A former Metropolitan Police chief claimed that officers ‘dread’ policing the Notting Hill Carnival because ‘gangs turn up to settle scores’ after 34 officers were hurt there.
According to Roy Ramm, a former Scotland Yard commander of specialized operations, the yearly event’s last day “degenerates” into violence because “drug traffickers and gangs” go there to “claim their territory.”
It occurs after Takayo Nembhard, a 21-year-old rapper and former football player, was identified as the victim of a fatal stabbing at the carnival on Monday.
On the tumultuous last day of the carnival, a scuffle broke out, and video shows a bandit viciously pounding a lady to the ground.
“For most individuals, it is safe,” Mr. Ramm added. On Sunday, it was a good day. Yesterday, it was safe and well-policed for the most of the day. Over the years, police have learnt a lot about how to manage the carnival.
But there comes a point when it degenerates, usually on the final day, it seems. The gangs and drug dealers seem to reject the spirit of the carnival and use the occasion to settle scores, mark their territory, and brandish blades.
“It is tragic—tragic for the young man’s family and tragic for the residents of Notting Hill.
The issue is that these young men—and they are young men—want to fight, mark their area, and sell narcotics, he said. In the nights, they are determined to ruin it.
After violent occurrences occurred throughout the course of the weekend, Ken Marsh, head of the Metropolitan Police Federation, which represents 30,000 officers in the force, urged that the carnival be relocated to a private location today.
It is like listening to a broken record because the same things keep happening every year, he told MailOnline. It is incredibly challenging to manage, keep up, and control. 76 of my coworkers were hurt during a festival that was supposed to be “calm.”
Takayo Nembhard, 21, was fatally stabbed on Ladbroke Grove under the Westway flyover at 8pm on Monday – the final day of Notting Hill carnival
Former top cop Roy Ramm (pictured in 2017) said Notting Hill Carnival is ‘safe for most people’ but noted ‘there is a time, always on the last day it seems, that it degenerates’
Footballer-turned drill rapper, 21, was stabbed to death at Notting Hill Carnival
Takayo Nembhard, a footballer-turned-drill rapper who had traveled from Bristol “just to have a good time,” has been identified as the man who was fatally stabbed at the Notting Hill carnival. Police are now looking for his attacker.
At 8 o’clock on Monday night, Mr. Nembhard, 21, was stabbed to death on Ladbroke Grove under the Westway flyover as tens of thousands of people lined the streets for the west London carnival.
He was given first treatment by police officers until paramedics arrived, and then he was transported to an ambulance “through significant crowds in tough conditions.”
Mr. Nembhard was rushed to a neighboring hospital where he was declared dead yesterday night. He went by the stage name TKorStretch and had slightly less than one million views across his music videos on YouTube.
He played youth football with Bristol Rovers before switching to drill rapping after being forced to give up the game owing to injuries. His partner is also presently expecting a kid, and in a touching obituary, it is said that the infant “will never know his father.”
On Monday night at 8:00 pm, Takayo Nembhard, 21, was tragically stabbed on Ladbroke Grove under the Westway flyover. It was the last day of the Notting Hill Carnival.
Today’s Instagram post that announced his passing read: “Two years ago, a young guy named Takayo Nembhard, well known by his stage moniker TKorStretch, traveled from Bristol to see me in my studio.
“That encounter sent us on a quest.” Together, we created some fantastic music. He had unending potential, and I can assure you that he was on the verge of greatness!
I must thus share the sad news that Takayo (TKorStretch) died away last night with you. This is what happened when he traveled from Bristol to London for the sole purpose of enjoying the carnival there.
My sincere sympathies go out to TK’s mother and father, brother, two sisters, girlfriend, and unborn kid! It crushes my heart what happened to TK because he was a nice child and a decent person. Peace be with you, dear buddy.
Chris Patrick, the manager of Mr. Nembhard, issued a statement in which he said: “He went to Carnival with his younger sister and pals to have fun. The worst potential outcome for a gifted young person is this.
