On a weekend of brutal violence in the capital which has seen three people fatally stabbed, a Londoner has described the aftermath of another shocking knife fight which resulted in blood being splattered across a busy street. And the man – who has asked not to be named – has speculated that the rash of incidents may have been linked to police being “distracted” by events related to the Coronation of King Charles III this weekend.
He told Express.co.uk: “I was on my morning walk to work at about 6am on Sunday morning when I noticed a wide police cordon, several police cars and officers in the street by Elephant Park near Elephant and Castle tube station.
“This is sadly not an uncommon sight where I live.”
He continued: “On my return from work later that day the cordon had gone but I could see what appeared to be blood stains splattered all over the pavement in the same place the police had been standing earlier.
“It was terrifying. It makes me scared to walk around there at night.”
The member of the public also referred to the massive police operation related to Coronation, which saw a total of 64 people arrested for a wide range of offences including 32 for “conspiracy to cause a public nuisance”.
He said: “I believe the police may have been distracted by other events this weekend in policing the Coronation and there was clearly a lot of added pressure on them this weekend.
“Perhaps they would have been better placed to go about tackling this horrific scourge in violent crime rather than ostensibly arresting people for booing and waving placards in protest.”
A Metropolitan Police spokesman officers had been called to Elephant Road, Elephant and Castle, SE1 at 2.58am after reports of a fight involving a number of males.
He added: “Officers attended and on arrival found two males with stab wounds and other significant injuries.
“They were all taken to hospital where they remain. Their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
“There have been four arrests at this time; enquiries continue.”
Witnesses, or anyone with footage incident of the incident, is being asked to called call police on 101 or Tweet@MetCC quoting 959/07May.
To remain anonymous, they can call the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or visit Crimestoppers-uk.org.
The incident comes during the course of a weekend which has witnessed three young men, two of them teenagers, were killed in separate knife attacks across the capital.
One of them was named by his uncle, Barking and Dagenham Cllr Michel Pongo, as Jordan Pongo, who tweeted: “It was with great sadness that this afternoon I learned that my nephew, Jordan, 18, had been stabbed to death in Dagenham last night.
“His mother is inconsolable. If you are gang member, this message is for you. Drop your knife and quit the gangster life before it is too late.”
The 18-year-old died after a fight outside Dagenham Heathway Tube just before midnight on Friday.
Police have arrested a 20-year-old man on suspicion of murder following Jordan’s death.
Earlier a 16-year-old boy was stabbed to death in Markhouse Road, Walthamstow at 4.39pm.
And in Hackney, a man aged in his late 20s was also fatally stabbed just after 11pm, also on Friday.
Police deployed more than 29,000 officers over the course of the bank holiday weekend as part of Operation Golden Orb.
In a statement issued on Friday, a Met Police spokesman said: “While we are focused on the celebratory events, we have a comprehensive plan for dealing with day-to-day incidents across the capital to ensure we continue to provide a response to those who need it.”
