Female officer was sexually assaulted ‘by numerous men’ at Notting Hill carnival, Police Federation chief says – as he warns ‘absurd’ event ‘must be stopped’
- Met Police Federation chair says officer was ‘sexually assaulted’ during carnival
- Ken Marsh says he is ‘disgusted’ following incident involving ‘numerous males’
- Comes after event was overshadowed by carnage, with one partygoer murdered
- Six non-fatal stabbings also took place, with 74 Met officers suffering injuries
A Metropolitan Police officer was ‘sexually assaulted by numerous males’ at Notting Hill Carnival, the force’s federation chair has said, as he called for the event to be stopped.
Ken Marsh, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation which represents 30,000 officers in the force, also said officers stopped up to ‘300 fights’ because of an ‘element that turn up to cause harm to others’.
He told LBC: ‘It is disgusting. A colleague was sexually assaulted by numerous males during the carnival. My thoughts go out to that individual right now.’
It comes after the two-day event was overshadowed by carnage, with one partygoer murdered, six people stabbed and 209 arrested. Some 74 Met officers were also assaulted.
The fatal stabbing of footballer-turned rapper Takayo Nembhard, 21, was the sixth death caused by violence in the carnival’s history, and the first in 18 years.
Mr Marsh has called for the carnival to be brought to an end due to the violence, with officers having stopped ‘about 200 to 300 fights’.
He said: ‘We cannot have a situation where every year, the bank holiday weekend I discuss why there are so many of my colleagues seriously injured or assaulted. Members of the public seriously injured or assaulted.
‘We seized dozens of knives over the course of the two days and stopped about 200 to 300 fights – small, sporadic fights. This is not a fun-loving weekend.
The two-day event was overshadowed by carnage, with one partygoer murdered, six people stabbed and 209 arrested
Metropolitan Police Federation chairman Ken Marsh (pictured) has called for an end to Notting Hill Carnival
Forensics officers comb the scene in Ladbroke Grove, west London, where 21-year-old Takayo Nembhard, a rapper from Bristol, was stabbed to death
Mr Nembhard pictured with his girlfriend, who is currently pregnant. She shared a heartbreaking tribute following the fatal stabbing
Footballer-turned drill rapper Takayo Nembhard has been named as the victim stabbed to death at Notting Hill carnival after travelling from Bristol to ‘simply to have a good time’ – as police hunt his killer.
Mr Nembhard, 21, was fatally stabbed on Ladbroke Grove under the Westway flyover at 8pm on Monday as thousands lined the streets for the west London carnival.
Police officers gave him first aid until the arrival of paramedics, before he was taken to an ambulance ‘through significant crowds in challenging circumstances’.
Mr Nembhard, who went by the stage name TKorStretch and has just under one million views across his music videos on YouTube, was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead last night.
He was a former youth team player at Bristol Rovers, before turning to drill rapping when he had to retire from football due to an injury. His girlfriend is also currently pregnant, with a poignant tribute saying the ‘child will never meet his father’.
His death was confirmed in an Instagram post today, which said: ‘Two years ago a young 19-year-old man came from Bristol to meet me at my studio with his dad, his name was Takayo Nembhard AKA TKorStretch.
‘That meeting took us on a journey. We recorded some great music together. His talent was endless and I can tell you guys he was close to greatness!
‘So it’s with a heavy heart that I bring the news that Takayo (TKorStretch) passed away last night. He came from Bristol to simply have a good time at the London carnival and this is the end result!
‘My deepest condolences to TK’s mother & father his brother, two sisters, girlfriend and child that will never meet his father! TK was a good kid, a good guy and what has happened breaks my heart. Rest in peace my friend.’
Mr Nembhard’s manager Chris Patrick said in a statement: ‘He went to Carnival with his younger sister and friends to have a good time. This is the worst possible ending for a talented kid.’
Part of TKorStretch’s persona while performing was wearing masks.
In an interview with Wordplay Magazine last July, he explained why: ‘I don’t want my face to be the face everyone knows. I don’t want to go to Tesco and have people know that it’s me who makes the music.
‘I don’t care about fame, I just want to make music and have people enjoy it. I don’t mind talking to people, don’t get me wrong, but if I’m with my mum or sisters or something I just want to be able to chill out.’
He told how he began making music as a teenager after suffering a leg injury while playing for Bristol Rovers’ under-17 team.
He said: ‘I was in the academy from the age of 6 to 16 but had an injury, I had a clot in my right leg, so I knew I wasn’t going to play for a while.
‘Because of that I wanted to find something to keep me focused so I didn’t go insane. I liked singing so I was going to little studios here and there and then started taking it more seriously.’
