Eyewitness to Carnival stabbing appeals to hint sufferer’s mom

A horrified eyewitness to a Notting Hill Carnival stabbing has issued a desperate plea to find the 18-year-old victim’s mother. 

Louise Etgart took to social media today to make an emotional appeal for help in tracing the mother of ‘Kamari’ who is currently fighting for his life in hospital. 

The personal trainer said she witnessed the stabbing near to Notting Hill Carnival’s Mastermind sound, located in Canal Way next to Sainsbury’s Ladbroke Grove.

It comes after MailOnline revealed Notting Hill Carnival arrests have hit their highest level since 2019 this year, with 349 detained in two days.

Ms Etgart, who did not know the teenager, sat with him and held his hand as they waited for paramedics to arrive. 

‘I was holding his hand and saying ‘stay with me’, stay with me’, she said in her video.

The 18-year-old was rushed to St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, Ms Etgart said, where he is currently undergoing surgery to save his life. 

She added: ‘They stabbed him and cut his spleen and I think he’s going to be okay, they say, but before he went to theatre he asked for his mum.

‘He’s Kamari, he’s 18-years-old — please if anybody knows his mum I don’t know where he’s from he didn’t have his phone or his ID. They (doctors) are saying they aren’t going to call his mum until the morning. 

‘He’s in theatre, they are trying to save his life and after that he will be in ICU in two hours but please find his mother.’

‘Please find his mum, he wants his mum,’ she begged. 

The Metropolitan Police confirmed 247 people were arrested yesterday as well as 102 on Sunday’s ‘Family Day’ which saw a mother stabbed in front of her young child.

The violence has prompted rank-and-file police to warn ‘no one is safe’ if even mothers with children are now targets for attacks at Europe’s biggest street party. 

Today, research by MailOnline found that arrests were 13 per cent up on the 308 at last year’s event in West London – and 67 per cent up on the 2022 total of 209.

There was no carnival in 2020 or 2021 due to pandemic restrictions – and the last time arrests were above this year’s total was in 2019 when they hit 354.

The 2024 arrest total is also the fourth highest over the past 20 years – having only also been beaten by 373 in 2018, 407 in 2015 and the record 454 in 2016.

Eight people were stabbed this year – three on Sunday, and five yesterday. This was down from ten in 2023, but up from seven in 2022 which included a murder. Before the Covid years, there were 18 stabbings in 2019, seven in 2018 and 12 in 2017. 

The annual celebration has been running since 1966, and arrests have been on a rising curve since the start of the millennium when they stood at 158 in 2002.

The total over the past 20 years between 2005 and 2024 is now well over the 5,000 mark.

Rick Prior, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, told the Daily Mail that the carnival needed to be moved out of Notting Hill so it could be better policed.

His comments came against a backdrop of growing frustration among frontline officers about the level of violence and hostility they are forced to endure at the event, with ‘the vast majority’ said to dread the occasion.

Mr Prior suggested a more contained area, such as Hyde Park, could allow for the celebration to still take place, but in a safer manner.

‘Now people are going after women with children, you know no-one’s safe,’ he said.

‘One has to recognise the cultural significance of the event and no-one wants to be a party-pooper – I personally wouldn’t wish to see the event completely cancelled – but it’s evolved from its roots and it needs to evolve further now.

‘With a huge increase in numbers coming year-on-year, an unacceptable amount of crime, injuries and serious assaults taking place, I just think there has to be alternative, safer nearby venues that need to be, at least, seriously considered.

‘If you’re advertising it as a family event, it needs to be safe. If people see it’s a family day out and want to go there, it shouldn’t be that they become the expected victims of crime when they turn up.’

He expressed frustration at the lack of progress in considering an alternative location since last year’s event, when ten people were stabbed and 308 people arrested.

‘It disappoints me that we’ve not really pushed it forward, for the organisers to at least scope out and consider safer venues where we can still have the celebration, but do it in a much safer manner,’ he said.

And Festus Akinbusoye, the former Bedfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), tweeted today: ‘I am a fan of the Notting Hill Carnival but these are extraordinary crime figures and would be interesting to see how they compare to past events.

‘Under no circumstances can it be acceptable that a single event produces this sort of crime data, despite the historical and cultural significance of the carnival as well as the majority not being involved in any form of crime.’

Mr Akinbusoye, who was Britain’s first black PCC, added: ‘Far from calling for the carnival to be scrapped as some do each year, surely there must be changes to its format to make it safer, more fun and enjoyable for everyone without it becoming so heavily policed.

‘I know parents who refused to let their kids attend this year due to fear of assaults, which is extremely sad. It was good to see the usual vibrant colours, costumes and mixing of people from all over the world. There just must be a way to make this safer.’

He also praised the ‘great job’ by Metropolitan Police officers and staff, adding: ‘Brilliant comms too.’

The Met said three people were injured in knife attacks on ‘Family Day’ on Sunday, including the 32-year-old mother stabbed in front of her child who ‘narrowly’ avoided being killed.

The carnival’s second and final day, ‘Adults Day’, yesterday welcomed more huge crowds.

Around a million people were expected to attend the celebration of Afro-Caribbean culture over the two days, requiring 7,000 officers to be on duty after scenes of shocking violence in recent years.

