TWO female officers were sexually assaulted at Notting Hill carnival

Two female police officers were sexually assaulted at Notting Hill Carnival, with one cop grabbed around the neck and kissed and a second ‘surrounded by a group of men’.

The Metropolitan Police has confirmed it is investigating two incidents of alleged sexual assault at the two-day event in west London.

In the first incident, an officer was ‘grabbed around the neck and kissed on the face without her consent’.

A 46-year-old man was arrested at the scene and was later charged with sexual assault, the force confirmed today.

Florin Matei will appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on September 19.

A probe has also been launched after a second female officer was ‘surrounded by a group of men who danced and “grinded” against her’.

Other officers came to her assistance, but ‘it was not possible to detain the group at the time’.

A spokesperson for the Met said: ‘We are aware of two incidents where female officers were sexually assaulted.

‘We recognise the impact such offences can have and we will provide both officers with the support they need. Neither officer was physically injured.’

It comes after Ken Marsh, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, today said an officer had been ‘sexually assaulted by numerous males’ and called for the event to be stopped.

He also said officers stopped up to ‘300 fights’ because of an ‘element that turn up to cause harm to others’.

Mr Marsh told LBC: ‘It is disgusting. A colleague was sexually assaulted by numerous males during the carnival. My thoughts go out to that individual right now.’

It comes after the two-day event was overshadowed by carnage, with one partygoer murdered, six people stabbed and 209 arrested. Some 74 Met officers were also assaulted.

The fatal stabbing of footballer-turned rapper Takayo Nembhard, 21, was the sixth death caused by violence in the carnival’s history, and the first in 18 years.

Mr Marsh has called for the carnival to be brought to an end due to the violence, with officers having stopped ‘about 200 to 300 fights’.

He said: ‘We cannot have a situation where every year, the bank holiday weekend I discuss why there are so many of my colleagues seriously injured or assaulted. Members of the public seriously injured or assaulted.

‘We seized dozens of knives over the course of the two days and stopped about 200 to 300 fights – small, sporadic fights. This is not a fun-loving weekend. 

‘The tragedy to this is 98 per cent of people who go there are law-abiding and want to enjoy themselves, but there is an element, and I am fed up of no one talking about it, of people who go for one reason – to cause harm to others. That is not stopping, has never stopped and we need to say enough is enough.’

‘I think it should be stopped. I think it should be in a private area like Hyde Park where it can be fenced off, people can be controlled, checked coming in and out. 

‘You cannot have a situation where we talk about 1.5 million people, and what are we talking next year, three million? We don’t have the resources to deal with it. This is tens of millions of pounds of public money that are spent on policing this. 

‘We are left ultimately responsible for it and whatever goes wrong and the mayor will be down our throats quicker than blink if something terrible goes wrong. This is absurd and cannot continue.’

It comes after Roy Ramm, former commander of specialist operations at the Met, said yesterday that the final day of the event degenerates into violence because ‘gangs turn up to settle scores’.

He said: ‘For most people it is safe. We saw a good day on Sunday. Yesterday for most of the day it was a safe place and well policed. Police have learned a great deal over many years about how to police the carnival.

‘But there is a time, always on the last day it seems, that it degenerates. The drug sellers, the gangs, seem to reject the spirit of carnival and take the opportunity to settle scores, to mark out territory and bring out the knives.

‘It is a tragedy, a tragedy for the family of the young man who died and a tragedy for the people of Notting Hill.

He added: ‘The trouble is, these young men, and it is young men, they want to fight, mark out their territory and sell their drugs. They are determined to wreck it in the evenings.’

The last event, which was held in 2019 before the pandemic, saw 463 crime allegations, according to Met Police records. The majority of offences were drug related.

It comes as footage emerged of a thug brutally punching a woman to the ground as a brawl broke out on the chaotic final day of the carnival.

Another video showed crowds screaming and having to climb over a gate as thousands of people ended up packed in a single road with no space, while footage has also been shared of a topless brawl between two women at the event on Sunday.

Footage has also been shared online of a brawl between two women on Sunday.

The clip shows two women, one wearing a black tank top with her breasts exposed, being held back by a man and a woman.

