Former Met detective calls for change to Notting Hill Carnival policing after two deaths confirmed: ‘More needs to be done!’
A Former Metropolitan Police Detective has demanded that “something needs to be done” in the way Notting Hill Carnival is policed after the deaths of two people were confirmed.
Cher Maximen, 32, was with her three-year-old daughter and other family members on Sunday when she was stabbed after trying to intervene in a fight.
Another victim, Mussie Imnetu, 41, was found unconscious with a head injury in Queensway at about 11.22pm on Monday. Police confirmed on Saturday that both had died as a result of their injuries.
Speaking to GB News, former Detective Superintendent in the Metropolitan Police, Shabnam Chaudhri called for change to how the street event is operated as attackers can “hide in plain sight”.
When asked by host Nana Akua if it was time the carnival was moved to another location, Chaudhri explained: “I don’t think it’s a question of moving it to somewhere else, because every year you will get a small minority of those criminals that want to go to Notting Hill Carnival to sort out their beef, their retribution or their feuds.
“They see it as a good location, because you can hide within plain sight effectively. But things do need to change in terms of how it’s policed.”
Noting her previous experience working the Carnival and surrounding areas, Chaudhri said officers will complete dawn raids ahead of the event, but there needs to be “more intelligence” about possible attackers and gangs in the area.
Chaudhri told GB News: “In my experience as a former police officer and having worked across Hackney and dealing with Notting Hill Carnival, a huge amount of work goes into policing. They will do dawn raids just before Carnival time to arrest those people, to stop them from going to Carnival. So a lot does go into it, but there needs to be more intelligence.
“These were such tragic, horrific incidents of two individuals – a young woman was trying to prevent these vile individuals from fighting and as a result, she lost her life. And a very well known, hard working-chef was found with head injuries.”
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Remaining hopeful for the future of Carnival, Chaudhri claimed that the event should “not be stopped all together or moved”, but warned that it is “getting bigger every year”.
Chaudhri said: “The other issue is that every year, Carnival gets bigger. It’s the second largest carnival in the world. The first, I believe, across Europe.
“So second to the Rio carnivals. There’s a huge economy intake – around £300m is made by people travelling from all across the world, so I don’t think it should be stopped at all.”
Nana disagreed and argued that it should be moved to an enclosed space, so that potential attackers can be “checked for knives on arrival”.
Nana said: “Everything you said sounds like it should be moved. You said people can hide in plain sight, well absolutely, because it’s on the streets.
“And also if it gets bigger every year, it’s even more uncontrollable. Why is there so much objection to it moving somewhere in the enclosed environment, where you could check if people are coming in with knives?”
Chaudhri responded: “The point I’m making is that every year you will get those very small minority, no matter where it’s held, that will be hellbent, intent on going to cause trouble because they have their own issues to deal with – retribution, feuds, all that sort of stuff.
“And I’m not sure that containing it in some way, like Hyde Park, will actually be able to manage it because of the size of the carnival, which, as we say, is getting bigger every year. But I do think that there needs to be more done in terms of intelligence.”