Rampant knife crime threatens the “very existence” of the Notting Hill Carnival in Sadiq Khan’s London, said a judge sentencing two men for attacks at Europe’s biggest multicultural party.
Judge Angela Morris issued the warning as she jailed Jordan Clarke, 20, and Eddy Mombele, 24, for attacks on three schoolboys at the parade using a 12-inch ‘zombie’ knife.
At the Old Bailey on Thursday, the pair were sentenced to 15 years in jail for the stabbings, which took place on August 28th, 2016, when they went on a rampage at the carnival around 4.25 pm.
Clarke and Mombele knifed a 15-year-old boy three times in the abdomen, buttocks, and arms in a savage attack. The victim was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery and remained hospitalised for two weeks, according to police.
Just after 5 pm, the defendants stabbed a 16-year-old in the stomach, before knifing another 16-year old in the leg, according to GetWestLondon.
The three victims “were amongst the many thousands of people who attended the carnival to soak up the atmosphere and have an enjoyable day”, Judge Morris told the court, according to the Evening Standard.
She continued: “I am told that the effects of knife crime at the Notting Hill Carnival have caused serious concerns for the police and called into question its very future.
“People like you who chose to attend the event carrying knives and ready for trouble not only run the risk of causing serious injury or death to others but also of destroying the very existence of the carnival itself.”
Speaking after the trial, Detective Inspector Driss Hayoukane said: “Sunday at Notting Hill Carnival is traditionally Children’s Day — a happy event to be enjoyed by thousands of children and their families.
“However, these two men came to carnival armed with a ‘zombie’ knife and a flick knife, intent on seriously injuring innocent carnival goers.”
The west London carnival, which is lauded by left-wing media in Britain as representing the “triumph of multiculturalism”, has been beset by shootings and knife crime since it first took place in 1966, with a number of people having died in violent incidents.
After nearly 1,000 arrests, a suspected acid attack, and 28 officers injured during the event last August, Metropolitan Police Federation chairman Ken Marsh suggested authorities should call time on the Notting Hill Carnival.
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