The topless woman runs towards a woman in a black and white check cardigan, repeatedly punching her in the head in front of a horrified crowd.

The Met Police Federation yesterday tweeted that officers ‘dread’ policing the carnival due to the violence.

Meanwhile, officers are still hunting for a knifeman who stabbed Mr Nemhard to death at the carnival on Monday night.

Officers gave the man first aid until paramedics arrived after the stabbing on Ladbroke Grove under the Westway flyover at 8pm, and he was taken to an ambulance ‘through significant crowds in challenging circumstances’.

He was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Mr Nembhard, who went by the stage name TKorStretch and has just under one million views across his music videos on YouTube, was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead last night.

His girlfriend is currently pregnant, with a poignant tribute saying the ‘child will never meet his father’.

Following his death, she shared a picture of him hugging her baby bump with the message: ‘So grateful to be carrying a part of you. Love you in this life and the next.’

And in a post to her Instagram page, she added: ‘Takayo my sweet beautiful boy, all I can ask is why over and over again. You was the most kind hearted, loving ,funny and caring person.

‘I’m sat here with sore eyes and a heavy heart as I’ve cried consistently for the last 12 hours while carrying your unborn son. I will remind him daily about how great you were as a son, brother, boyfriend and friend too!

‘The love I have for you will never stop and I will honour your name everyday. I will look after your sisters to the best of my ability. They loved you soo much. We all did.

‘I held your hand yesterday for the last time as you led there lifeless and baby T kicked me straight away and it broke me. It’s just not fair ,we live in such a cruel world. I’m so angry yet keep being told I have to stay strong for the baby.

‘The support you had at the hospital yesterday from family and friends was so lovely. I only wish you knew how loved you really was.

‘I love you whole heartedly and I’m so glad I get to share something so special with you and I know I’ll see you in him everyday.’

Earlier, Mr Marsh told MailOnline yesterday: ‘It is like playing a broken record as the same things keep happening every year. 

‘It is very difficult to control, maintain and deal with. 

‘Seventy four of my colleagues were injured in what is meant to be a ‘peaceful’ carnival.

‘People turn up with knives and someone has been stabbed to death. There were also a lot of altercations happening between various groups. 

‘This cannot be the case year after year and we cannot continue to allow this to happen.

‘This needs to be held in a private venue, such as Hyde Park, where it can be a lot more easily controlled. 

‘We have had conversations about moving the carnival to a private venue, but the suggestions just get batted away.’  

Pregnant girlfriend of rapper, 21, murdered at Notting Hill carnival ‘felt their unborn baby kick’ as she held his hand while he lay dying – as manager of the ‘rising star’ says he ‘could have been targeted by a rival from Bristol’

By Jamie Phillips, Mark Duell, Charlotte McLaughlin and Jonathan Rose for MailOnline  

The pregnant girlfriend of a footballer-turned drill rapper murdered at Notting Hill carnival has said she ‘felt their unborn baby kick’ as she held his hand while he lay dying – as the manager of the ‘rising star’ says he ‘could have been targeted by a rival from Bristol’.

Takayo Nembhard, 21, was fatally stabbed on Ladbroke Grove under the Westway flyover at 8pm on Monday as thousands lined the streets for the west London carnival.

Police officers gave him first aid until the arrival of paramedics, before he was taken to an ambulance ‘through significant crowds in challenging circumstances’.

Mr Nembhard, who went by the stage name TKorStretch and has just under one million views across his music videos on YouTube, was taken to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead last night. 

His girlfriend is currently pregnant, with a poignant tribute saying the ‘child will never meet his father’.

She has shared a picture of him hugging her baby bump with the message: ‘So grateful to be carrying a part of you. Love you in this life and the next.’

And in a post to her Instagram page, she added: ‘Takayo my sweet beautiful boy, all I can ask is why over and over again. You was the most kind hearted, loving ,funny and caring person. 

‘I’m sat here with sore eyes and a heavy heart as I’ve cried consistently for the last 12 hours while carrying your unborn son. I will remind him daily about how great you were as a son, brother, boyfriend and friend too!

‘The love I have for you will never stop and I will honour your name everyday. I will look after your sisters to the best of my ability. They loved you soo much. We all did.