The Met said today that three men had been arrested over the stabbing of the 32-year-old mother on Sunday.

The woman, who attended the family day of the Carnival on Sunday with her young child, was attacked in Golborne Road shortly before 6pm and police officers gave her emergency medical treatment until paramedics arrived.

She was taken to hospital where she remains in critical condition.

The Met said initial inquiries suggest she became ‘caught up in the middle of an altercation between two groups of men’ but it is unclear if they were known to her.

The force said a 20-year-old man had been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and violent disorder while two other men, aged 24 and 22, were arrested on suspicion of violent disorder.

All three men were detained this morning after officers attended separate addresses in Hammersmith and Fulham and all remain in custody.

There were five stabbings at the carnival yesterday and an incident involving a corrosive substance, the Met said, with two of the stabbing victims also left in a critical condition.

Police made at least 247 arrests relating to the carnival yesterday, including 54 for possession of an offensive weapon. Three firearms were seized, and 37 officers were injured. A further 24 officers were injured on Sunday.

The Met said the assaults on officers mostly involved kicks, punches or pushes. 

There were four incidents where officers were spat at, two where where officers were headbutted and two where officers had glass bottles thrown at them. 

Commander Charmain Brenyah, the Met’s spokesperson for the Notting Hill Carnival, said: ‘Our thoughts, first and foremost, are with the woman who is fighting for her life in hospital and with her loved ones. She came to Carnival to have fun, with her young child, and was caught up in the most awful violence.

‘These arrests are a significant step in the investigation. They are the result of a determined effort by detectives who have worked around the clock to identify, locate and arrest these suspects.

‘We should not underestimate how much more difficult those vital early stages of an investigation are when they take place in the context of a busy, crowded event like Carnival.

‘I’d also like to acknowledge the incredible work of the officers, including police medics, who arrived so quickly – delivering emergency medical treatment and securing the scene to preserve vital evidence.

‘Our investigations into the other incidents over the weekend continue.’

Earlier yesterday, a man wanted for an attempted murder in Hackney in July was spotted and arrested, the Met said.

Thousands of revellers turned out for the final day of the carnival, flooding the streets with colour, costumes, dancing and music.

A heavy police presence was visible after three people were stabbed on Sunday.

Some people were made to walk through metal-detecting ‘knife arches’ as they arrived at the event.

Officers standing in pairs were dotted along the streets, while a police helicopter hovered above throughout the day.

In a statement, the force said weapons had been seized.

‘Officers were able to stop a car in Harrow, believed to be en route to Carnival, where a firearm was seized and two people arrested,’ the force said.

‘Later in the afternoon, officers carried out a search at one of the entry points, seizing a further firearm.

‘A man who was wanted for an attempted murder in Hackney in July was spotted and arrested following a successful stop.’

Thousands of people thronged the area for Adults’ Day yesterday afternoon, billed as the culmination of the annual celebration of Caribbean culture and history.

After months of preparation, dancers showed off their flamboyant costumes and floats blasted music for spectators who blew whistles and horns.

The carnival is billed by organisers as ‘the greatest community-led event on the planet’.

Following Sunday’s disorder, the Met Police made an unusually frank intervention, urging those ‘who value this event’ to come forward if they had information about criminality.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan, who was in charge of the policing operation for the event, said: ‘We saw the first day of Carnival marred by unacceptable violence. 

‘Three people were stabbed and we only very narrowly avoided a fatality.

‘This was supposed to be ‘family day’ – a celebration suitable for all ages. One of those in hospital, a 32-year-old woman whose condition remains critical, was at Carnival with her young child. We are tired of saying the same words every year. 

‘We are tired of telling families that their loved ones are seriously injured, or worse. We are tired of seeing crime scenes at carnival.

‘Carnival is a community event and the vast majority of people come to celebrate, to dance, to enjoy music and have a fantastic experience.

‘It is the responsibility of all who value this event, who want to see it as the celebration it should be, to speak out and speak up about the violence that continues to overshadow it.’

The force added that a 29-year-old man who was also stabbed on Sunday remained in hospital in a non-life-threatening condition, and a second man, aged 24, who was stabbed on Sunday discharged himself from hospital.

There were 104 arrests on Sunday and 18 officers were assaulted, Scotland Yard said.

A statement from Notting Hill Carnival Ltd, the organisers of the event, said: ‘Violent incidents are depressingly common throughout society.

‘That affects us too and it is an awful reality that our community unfortunately suffers, all too often. There is no excuse for this behaviour – that is not carnival.

‘Carnival is the people who dedicate so much time, love and incredible creativity to the parade, sound systems, music, food and costumes. That’s why the overwhelming majority of visitors have a fantastic experience.’

It comes after a 15-year-old boy was killed in a shooting on July 21 at ‘Park Lime’, a pre-Notting Hill Carnival event organised by the Caribbean Music Association.

Rene Graham was pronounced dead at the scene at the Emslie Horniman’s Pleasance open space – also known as ‘Teletubbies Park’ – in Ladbroke Grove.

At the event in 2022, footballer-turned rapper Takayo Nembhard, 21, was killed in the sixth death caused by violence in the carnival’s history, and the first in 18 years.