Hooded thugs ‘armed with combat blades’ brawl outside shop in Shoreditch

THIS is the shocking moment a group of hooded youths allegedly carrying combat knives fought on a high street in east London.

Video footage showed the masked thugs brawling outside an off-licence in Shoreditch.

One was shoved to the ground as punches rained down on him, before he was able to get up and seek refuge in a neighbouring shop. Witnesses said at least three people involved in the fight were armed with “combat knives”.

A 22-year-old man was found with stab wounds after the attack in Old Street at around 12.40am on Sunday. His injuries were not life-threatening.

Ricky Shea Lancaster, who filmed the video, told the Standard: “We heard people shouting… it started off as a oneon-one, but then more people got involved and they started throwing punches at each other.

“It went from zero to a hundred. More people ran over wielding big knives. We saw at least three people carrying combat knives. They started slashing and stabbing at each other.”

The 26-year-old student added: “We could hear shouting and profanity. We didn’t know what it was about but some- one was shouting, ‘It’s his, it’s his area’. It was in the middle of a high street. That was quite shocking. When they started whipping out these massive knives in the middle of the street it was intimidating.”

Detectives are linking the incident to another report of a robbery and a stabbing in Turin Street about 50 minutes earlier when another 22-yearold man was injured. He was not seriously hurt.

Scotland Yard said three people — one aged 16 and two aged 18 — had been arrested and charged with offences in connection with both attacks.

Meanwhile, a man in his early thirties was fighting for his life in hospital after being beaten up in a street in east London early this morning.

The man was assaulted during a fight in Martha Street, Shadwell, at about 2.54am. Three men have been arrested and were being questioned in custody today.

Police said the victim was being treated for a head injury at an east London hospital where his condition was said to be critical.

Two other men were stabbed in separate incidents in London. A 29-year-old man was treated and released from an east London hospital, and a man in his forties remained in a stable condition.

TV PRESENTER Susanna Reid today said she had been mugged at knifepoint but had angrily chased her attacker up the street.The Good Morning Britain host, 47, said the knifeman “slashed” the straps of her bag and cut through her coat as she walked through Brixton.She spoke about the experience while discussing an attack on a female police officer who was kicked into the path of a bus while trying to defend a colleague in Merton on Saturday.Reid said: “I got mugged once by a guy with a knife and my instinct was to run after him … It’s not rational and obviously it was dangerous, but he got scared and dropped my bag.”Co-presenter Piers Morgan was shocked on hearing of Reid’s ordeal and said: “You chased them down?”She replied: “Yes, I was incandescent. He slashed my bag and coat with a knife and ran off. I was driven by fight or flight but I wouldn’t advise anyone else to do that.”The mugger was never caught asReid was unable to pick him out in an ID parade. “I think it was red mist. I wasn’t really looking at him. I was just acting on instinct,” she added. Attack: video footage shows a group of youths, allegedly holding knives, fighting outside an off-licence