‘I held your hand yesterday for the last time as you led there lifeless and baby T kicked me straight away and it broke me. It’s just not fair ,we live in such a cruel world. I’m so angry yet keep being told I have to stay strong for the baby.

‘The support you had at the hospital yesterday from family and friends was so lovely. I only wish you knew how loved you really was.

‘I love you whole heartedly and I’m so glad I get to share something so special with you and I know I’ll see you in him everyday.’

Chris Patrick, who managed TKorStretch, said the rapper had travelled to the Notting Hill carnival with his 18-year-old sister from their hometown of Bristol.

He told MailOnline: ‘They’d booked a hotel in Hammersmith and had travelled the 120-miles from Bristol to London to enjoy the carnival.

‘He had gone to enjoy the celebrations, he wasn’t looking for trouble. It was a pointless taking of a life. I received a phone call from his dad last night to say something had happened and could I help as I’m based in London.

‘All I knew at that point is that Takayo had been taken to St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington. I didn’t know how serious it was.

‘I was in the car on route when I got the call to say Takayo was gone. I met his sister at the hospital, she was devastated.

‘His parents have been to see me today. They are hurting incredibly badly. It’s beyond words.

‘I don’t know why it happened. If he was deliberately targeted by someone, it would unlikely be someone from London as Takayo barely knew anyone here. It could be that a rival from Bristol has come all this way to target him.

‘But it could also be the result of an argument that escalated, and someone pulled a knife. It happens unfortunately all too regularly. I don’t know the why yet.

‘What I do know is that it is a senseless killing. He was a young man with his life and career as an artist ahead of him. He was due to be a dad imminently but now that child will never know their father.’

Mr Patrick added: ‘Takayo worked incredibly hard on his music videos, on his social media presence, his TikTok. He was a rising star on his way to reaching the heights of artists like Stormzy, Dave, Wretch 32. He had a bright future.

‘I wanted to work with him straight away when he came to see me at the age of 19. He travelled across Southern England with his dad to see me. He had a good aura.

‘Something needs to be done about knife crime in London and the UK. It’s getting out of control.

‘Anyone caught carrying a knife in the street should get a mandatory five-years in prison. If you use that knife it should be 10-years. If you kill someone, at least 40-years.

‘I hope the police catch whoever done this and they go away for a long, long time.’

A spokesman for his former football club said: ‘Bristol Rovers are deeply saddened to learn of the death of former academy player Takayo Nembhard. The club would like to pass on its condolences to Takayo’s family and friends at this difficult time.’

Mr Nembhard’s death was confirmed in a post to his Instagram account yesterday, which said: ‘Two years ago a young 19-year-old man came from Bristol to meet me at my studio with his dad, his name was Takayo Nembhard AKA TKorStretch.

‘That meeting took us on a journey. We recorded some great music together. His talent was endless and I can tell you guys he was close to greatness!

‘So it’s with a heavy heart that I bring the news that Takayo (TKorStretch) passed away last night. He came from Bristol to simply have a good time at the London carnival and this is the end result!

‘My deepest condolences to TK’s mother & father his brother, two sisters, girlfriend and child that will never meet his father! TK was a good kid, a good guy and what has happened breaks my heart. Rest in peace my friend.’

Mr Nembhard’s manager Chris Patrick said in a statement: ‘He went to Carnival with his younger sister and friends to have a good time. This is the worst possible ending for a talented kid.’

He was a former youth team player at Bristol Rovers, before turning to drill rapping when he had to retire from football due to an injury. 

It comes as Roy Ramm, former commander of specialist operations at the Met, said the final day of Notting Hill ‘degenerates’ into violence.

He told LBC: ‘For most people it is safe. We saw a good day on Sunday. Yesterday for most of the day it was a safe place and well policed. Police have learned a great deal over many years about how to police the carnival. 

‘But there is a time, always on the last day it seems, that it degenerates. The drug sellers, the gangs, seem to reject the spirit of carnival and take the opportunity to settle scores, to mark out territory and bring out the knives.

‘It is a tragedy, a tragedy for the family of the young man who died and a tragedy for the people of Notting Hill.

‘It is very difficult to do anything other than they [police] are doing now. It started out as a spontaneous event many years ago and police have joined into it, danced with the revellers. 

