At two so-called ‘Quarantine Raves’ in Greater Manchester, England, which saw some 6,000 people attend, a woman was raped, a man died of a suspected drug overdose, and three people were stabbed.
Manchester Police said that they did not move to break up the illegal raves out of fear of sparking a violent backlash, the same excuse given for allowing thousands of Black Lives Matter activists to flaunt the national lockdown that has been imposed on ordinary British citizens by other forces.
Approximately 4,000 people attended the rave in Oldham, and another 2,000 people were present in the rave in Carrington, both of which are in the Greater Manchester area.
Assistant Chief Constable Chris Sykes said that the size of the illegal raves “came on us really quickly” and therefore defended the decision to “carefully monitor” the gatherings, as opposed to shutting them down, according to the Manchester Evening News.
“When you’re dealing with large crowds the police moving into those crowds is always a very delicate situation,” Sykes said.
The raves on Saturday night were marred by violence, with footage appearing on social media that purports to show youths battling with machetes amidst the madness. During the drunken gatherings, a 20-year-old man died of a suspected drug overdose, an 18-year-old woman was raped, and three people were stabbed, the BBC reports.
At the rave in Carrington, an 18-year-old man was hospitalised with life-threatening injuries after being stabbed. In two separate stabbing incidents, a 25- and 26-year-old were both injured, and a 25-year-old was arrested on weapons charges.
“We are also investigating the rape of an 18-year-old woman… and we have specialist officers supporting her and her family,” police said.
Assistant Chief Constable Chris Sykes warned: “We have got concerns there will be further events taking place in the coming weeks because the (hospitality) industry is not able to supply these at the minute.”
“There is a demand but no supply so we get this illegal supply,” Sykes remarked.
A local witness reported: “We saw loads of youths last night at about 6 pm and we just saw loads of people with balloons to their faces. The roads were covered in people turning up. Lots of people started arriving in cars and were driving to show-off. They parked up and let people out.”
“It was the sheer amount of people that kept us awake,” the witness added.
On Sunday, a group of locals took it upon themselves to clear the rubbish left by the partygoers, which reportedly contained human excrement and used tampons.
“Coming to the field today to clear up, it looks like Glastonbury has happened,” said a resident.
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