London’s Metropolitan Police have launched a blitz of arrests in advance of this weekend’s Notting Hill Carnival, following violence last year that left two people dead.
Police said they had detained more than 100 people and seized 11 guns and more than 40 knives in an operation “intended to disrupt and deter those who police believe pose the greatest risk to public safety” at the event.
The Notting Hill Carnival in west London, a three-day celebration of Afro-Caribbean culture, music, food and dance, kicks off on Saturday and runs through Monday, which is a bank holiday in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
It is billed as the biggest street festival in Europe and attracts more than one million people to the enclave of Notting Hill, which encompasses salubrious and trendy districts of west London that sit side by side with more deprived areas.
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Police said on Friday they would use live facial recognition (LFR) cameras to identify known troublemakers at the boundaries of the event and main entrance points. LFR is controversial among certain communities in Britain, especially black communities, because of fears that the software used is skewed against minorities and is unreliable.
“We’re committed to working with Londoners to allay their fears [over LFR],” said the Met, who insisted that the technology had only a one in 33,000 error rate and had successfully led to more than 1,000 arrests since it was introduced at the start of 2024.
In addition to the arrests, about 266 people have also been issued with banning orders preventing their attendance at this year’s carnival.
“We hope that this police activity will be a significant deterrent for those who otherwise might have been planning to come and engage in violence and other criminality,” said Charmain Brenyah, a Met commander who is the force’s spokeswoman for the event.
“The actions of this minority are totally at odds with the values of those who care passionately about Carnival and we acknowledge those, including the event organisers, who have stood up to condemn violence and serious criminality in the run up to this weekend,” she said.
Last year’s event was marred by two murders, including the stabbing of Cher Maximen (32), who was killed in front of her three-year-old daughter. Londoner Shakeil Thibou (20) was in May jailed for life with a minimum of 29 years in jail for her murder.
His trial heard that a fight between several men broke out at the carnival in an area where police were completely outnumbered. Thibou lunged with a long-bladed so-called “zombie knife” towards another man, but he missed and they fell on top of Ms Maximen and a few others.
Fearing for her daughter’s safety, she got to her feet first and kicked out at Thibou and tugged at his clothing while he was still on the ground. He swung the knife at her and stabbed her.
The Bristol-born mother collapsed and died six days later in hospital. In a victim-impact statement, her grandmother, Vyleen Maximen, told the court that the killing had left her with “a hole in my heart that will never be filled”.
The day after Ms Maximen was stabbed, chef Mussie Imnetu (41) was beaten to death by Omar Wilson (31) at nearby Queensway, after a row flared outside a restaurant.
Wilson’s trial heard that the victim was “heavily intoxicated” before he was headbutted, punched and kicked in the head after he fell to the ground.
In the hours after he had beaten Mr Imnetu, Wilson texted a friend to say that “there’s a monster in me, man, and it’s just like sometimes it comes out”.
He was sentenced to life with a minimum jail term of 18 years.
Takayo Nembhard (21), a Bristol rapper, was stabbed to death at the carnival in 2022.
