at the main police building. One policeman fired into the air to disperse a group near a police station in the south of the city.

Mobs gathered again around the remains of the city’s main Christmas tree, now a gaunt, blackened skeleton dominating Syntagma Square. Workers shovelled away broken glass and collapsed masonry as shopkeepers bewailed the destruction. Police said that they had made 87 arrests as shops and banks were looted or set on fire.

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There were renewed clashes in Salonika, in the north of the country yesterday, and the police headquarters in Patras was besieged by demonstrators with stones and petrol bombs.

“There will be no leniency to whoever is responsible for the boy’s death — but no one has the right to use it as an excuse for raw violence,” Costas Karamanlis, the Prime Minister, said, describing the rioters as “the enemies of democracy”. The unrest is the latest in a series of blows for the beleaguered leader.

George Papandreou, the leader of the opposition Socialists, called for early elections. The Government has a single-seat majority in parliament and opposition parties blame hands-off policing for encouraging the worst rioting in the country for decades.

About 6,000 people attended the Grigoropoulos funeral, applauding as the body was carried out of the church in a flower-covered white coffin. Schools and universities across Greece were closed and hundreds of teachers, lecturers and students rallied in central Athens.

“There’s chaos in the country,” said a 28-year-old civil servant. “This Government is completely invisible. There’s no education, no security.”

“Alexandros was in my class in school,” said a teenager who gave his name as Markos, waiting his turn to enter the cemetery. “He was a quiet kid, never got into trouble.”

Alexandros was shot on Saturday night after an apparent altercation with police in a volatile neighbourhood of Athens. Police said that a patrol car was attacked by a crowd and the teenager was shot as they responded. One officer has been charged with murder.

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