When performing, TKorStretch used masks as part of his performance.
He provided the following justification in an interview with Wordplay Magazine from last July: “I don’t want my face to be the face everyone remembers. I don’t want people to recognize me as the music’s creator when I go to Tesco.
I just want to compose music that people will appreciate; I don’t care about celebrity. Don’t get me wrong, I like chatting to people, but whether I’m with my mother, sisters, or someone else, I simply want to be able to unwind.
He described how, while playing for Bristol Rovers’ under-17 squad, he had a leg injury that led him to start writing music as a teenager.
I was at the academy from the time I was 6 years old until I was 16 years old, but I was hurt and had a blood clot in my right leg, so I knew I wouldn’t be able to play for a long, he added.
I needed to find something to keep me focused so I wouldn’t lose my mind because of this. I like singing, so I frequented little studios here and there before beginning to take it seriously.
“People arrive brandishing knives, and someone has been fatally stabbed.” There were other fights amongst different factions as well. This cannot continue year after year, and we cannot stand by and do nothing.
This should take place in a private location, like Hyde Park, where it can be more easier managed.
We’ve discussed relocating the carnival to a private location, but the ideas are always rejected.
Gangs who attend the carnival “to prance about and create mayhem,” according to Mr. Marsh, were also denounced.
We now have a significantly younger police force, he said. Seventy percent of the cops were in Notting Hill for the first time. For them, experience was lacking. They also have a mayor who criticizes them day and night.
“We have produced a perfect storm that will put people in risk.” Police expenses total millions of pounds in public funds. The carnival is not even wanted by the locals of Notting Hill. But it never stops.
“I often have these chats. It really is fantastic. These gangs just show up to create mayhem and flaunt about. Groups wearing masks and hoods are showing up. They claim that Covid is to blame, but we know that it is really because they don’t want the cops to recognize them.
It seems that we are pleased that 70 or 80 cops are being attacked.
Sad to hear that at least 34 Metropolitan Police officers were attacked during this year’s Notting Hill Carnival, according to the Metropolitan Police Federation, which represents the force’s officers.
“We are helping our coworkers. At this occasion, our courageous cops are attacked every year. Enforcement is dreaded by coworkers. However, nothing has changed.
Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, expressed his “sickness” at Mr. Nembhard’s tragic stabbing today.
I encourage anybody with knowledge to call the police at 101 or submit a tip anonymously to @CrimeStoppersUK, the man stated. Silence is not an act of honor.
But Mr. Marsh has criticized the mayor’s delay, claiming that it stems from years of violence at the carnival.
“Sadiq Khan has to be explicit about what he is going to do to address this problem,” he said.
“He cannot continue to watch every year and find it acceptable.” Inform us of your plan for ensuring its safety. After all, he is the police and crime commissioner.
A total of 209 arrests, including 46 for assault, were made during the event, according to the Met Police. This year’s event, which also included what is thought to be its first homicide since 2004, saw at least 34 police officers attacked.
463 criminal complaints were made at the most recent carnival, which took place in 2019 before the epidemic, according to Met Police records. Drug-related offenses made up the bulk of crimes.
A lady is shown in video footage from yesterday fighting with other partygoers before being seized by her hair and pushed off the sidewalk and into the roadway.
A guy then approaches her, shouts at her, and points his finger at her.
She slaps him after that, and he responds by throwing a powerful punch to the face that knocks her to the ground.
The violent interaction seen in the video, which was posted on Twitter on the last day of the event, was just one of many that happened during the renowned two-day festival that takes place every year in west London.
As the fight started at Notting Hill Carnival on Monday night, revelers celebrated, according to footage.
‘Yeah!’ As the lady was yanked from the group by her hair, a spectator filming the altercation could be heard screaming.
The camerawoman saw the woman smack the guy while oohing and aahing and exclaiming, “Oh my gawd.”
But as he punched back, the partygoer yelled, “No, no, no, no!” No way! Absolutely not.
