The nephew of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, has admitted taking a four-inch knife to a London nightclub following the royal wedding as he was fearful of rocketing levels of violent crime in the capital.
Just hours after the ceremony, Tyler Dooley, 25, reportedly surrendered the large blade to a bouncer on the door of the Bacchus in Kingston before the nightclub called the emergency services.
Mr. Dooley, who works as a legal cannabis farmer in America, has been out celebrating with his brother TJ and mother Tracy Dooley – the ex-wife of the Duchess’s father.
A source told The Sun: “They were all obviously a bit tipsy from celebrating the wedding, but not in bad spirits. As Tyler came up to the bouncer, he said, ‘I have a knife on me.’ He pulled it out and handed it to the staff.
“All he was going on about was how he’d brought it from America because Donald Trump had said London wasn’t safe.
“They acted very calmly and dialled 999 and that’s when some local guys told him he’d get arrested. At that point, he ran off.” His brother is believed to have gone back into the club to try and explain.
London police said in a statement: “The suspect had left the scene prior to police being called. Officers attended the club at around 01:55hrs and recovered the knife. There has been no arrest.”
The Dooleys have declined to comment, and reportedly “hid inside a bin cupboard at the Hilton DoubleTree hotel” when The Sun asked them about the incident.
Earlier this month, U.S. President Donald J. Trump said London was like a “war zone” because of surging rates of violent crime and knife attacks in the city.
He told a National Rifle Convention (NRA) in Dallas: “And instead there’s blood all over the floors of this hospital. They say it’s as bad as a military war zone hospital.”
Last month, it was reported that recorded machete attacks in the UK have shot up by nearly five times in just three years, with the majority taking place in the capital.
The soaring number of crimes committed with the sword-like weapons means there is an average of 15 machete incidents every day in the UK, or one every 90 minutes.
In January, Office of National Statistics (ONS) figures showed that in the year to September 2017 the police recorded a massive 37,443 offences involving a knife or sharp instrument.
This represents a 21 per cent surge on the previous year, and the highest number of blade attacks since records began seven years ago.
The rise in knife crime was higher in London, jumping by 38 per cent, and gang-related acid attacks are also on the rise.
Across the UK, violent crime overall surged by 20 per cent, robbery was up by 29 per cent, and sex offences rose by 23 per cent.