London’s Metropolitan Police said they made 140 arrests during the first day of the multicultural Notting Hill Carnival on Sunday for offences including assaults on officers, sexual offences, drug dealing, robbery, and possession weapons.
Following an increased police presence in the wake of two murders during last year’s festivities, arrests were up by around 40 per cent over the first day of the Notting Hill Carnival in 2024 when 104 arrests were made.
The Carnival is a multi-day street party intended to celebrate the Afro-Caribbean culture of London inhabitants that came to Britain en masse during the so-called “Windrush generation” of migrants which came to Britain in the wake of the Second World War.
The festival, which dates back to 1966 and is the largest of its kind attracting around a million attendees, has become increasingly controversial, with growing calls for an outright ban amid displays of antisocial behaviour and violence.
According to the Met, 15 arrestes were made on Sunday over assaults on police officers, one of whom was hospitalised over injuries sustained to their hand.
Additionally there were 21 arrests for possession of an offensive weapon, 25 for possession of cannabis, six for possession of class A drugs, two for possession of other drugs, 19 for possession with intent to supply drugs, two for robbery, four for public order offences, and four for sexual offences.
The police force said that 105 of the arrests were made during amid the actual Carnival, while 35 were made against those attempting to enter the festival, with the force setting up knife arch metal detectors at the entrances.
This year, the Met also deployed the use of live facial recognition cameras, which were used to arrest people on criminal watch lists by cross referencing live CCTV footage with police databases.
The increased number of arrests on Sunday compared to last year came despite the Metropolitan Police pre-emptively arresting over 100 people who posed the “greatest risk” of causing trouble during the event before it even began, according to the Daily Mail.
The police force also recalled 21 people to prison and used bail or probation orders to prevent a further 266 people from attending the Carnival.
It comes in the wake of two people being murdered during last year’s Carnival, including chef Mussie Imnetu and mother Cher Maximen, who was stabbed to death in front of her three-year-old daughter.
Commenting ahead of the Carnival, the family of Maximen described it as an “unimaginable event” and argued that it should be held in another location, such as a park, as people can “do whatever and just escape through the streets.”
Earlier this year, Shakeil Thibou, 20, was convicted for Maximen’s murder, and was jailed for a minimum term of 29 years in prison. His two brothers, Sheldon and Shaeim, were also convicted of assaulting Police Constable Oliver Mort, who had attempted to break up the brawl in which Maximen was murderd.
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