Blades on a bus, gun in street: UK’s Wild West
AN eight-inch knife and a sword are brandished in a fight on a bus, while a gun is pointed at a policeman in a street confrontation.
These terrifying images are the latest showing incidents of lawlessness in Wild West Britain.
Rush-hour commuters told how they cowered in horror when two youths on the top deck of a bus tried to stab each other in a fight that lasted around five minutes.
As the pair brawled in the aisle, a third teenager holding a 3ft-long steel pole with a pointed tip stood guard on the bus staircase to prevent either from fleeing.
One passenger hid behind a seat when the youths started ‘swinging around weapons like crazy’ during the ride through Streatham in south London on Thursday afternoon.
He said: ‘I have caught that bus for four years and for it to happen in broad daylight was shocking. I’m still shaking from it.’
A commuter who captured the fight on camera said: ‘The kids with the knives came on the bus in Streatham. I couldn’t believe
‘Swinging around weapons like crazy’
it was happening. They left after about five minutes of back-and-forth.’
Another passenger who was sitting downstairs and heard the fight said: ‘I was just sitting still, hoping it didn’t become deadly.’
Police were called around 4.40pm when the bus driver stopped but the boys, both wearing black puffer jackets with their faces covered, fled before officers arrived. There have been no arrests and no reported injuries.
Meanwhile, the gun incident happened just after 7.30am yesterday when a driver being pursued by a police motorcyclist for failing to stop crashed near a Tube station in Mornington Crescent, north London.
Footage posted online shows the motorist pull the weapon from his waistband and drop it before retrieving it and taking aim at the policeman wielding a Taser.
The officer, who is attached to the parliamentary and diplomatic protection command, stepped back as the gunman aimed at his face but managed to discharge his Taser and swiftly detain him. The gun is suspected to be a replica firearm but the officer did not know this at the time. It was later taken away for examination.
Metropolitan Police Chief Superintendent Roy Smith said: ‘The officer’s actions in the circumstances are nothing short of incredible.
‘He had no idea if the item being pointed at him was a replica or a lethal weapon and yet he maintained his composure and detained the suspect.’
He added: ‘Each day police officers… put themselves in danger to protect Londoners. This is a perfect example of the bravery and selflessness that they exhibit so often.’
The armed suspect was taken to hospital yesterday before being arrested on suspicion of possessing a firearm.
The incidents come days after Scotland Yard hailed its success tackling violence.
The force claimed knife crime was down by 32 per cent and gun crime by 35 per cent last year compared with 2019.
Analysis of the force’s figures shows that in fact violence overall rose 6 per cent last year compared with 2020 and the number of violent crimes solved fell by 20 per cent.
Last year was the worst on record for teenage killings in London, with 30 deaths.