A person was stabbed five times with a machete at Notting Hill Carnival, the Metropolitan Police said. Some 528 arrests were made at this year’s event in total which accounted for the highest number in six years.
Drug offences were the most common form with 167 people arrested, while there were 21 arrests for sexual offences and 55 arrests were made for assaults on police officers. Two of these officers were taken to hospital for treatment – one for a broken nose and the other for a serious bite to the hand. The remainder were not seriously harmed.
A further 50 people were arrested for possession of an offensive weapon. The Met responded to four reports of stabbing or slashing incidents, but none of these resulted in life-threatening injuries. This includes the person who was stabbed with a machete five times.
Breakdown of arrests
On Sunday 200 people in total were arrested. Some 52 of these were made on the approaches to Carnival and the remaining 148 were made within the ‘event footprint’.
On Monday, the number arrested on the approaches was 83, with 245 arrests on the event footprint. Much of these arrests on the approaches were made via the use of live facial recognition.
There were 97 alerts which led to 61 arrests. Police say 30 registered sex offenders were stopped, allowing officers to check they were complying with their conditions.
One of the registered sex offenders stopped was found to be in possession of a knife. There were also 16 arrests for violence related offences and four people were detained for being wanted on recall to prison.
There were 13 arrests for violence against women and girls.
Overall peaceful event
Notting Hill Carnival was an overall peaceful event considering between one and two million people were in attendance over both days. No one died at the celebrations and no one was taken to hospital with life threatening injuries.
Last year two people were killed at Carnival, and eight people were stabbed.
Latest Met Police statement in full on Notting Hill Carnival
“Once again the growing size and popularity of Notting Hill Carnival required one of the biggest mobilisations of police officers this year, with over 7,000 officers deployed on each of the two days.
“Our policing operation was focused on keeping people safe by targeting those who were coming to Carnival to cause harm to others, so the reduction in incidents of serious violence compared to previous years is very welcome.
“Officers were deployed in significant numbers at the event and on the approaches to and from it, tasked with intervening proactively to prevent crime and in particular, violence. They were assisted by the deployment of live facial recognition cameras, a network of CCTV, the police helicopter and knife arches at key entry points which were used effectively in conjunction with additional stop and search powers.
“Live facial recognition proved particularly successful, with the technology helping officers to identify almost 100 people of interest over two days who, without it, would likely have been able to go unnoticed in the busy crowds.
“Delivering Notting Hill takes a real partnership effort. We thank the organisers and others who spoke out in the days and weeks ahead of the event to emphasise what Carnival stands for, to reject violence and to urge anyone planning to come for conflict or confrontation to stay at home. I have no doubt their interventions have helped to make this this year’s Carnival a safer event for all.
“This year the organisers implemented improvements with regards to crowd safety, allowing more of our officers to focus on their core responsibility of protecting the public and tackling crime. However, there remained incidents of overcrowding which required support and intervention by the police. It’s an area that all those involved in the delivery of the event know requires a continued focus.
“The second part of the independent review into crowd safety at Carnival will report in October with a number of recommendations likely to be made. It’s crucial that additional funding is identified at the earliest opportunity to ensure the event organisers, with the support of the wider partnership, are able to implement those recommendations in full. Any funding should reflect the full costs of delivering a safe Carnival, including policing costs, and be in a form that gives certainty and sustainability for future years.”
Sign up to our London Court & Crime newsletter for the latest major court updates and breaking news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up HERE