‘There were 7,000 police officers there on the day – will 14,000 make any difference?

‘The trouble is, these young men, and it is young men, they want to fight, mark out their territory and sell their drugs. They are determined to wreck it in the evenings.’

The Metropolitan Police Federation, which represents the force’s officers, added: ‘Sad to report at least 34 Metropolitan Police officers were assaulted at this year’s Notting Hill Carnival. 

‘We are supporting colleagues. Every year our brave officers come under attack at this event. Colleagues dread policing it. And yet nothing changes.’

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said he was ‘sickened’ by the fatal stabbing.

He said: ‘I urge anyone with information to contact the police on 101 or anonymously by @CrimeStoppersUK. There is no honour in staying silent.’

Part of TKorStretch’s persona while performing was wearing masks.

In an interview with Wordplay Magazine last July, he explained why: ‘I don’t want my face to be the face everyone knows. I don’t want to go to Tesco and have people know that it’s me who makes the music. 

‘I don’t care about fame, I just want to make music and have people enjoy it. I don’t mind talking to people, don’t get me wrong, but if I’m with my mum or sisters or something I just want to be able to chill out.’

He told how he began making music as a teenager after suffering a leg injury while playing for Bristol Rovers’ under-17 team.

He said: ‘I was in the academy from the age of 6 to 16 but had an injury, I had a clot in my right leg, so I knew I wasn’t going to play for a while. 

‘Because of that I wanted to find something to keep me focused so I didn’t go insane. I liked singing so I was going to little studios here and there and then started taking it more seriously.’

Witness Brian Stovell told the Evening Standard of the graphic scenes, saying: ‘I knew by the amount of blood that he wasn’t going to make it. Most people in the crowd were caught up in the movement and vibe of the carnival.’

He also described efforts to try to save the man, adding: ‘There was one woman putting on surgical gloves but she was a civilian. And another woman in distress was in the circle – it looked like she had been with him.’

The newspaper also reported that as officers tried to hold the crowd back from where the man was being given first aid, a woman could be heard shouting through the police line: ‘He’s just a child. Why would they do that?’ 

As police continue to investigate, they appealed for any witnesses to come forward with video footage or other information, saying there were ‘hundreds of people in the immediate vicinity when this incident took place’. 

At 9.30pm, police activated special powers within the area under a Section 60 order which allowed them to stop and search a person without suspicion for ‘dangerous instruments and offensive weapons’ until 1am this morning. Detectives added that there had been ‘a number of violent incidents and serious stabbings’ at this year’s festival.

Scotland Yard said officers had made 209 arrests since the start of the carnival as of 12.01am on Tuesday – including 46 for assault, eight for sexual assault, 36 for possession of drugs, five for criminal damage and 27 for public order.

Police added that there were also ten arrests for possession of psychoactive substances, 33 for possession of an offensive weapon, seven for drink or drug driving, one theft, one robbery and 35 more listed as ‘other’.

While the total number of arrests for the whole of this year’s carnival has not yet been confirmed, the number at the 2019 festival was significantly higher at 353 – compared to 374 in 2018, 313 in 2017 and 454 in 2016.

Yesterday’s stabbing is thought to have been the first murder at the Notting Hill Carnival since 2004 when Lee Christopher Subaran, 27, of Mill Hill, was shot dead at point-blank range near Kensal Green Underground station.

The last day of the two-day festival yesterday, the ‘Adults Day’ parade, ended officially at 8.30pm last night after the event saw some 13 steel bands, 72 mast bands, six Brazilian bands, 36 sound systems and 300 stalls involved.

Dr Alison Heydari, Commander of Local Policing, said this morning: ‘Officers from across the Met have been working tirelessly over the past two days to ensure that all those who came to Notting Hill Carnival could enjoy the experience safely. It was the culmination of months of close coordination with the organisers, our local authority and emergency service partners and the community.

‘The atmosphere over the past two days has been largely positive and good natured as Carnival should be. Regrettably, on Monday evening we saw a number of violent incidents and a 21-year-old man has lost his life.

‘Our thoughts are with his family as they come to terms with their terrible loss. A murder investigation is under way, led by homicide detectives from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command. 

