STREET WARS
Riot police pelted with bricks, bottles and fences as they shut down another illegal rave in London
RIOT police were last night pelted with bricks, bottles and fences as they shut down another illegal rave in London.
Footage from Hackney showed officers being targeted with kerb stones and glass bottles after another illegal event was broken up.
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Video from last night shows lines of riot officers advancing on crowds on a street near the Woodberry Down Estate.
The Metropolitan Police said more officers will be on the streets of the capital this weekend following a spate of lockdown parties and violent crime in recent weeks.
They last night tweeted: "Police are in attendance on the Woodberry Down Estate Hackney re: an illegal unlicensed music event.
"We stated earlier that any such illegal event would be closed down by police to protect the public and prevent crime."
The Met confirmed it had begun receiving calls about noise and anti-social behaviour from concerned residents at around 11pm.
It said officers had attended the scene and asked the group to leave but that members became hostile, and that specially-trained personnel who then tried to disperse the crowd were met with further hostility.
All attendees were cleared from the area by 4am.
One officer sustained a minor injury to his leg while another was taken to hospital with bruising on his ribs, though he was later discharged.
Two males, an 18-year-old and a 19-year-old, were arrested, the first for violent disorder and obstruction, the second for obstruction.
Both remain in custody and police are reviewing CCTV and officers' bodycam footage to identify other people involved in the unrest.
Anyone with images or video from last night is being asked to call 101 and quote reference CAD 322/18Jul.
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Large gatherings have been outlawed since the coronavirus lockdown came into force in March, but recent weeks have seen numerous reports of illegal events taking place in London and elsewhere.
Last night's unrest comes after officials warned that London's R-rate could have crept back above one, which would indicate the virus's spread is again accelerating.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Lucy D'Orsi vowed that more officers would be sent out this weekend to help prevent violent crime and act on intelligence about unlicensed events.
She said: "The past week has seen a number of people who have needlessly lost their lives at the hands of violent criminals.
"Any number of murders is too many but we are very concerned by the recent increase.
"We have also seen an increase in unlicensed music events which, as well as being very disruptive to communities and posing an increased risk of COVID-19 transmission, they have in some cases led to violent incidents affecting both those attending and the officers who have to shut them down.
"Tackling violence is always the Met's number one priority and we are doing all we can to prevent any further incidents and bring perpetrators to justice."
SPATE OF VIOLENCE
Last night also follows a spike of violent crime, with seven suspected murders having occurred just in the last seven days.
Figures released yesterday showed that London's crime rate rose at five times the rate of the rest of England over the past year.
In the most recent incident, police were called at 4.45am on Friday to reports of four men involved in a brawl in Lytton Avenue, Enfield and one man being put into a vehicle.
Around 5am, officers at North Middlesex Hospital became aware of a man in his 30s, who had been brought in suffering a single stab wound.
He was pronounced dead in hospital.
It came just hours after a man in his 30s was stabbed to death in Kilburn on Thursday night.
The Sun also reported earlier this week on the tragic death of 18-year-old Ahmed Yasin-Ali, who was stabbed to death in Maida Vale at around 12.30am on Wednesday.
Another young man was shot dead in Harlesden, West London at a "nine-nights" wake attended by over 100 people in tribute to another man who died last week, the reports.
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Dean Edwards, 43, was also shot in the back of the head while walking through a park just after midnight last Sunday in Penge, South London, police said.
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Last Saturday, MMA fighter Jareau Shepherd was fatally stabbed to death near an estate in the Kennington area of South London.
And the night before, Muhammed Samir Uddin, 19, was fatally stabbed near Crossharbour DLR station in South-East London.
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