A mob of “up to 40” males fought a running battle on the streets of London with swords, knives, and broken bottles, despite England’s draconian anti-coronavirus lockdown.
Metropolitan Police officers covering Ealing reported on social media that they had “responded to a large fight… in [Southall] involving up to 40 males fighting with swords and bottles,” managing to chase two from the scene and detained them after they were “identified as having carried swords during the fight.”
The pair were arrested for violent disorder and affray, but as yet there is no word on whether any of the remaining 38 or so brawlers have since been apprehended. Officers are urging anyone with information which might help them to identify them to contact them the 101 non-emergency number citing reference 136/17jan.
The clash follows reports of a similar street battle in the more northerly multicultural urban centre of Greater Manchester, which saw “tens” of criminals fighting it out with “machetes and guns” in the dead of night.
That brawl, which police described as an “isolated incident”, left a 15-year-old hospitalised with stab wounds, and shaken residents recalling what “sounded like gunfire” ringing through the streets.
“Members of the gang of six were shouting ‘shoot him, f***ing shoot him’,” recalled one eyewitness, in reference to just one group of participants in the apparently multi-sided battle.
“At one point it seemed as though one may have been stabbed or slashed due to the sound of his cry, a sound of shock and fear,” the witness added.
“This is a very concerning incident which has left a young boy needing hospital treatment for a stab wound,” commented Detective Inspector Thomas Willis on behalf of Greater Manchester Police (GMP).
“This will have undoubtedly caused some concern in the community, but I would like to reassure members of the public that we are treating this as an isolated incident,” he added.