‘The tragedy to this is 98 per cent of people who go there are law-abiding and want to enjoy themselves, but there is an element, and I am fed up of no one talking about it, of people who go for one reason – to cause harm to others. That is not stopping, has never stopped and we need to say enough is enough.’
‘I think it should be stopped. I think it should be in a private area like Hyde Park where it can be fenced off, people can be controlled, checked coming in and out.
‘You cannot have a situation where we talk about 1.5 million people, and what are we talking next year, three million? We don’t have the resources to deal with it. This is tens of millions of pounds of public money that are spent on policing this.
‘We are left ultimately responsible for it and whatever goes wrong and the mayor will be down our throats quicker than blink if something terrible goes wrong. This is absurd and cannot continue.’
It comes after Roy Ramm, former commander of specialist operations at the Met, said yesterday that the final day of the event degenerates into violence because ‘gangs turn up to settle scores’.
He said: ‘For most people it is safe. We saw a good day on Sunday. Yesterday for most of the day it was a safe place and well policed. Police have learned a great deal over many years about how to police the carnival.
‘But there is a time, always on the last day it seems, that it degenerates. The drug sellers, the gangs, seem to reject the spirit of carnival and take the opportunity to settle scores, to mark out territory and bring out the knives.
‘It is a tragedy, a tragedy for the family of the young man who died and a tragedy for the people of Notting Hill.
He added: ‘The trouble is, these young men, and it is young men, they want to fight, mark out their territory and sell their drugs. They are determined to wreck it in the evenings.’
The last event, which was held in 2019 before the pandemic, saw 463 crime allegations, according to Met Police records. The majority of offences were drug related.
It comes as footage emerged of a thug brutally punching a woman to the ground as a brawl broke out on the chaotic final day of the carnival.
Another video showed crowds screaming and having to climb over a gate as thousands of people ended up packed in a single road with no space, while footage has also been shared of a topless brawl between two women at the event on Sunday.
Footage has also been shared online of a brawl between two women on Sunday.
The clip shows two women, one wearing a black tank top with her breasts exposed, being held back by a man and a woman.
The topless woman runs towards a woman in a black and white check cardigan, repeatedly punching her in the head in front of a horrified crowd.
The Met Police Federation yesterday tweeted that officers ‘dread’ policing the carnival due to the violence.
Meanwhile, officers are still hunting for a knifeman who stabbed Mr Nemhard to death at the carnival on Monday night.
Officers gave the man first aid until paramedics arrived after the stabbing on Ladbroke Grove under the Westway flyover at 8pm, and he was taken to an ambulance ‘through significant crowds in challenging circumstances’.
He was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Mr Nembhard, who went by the stage name TKorStretch and has just under one million views across his music videos on YouTube, was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead last night.
His girlfriend is currently pregnant, with a poignant tribute saying the ‘child will never meet his father’.
She today shared a picture of him hugging her baby bump with the message: ‘So grateful to be carrying a part of you. Love you in this life and the next.’
And in a post to her Instagram page, she added: ‘Takayo my sweet beautiful boy, all I can ask is why over and over again. You was the most kind hearted, loving ,funny and caring person.
‘I’m sat here with sore eyes and a heavy heart as I’ve cried consistently for the last 12 hours while carrying your unborn son. I will remind him daily about how great you were as a son, brother, boyfriend and friend too!
‘The love I have for you will never stop and I will honour your name everyday. I will look after your sisters to the best of my ability. They loved you soo much. We all did.
‘I held your hand yesterday for the last time as you led there lifeless and baby T kicked me straight away and it broke me. It’s just not fair ,we live in such a cruel world. I’m so angry yet keep being told I have to stay strong for the baby.
‘The support you had at the hospital yesterday from family and friends was so lovely. I only wish you knew how loved you really was.
Crowds pictured near a police van as the Notting Hill Carnival in west London comes to an end on Monday evening
Rubbish covers the streets next to a police cordon the morning after Notting Hill Carnival in West London on Monday
‘I love you whole heartedly and I’m so glad I get to share something so special with you and I know I’ll see you in him everyday.’
Earlier, Mr Marsh told MailOnline yesterday: ‘It is like playing a broken record as the same things keep happening every year.
‘It is very difficult to control, maintain and deal with.
‘Seventy four of my colleagues were injured in what is meant to be a ‘peaceful’ carnival.
‘People turn up with knives and someone has been stabbed to death. There were also a lot of altercations happening between various groups.
‘This cannot be the case year after year and we cannot continue to allow this to happen.
‘This needs to be held in a private venue, such as Hyde Park, where it can be a lot more easily controlled.
‘We have had conversations about moving the carnival to a private venue, but the suggestions just get batted away.’
Source: Read Full Article