‘They will pursue every possible line of enquiry to identify those responsible and bring them to justice. 

‘There were hundreds of people in the immediate vicinity when this incident took place. I would urge anyone who saw anything, who has video footage or who has any other information that could assist officers, to come forward.’

Anyone with information can contact the police directly on 101 providing the reference 7478/29AUG. 

The Metropolitan Police Events account tweeted late last night: ‘A Section 60 order is in place within the Notting Hill Carnival footprint and borders. This commenced at 21:24 hours tonight until 01:00 hours 30th August.

‘This is following a number of violent incidents and serious stabbings. Crowds remain within the footprint and wider areas.’

It comes after a Met Police horse died after collapsing while on duty at the carnival on Sunday evening. An investigation has since been launched into Police Horse (PH) Sandown’s death. 

The Met Police said the most recent carnival in 2019 cost it £8.6million to police. The festival does however bring hundreds of thousands of tourists into London and creates an estimated £120million for the economy. 

Notting Hill is the largest street carnival in Europe and an estimated two million people were expected to have attended over the course of the Bank Holiday weekend. 

The carnival first started in 1966, when about 1,000 people attended, and is famous for its celebration of Afro-Caribbean traditions. 

Organisers said last night when it ended: ‘It’s been amazing to have the flamboyance and sounds of Notting Hill Carnival back on the road.

‘Carnival has now officially ended. Thank you all again for making it so special. See you next year!’

London Mayor Sadiq Khan also welcomed its return, saying: ‘I’m delighted that Notting Hill Carnival will be returning to the streets of west London this weekend.

‘This community-led celebration of Caribbean history and culture has become one of the world’s biggest street festivals and part of the very fabric of this city.

‘I urge everyone planning to attend Carnival to arrive early to make the most of this wonderful celebration of our capital’s diversity.’

Street cleaners will also now face daunting task of tackling the piles of rubbish left on the streets after the Notting Hill Carnival over the weekend. 

Roads and streets surrounding the festival in West London were pictured full of piles of rubbish which included a destroyed Transport for London bike and tons of takeaway boxes. 

Dancers dressed in colourful feathered outfits brought the party when it returned to the streets surrounding Notting Hill for the first time in three years.

On Sunday, footage showed the moment a bus stop collapsed during the carnival when a group of revellers danced on its roof. 

A huge crowd watching people on top of the Kensal House bus shelter on Ladbroke Grove were heard to gasp and exclaim in shock as the top gave way and the revellers fell onto the pavement, nearly crushing four people below.

Two people suffered minor injuries but did not need further treatment after the incident, which came at the end of ‘family day’ which saw bright and dazzling costumes as the carnival procession made its way along the streets.

A woman also gave birth in a side street near the festival before paramedics took the mother and her newborn child to hospital. 

Officers were seen comforting the woman before paramedics arrived and took the mother and baby away in an ambulance.

A London Ambulance spokesperson said: ‘We were called at 6.45pm on Sunday August 28 to reports of a person in labour within the footprint of Notting Hill Carnival. 

‘We treated an adult and baby at the scene and took them to hospital as a priority.’

MailOnline has asked for an update on the condition of the mother and baby.

Meanwhile one video showed two men punching each other before being pulled apart by others, after people around them were dancing and singing ‘Don’t Worry About A Thing’ to Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds.

Sunday kicked off with members of the Emancipated Run Crew – dressed in green in tribute to those who died at Grenfell – beginning the parade and marking the official launch of Notting Hill Carnival.

Crowds of young children blowing whistles danced down the streets with their parents in tow. Co-founder of the club Jules Stephenson said: ‘It (the atmosphere) is electric – everyone is so excited about carnival being back.’

The two-day festival has had a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. 

Different sound systems dotted around the streets of West London entertained the dancing crowds as revellers smiled to the booming music.

Small children standing on the doorsteps of their houses waved Jamaican flags and waved at passers-by.

In other parts of the country ‘hooded youths’ ran through the campsites at Reading and Leeds Festival burning chairs and abandoned tents, it has emerged. 

Anyone with information on the Notting Hill Carnival stabbing can contact the Metropolitan Police on 101 with the reference 7478/29AUG. Information can also be provided to Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111