Former Met officer demands Notting Hill Carnival be 'abolished or moved' as 330 banned and robbery gang raided


Ex-Met officer Norman Brennan has urged that the Notting Hill Carnival be scrapped or relocated, arguing it has "gone too far" in the wake of 525 recorded crimes at last year's event. Brennan, who served at the carnival as both a frontline constable and a detective, said it was indefensible that the public are now warned to treat sexual assault as a near-certainty. More than 330 people have had bail conditions imposed barring them from attending, and Scotland Yard has raided a gang suspected of targeting the festival for robberies. The Met will deploy over 7,000 officers across the bank holiday weekend in one of its largest peacetime operations.
Brennan said officers 'can't wait for the event to finish', describing it as 'full of murders, stabbings, rapes and serious assaults.'
Known sex offenders have been prohibited from attending, and dozens of zombie knives confiscated ahead of the 60th anniversary carnival.
Residents on Portobello Road have boarded up their homes and shops, with locals saying they face people being 'sick in our garden' every year.
