Fears raised that a crowd crush at Notting Hill Carnival is ‘only a matter of time’

Crowd crush experts are ‘gobsmacked Notting Hill Carnival can still go ahead’ as long-standing attendees vow they won’t feel safe going again.

One million people are expected to attend the annual event in west London this bank holiday weekend to celebrate Caribbean culture.

But the Metropolitan Police and the Mayor of London have expressed fears there is the real risk of a mass casualty event.

Lauren Daisy-Jones, who went to the famous carnival in west London for 18 years, said she decided to no longer go after seeing ‘babies in prams lifted out of packed crowds’.

She told Metro: ‘I last went two years ago, and it was just insane. It just all becomes a bottleneck, particularly around Westbourne Park

‘I vividly remember how packed it was, and seeing babies in prams being lifted high in the air as the parents tried to get out. The police were standing to the side not moving, but what could they do?’

And experts have agreed the likelihood of there being a serious crush is high.

Steve Allen, who has worked as an expert witness for major crushes including at Astroworld and Brixton Academy, said major injury or death at the carnival is ‘entirely possible’.

Heading to this year’s carnival? Click here for road closures and where you’ll find travel disruption.

He told Metro: ‘I hope it goes safely, and there are incidents at every kind of large-scale event.

‘But when a serious crush happens, experts have to determine whether it was foreseeable or not – and a crush at Notting Hill Carnival is 100% foreseeable.

‘If anything, it is just a matter of time.’

Steve, who is CEO at Crowd Safety, explained the carnival is like a three-way motorway merging into one – forming bottlenecks on the narrow residential road.

‘That’s when you start seeing images of people pushed against the sides,’ he said. ‘And it gets worse when people or floats stop, but no one further back knows so they keep pushing forward.’

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said images of the crowds last year ‘made him feel frightened’.

Met commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, added: ‘Even though there are crime risks, we are more worried about the crowd risks.

‘We try to reduce the risk of a Hillsborough-type [disaster] but we’re mitigating something that is unsatisfactory.’

A report, produced by Conservative member of the London Assembly Susan Hall, found the event must be ticketed to ‘avoid a Hillsborough-type disaster’.

But Notting Hill Carnival organisers said they use a number of experts to help run the event, and had 3,300 stewards on duty last year.

Matthew Phillip, chief executive of the event, said this year’s was ‘better resourced than ever.’

He added extra funding had allowed them to deploy more stewards and crowd experts to help manage the streams of people.

Chairman Ian Comfort has asked Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy for more funding to help protect the event.

Jacqueline McKenzie, a campaigner and human rights lawyer who helped victims of the Windrush scandal, said the carnival holds ‘huge national and international significance’.

‘The Government needs to recognise this and act urgently to protect it,’ Ms McKenzie said.

It comes after two people were killed at last year’s event, including Cher Maximen who was fatally stabbed in front of her three-year-old daughter.

Dubai-based chef Mussie Imnetu was also attacked and sustained fatal head injuries.

Officers arrested 100 people as part of an operation to ensure the safety of all those attending Notting Hill Carnival.

As part of the operation, officers seized 11 firearms and more than 40 knives.

Some 266 people now either have police bail or probation licence conditions not to come to Carnival this year.

Commander Charmain Brenyah, the Met’s spokesperson for Carnival, said: ‘The vast majority come to have fun and enjoy themselves, to celebrate Caribbean culture, to dance, to eat and to go home with nothing but good memories.

‘Regrettably we know a minority come with less positive intentions and in recent years this has played out in the form of serious violence including three tragic incidents where lives have been taken.

‘The actions of this minority are totally at odds with the values of those who care passionately about Carnival and we acknowledge those, including the event organisers, who have stood up to condemn violence and serious criminality in the run up to this weekend.’

Metro has contacted Notting Hill Carnival for comment.

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