The Metropolitan Police have called for a review into the future of Notting Hill Carnival after the first event post-pandemic was was overshadowed by a fatal stabbing, fighting and officer assaults.
There were more than 200 arrests made at the west-London carnival.
Takayo Nembhard, who was 21-years-old, had travelled from Bristol to Notting Hill with his sister and friends when he was attacked in the Ladbroke Grove area.
He was stabbed in the groin and despite first aid treatment provided by paramedics and police, he was pronounced dead in hospital.
Takayo Nembhard
Twitter/Chris Patrick
Forensics officers comb the scene in Ladbroke Grove, west London, where 21-year-old Takayo Nembhard, a rapper from Bristol, has died after being stabbed on the final day of the Notting Hill Carnival.
Kirsty O'Connor
Besides the tragic killing of Mr Nembhard, there were six non-fatal stabbings and a record number of knives seized according to a policing source, as reported in The Telegraph.
Video footage also emerged on social media of a man punching a woman in the face, who fell to the ground.
Ken Marsh, Metropolitan Police Federation chairman, said: “For the last two years my colleagues have spent the August bank holiday not being assaulted in large numbers. Why not? Because the Notting Hill Carnival did not take place.
“But today we are having to again face the fallout from policing the event. The tragedy is that someone has been killed.
Carnival-goers during the Family Day at the Notting Hill Carnival in London, which returned to the streets for the first time on two years, after it was thwarted by the pandemic.
Victoria Jones
“But also 34 of my colleagues have been hurt after coming under attack. One female officer was grabbed in a headlock and sexually assaulted.
“This is completely unacceptable. Every year we argue that this event should not take place but we are not listened to.
“There were 11,000 officers on duty across the weekend. For lots of them, this was their first experience of policing the carnival and they have been left extremely shocked by what they have seen and been subjected to.
“We are simply not listened to and those who support the carnival do not seem to care what happens to police officers. The violence my colleagues face when policing this event seems to be the price we have to pay and that is a completely unacceptable situation.” he told The Telegraph.
Police continue to investigate the killing of Mr Nembhard, whose girlfriend was pregnant when he was killed.