The male was being hauled away by a group of men while the lady was being assisted up off the ground by another woman, perhaps a friend.
It’s not known whether the lady was hurt in the event or if anybody will be charged.
A Notting Hill Carnival fan punched a woman to the ground as a brawl broke out during the final day of the festival, which police say ‘always seems to degenerate’
Video showed how the woman slapped the man across the face before he retaliates with a punch to the face that knocked her to the asphalt
The woman was involved in a dispute with other revellers when she was grabbed by her hair and tossed onto the street
She was then confronted by a man, who is seemingly yelling and finger wagging at her.
The woman slaps the man across the face before he retaliates with a punch to the face that knocked her to the asphalt
Another reveller screamed ‘no, no, no, no! No way! No f*****g way’ as she fell to the ground. The woman was helped up off the ground by another woman, presumably a friend, as the man was pulled away by a group of men. It is unclear if she was injured
‘These young men want to fight and set out their territory.’
Rubbish covers the streets next to a police cordon the morning after Notting Hill Carnival in West London today
As the Notting Hill Carnival in West London draws to a close on Monday evening, crowds are seen near a police truck.
Detectives later disclosed that this year’s event saw “a lot of violent confrontations and severe stabbings.”
Police are still looking for the knifeman who killed Mr. Nemhard on Monday night during the festival.
After the 8 o’clock stabbing on Ladbroke Grove under the Westway flyover, officers provided the victim with first aid until paramedics arrived. He was then transported to an ambulance “through substantial crowds in tough conditions.”
He was transported to a local hospital where doctors declared him dead.
His next of kin have been notified, according to the Met Police, and they are receiving help from specialized police.
Brian Stovell, a witness, described the gory events to the Evening Standard, stating, “I knew by the quantity of blood that he wasn’t going to survive it.” The majority of the audience was engrossed in the motion and atmosphere of the carnival.
He added: “There was one lady putting on medical gloves but she was a civilian.” He also detailed attempts to rescue the victim. Another distressed lady who seemed to have been accompanying him was also there in the circle.
The publication also said that a lady could be heard yelling, “He’s only a kid,” through the police barrier as they attempted to keep the throng away from where the guy was receiving first aid. What made them do that?
Police made a plea for witnesses with video or other evidence on Tuesday as their investigation proceeded, noting that “hundreds of individuals were in the nearby area when this event took place.”
At 9.30 p.m., police in the region triggered exceptional powers under a Section 60 order that gave them permission to stop and search people without eliciting any suspicion for “dangerous devices and offensive weapons” until 1 in the morning on Tuesday.
Police at the scene on Ladbroke Grove in West London Tuesday morning, after a 21-year-old man was stabbed to death last night
Police at the scene of the stabbing at the Notting Hill Carnival in West London on Monday night as blood is pictured on the ground
When the stabbing occurred at 8 o’clock on Monday night in West London, there were police there.
As of 12:01 a.m. today, Scotland Yard said that police had made 209 arrests since the carnival began, including 46 for assault, eight for sexual assault, 36 for drug possession, five for criminal damage, and 27 for public order.
According to the police, there were also 35 arrests for “other” crimes, along with 10 for possession of psychoactive substances, 33 for possession of an offensive weapon, seven for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, one theft, and one robbery.
The number of arrests during the 2019 festival was much higher at 353, compared to 374 in 2018, 313 in 2017, and 454 in 2016. The overall number of arrests for the whole carnival this year has not yet been verified.
Thought to be the first murder during the Notting Hill Carnival since 2004 when Lee Christopher Subaran, 27, of Mill Hill, was fatally shot at point-blank range close to Kensal Green Underground station, the stabbing on Monday was committed.
The “Adults Day” procession, the second day of the festival, came to an official close at 8.30 p.m. on Monday after 300 stalls, 36 sound systems, six Brazilian bands, 13 steel bands, 72 mast bands, and 13 steel bands participated in the event.