Notting Hill Carnival: Man, 21, fatally stabbed as police launch murder investigation
Notting Hill Carnival was rocked by a fatal stabbing yesterday, as police launched a murder investigation.
Officers responded to reports of the incident at 10pm on Monday in Ladbroke Grove, under the Westway flyover.
The victim is a 21-year-old man who was given first aid by police before ambulance services removed him from significant crowds.
He was pronounced dead after being taken to a nearby west London Hospital.
Every year tens-of-thousands of people attend the Notting Hill Carnival, a celebration of the capital’s Afro-Caribbean culture, but it has occasionally been marred by gang and drug-related violence.
This year the Prince of Wales attended the carnival to mark its return since the pandemic, as the majority of the event went by without incident.
However at this year’s carnival, police reported 209 arrests, including for 36 instances of drug possession, 46 assaults, 33 for having an offensive weapon, eight for sexual assault and 27 public order offences.
Dr Alison Heydari, Commander of Local Policing, said: “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.
“A murder investigation is under way, led by homicide detectives from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command.
“There were hundreds of people in the immediate vicinity when this incident took place.”