At 2.30pm on a Sunday, bloody machete fight by teenage gang rivals at a packed shopping mall
TEENAGE gang members square up to one another with machetes and large knives in a packed shopping centre before one collapses with a gaping leg wound.
The shocking CCTV pictures show trails of blood left across the floor as families flee for cover.
The latest example of Wild West Britain emerged as three teenagers were jailed over the fight, which involved a machete, hunting knife and large kitchen knife.
The video footage of the 2.30pm Sunday showdown at The Mall in Luton shows the trio confront each other before Che Stephens, 18, launches an attack on two of his gang rivals.
He stabs Imani Pobi Da Silva with a large kitchen knife, before the 17-yearold’s accomplice Luca Sanni lunges at Stephens with a machete.
After Sanni’s blow misses and his blade falls to the floor, Stephens chases Sanni, 18, and stabs him in the thigh.
Stephens then attempts to deliver a second blow before calmly fleeing through a passageway, taking Sanni’s machete with him.
Pobi Da Silva and Sanni stagger through the centre – known for many years as the Arndale – before being stopped by security guards.
The footage shows blood weeping from Pobi Da Silva’s arm and Sanni collapsing on the floor, as the pair leave a trail behind them.
Luton Crown Court heard police investigating the case were expecting it to turn into a murder inquiry because of the severity of Sanni’s wound.
He was saved by a former Army medic who applied a tourniquet to his leg, before he received life- saving treatment at hospital. Pobi Da Silva was also treated in hospital for a deep arm wound that went through his muscle.
Both were arrested in hospital and Stephens was arrested at an address in North London.
The court had heard that the three defendants were ‘ dangerously armed’ on the January afternoon.
Martin Mulgrew, prosecuting, said: ‘The groups encountered each other outside Greggs. There was clear hostility between Stephens and Sanni.
‘There was some squaring up by Sanni who was getting into the face of Stephens.
‘The knife fight was instigated by Stephens. He bent his arm, reached to his waistband and produced a large kitchen knife and stabbed Mr Pobi Da Silva in the left arm.’
Judge Barbara Mensah told the trio: ‘The horrific spectacle was not taking place in a cinema or down a dark alley away from the public gaze.
‘You decided to fight it out in broad daylight in middle of the day in a busy shopping centre in front of families and children.
‘You showed a disregard for the public – a sign of your warped view of society that you are above the law.’
She rejected their claim that the violence had been over an exgirlfriend, saying: ‘Who knows why you chose to meet? It may have been money, drugs, territory, gangs – only the three of you know.’ Judge Mensah highlighted the 26 per cent rise in knife crime across the country last year, with 36,998 offences committed in the year to June. Stephens, of Bedford, was jailed for seven-and-ahalf years after pleading guilty to possession of a knife and wounding with intent.
He has seven previous convictions for attempted robbery, arson and criminal damage. Sanni, of Luton, was jailed for five years. He was found guilty of attempted grievous bodily harm and affray.
He had pleaded guilty to possessing a knife. Pobi Da Silva, now 18, of Luton, was jailed for a year after being found guilty of possession of a knife.
WILD WEST BRITAIN