Chaos And Mayhem In Clapham, London

A Clapham security guard has described the moment he was forced to lock customers inside the store as mobs of feral youths ran wild.

The Metropolitan Police warned of more Easter holiday ‘linkups’ as teens tore through south London once again on Tuesday evening, with terrified families barricaded inside high street stores in the latest wave of chaos.

Clips circulating on social media showed throngs of children assembling in the area, terrorising locals and forcing shops to close.

Police cars could be seen desperately attempting to move through the mob of rioters who took to the streets in broad daylight on Tuesday afternoon, responding to a social media trend motivating teens to ‘linkup’ en masse. 

The force confirmed two teenage girls were arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker, and a dispersal order has been put in place.

Marks and Spencer on the high street – which was looted by a similar flash mob over the weekend, leading to two arrests – closed early amid fears of a further raid on its aisles.

A security guard working for the supermarket told the Daily Mail he had to lock shoppers in for a short while, before gradually allowing them to be escorted out by officers. 

Mohammed said, ‘Police warned us there would be chaos, so we prepared for it because of what happened last Saturday.

‘There were loads of kids sprinting and shouting, and police advised all the shops to close for one hour.’

He added that the supermarket decided instead to just close for the day and not reopen, but some shoppers remained inside. 

‘Police knew roughly the time today,’ he said. ‘They said it would start at around 4 pm, so they were here since midday. But the chaos happened at 7 pm.

‘We had to lock shoppers in, at 8.15 pm, we let them out one by one with police and security holding the doors shut and escorting them out.

‘Shoppers were very scared. There was one lady with a pram and a baby. She was terrified, but police escorted her to safety.’

Mohammed added that the rioters targeted a branch of Boots, which was not as well prepared for the chaos as other shops.

Meanwhile, a local Waitrose also closed its doors, attaching a ‘police advised’ closure notice onto its front door, and Boots was targeted ‘very badly’, according to witnesses.

Additional footage showed massive gatherings of young people wearing balaclavas outside a nearby McDonald’s restaurant while both marked and unmarked police vehicles hurried to the situation.

Families were reportedly ‘barricaded’ inside a local Sainsbury’s as teenagers, many of whom dressed in all black, claimed control of the busy high street.

Due to the disturbance caused by the mob, McDonald’s and Sainsbury’s were both forced to close early.

By 10.30 pm, the furore had died down, with police able to disperse a majority of the participants.

Workers at local shops said they were ‘scared’ as chaos reigned along the heaving road with cars coming to a deadlock and commuters ducking for cover, or opting to film the scene using their smartphones. 

Fires were spotted glowing on the fields of Clapham Common as police swooped in to extinguish them, sending smoke billowing into the air.

Dozens of officers broke into the enormous gathering of teens in a bid to disperse the mob, but most of the participants seemed to maintain their ground. 

The riot raged on into the evening, with about 60 teenagers facing off with police trying to disperse participants.

Officers arrived in four vehicles, including two vans, to separate a mob gathering outside the Commons’ basketball courts, but numerous teens just dashed past them while others shouted jibes at cops as they walked past.

On the street and in the park, young people congregated into frighteningly huge groups, lime bikes were strewn all over the place, and a cannabis odour pervaded the air.

‘It felt like Notting Hill carnival,’ the security guard said. ‘I’ve only seen something similar happen during the carnival when I worked at the Notting Hill branch.’

An employee at Roosters Spot chicken shop said, ‘Police told us to shut our shop, and after we reopened, we were warned not to let any kids come in today.

‘We were scared because we heard groups of 10 to 15 of them were coming into shops, running about, picking up trays and smashing stuff at walls.’

A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said: ‘Police are responding to an ongoing incident on Clapham High Street following reports of a large crowd of young people causing anti-social behaviour.

‘Officers are on the scene, and a dispersal order has been put in place, meaning anyone congregating must leave the area.

‘At this time, two teenage girls have been arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker. They have been taken into custody.

‘Officers will remain in the area to offer support and respond to any concerns from local residents and businesses.’

It comes after a mass ‘linkup’ that saw a wild mob of youths run riot in an M&S store and terrorise the streets of Clapham on Saturday, which was arranged in advance online on yet another day in Lawless London.

Police were forced to issue a dispersal order, and two 16-year-old girls and one 15-year-old girl were arrested for shoplifting and assault during the crazed assemblage of over 100 teenagers.

Footage posted on social media showed police officers watching on as an army of feral youngsters stormed through the supermarket.

Officers tried to control the frenzied crowd as they pushed each other while running down the frozen food aisle before a fight broke out that left one girl in tears.

Other videos showed them running through the high street, screeching and screaming as confused witnesses stood frozen in fear.

They also ambushed other shops in the area, including a Sainsbury’s, where a young girl was filmed hitting a police officer, and another person was seen running out of the shop and away from officers. 

Videos and comments from teenagers who attended suggest the meet-up was arranged on social media, with many calling it ‘the Clapham courts linkup’ and others just referring to it as ‘Clapham courts’ or ‘courts’.

‘I was gonna go, but none of my friends wanted to go,’ said one comment.

The disorderly scenes occurred on the first day of the Easter break, sparking worries that this would occur again when young people in Britain are not in school.

Another video showing two girls smiling and dancing at home appeared to be referencing tonight’s second ‘linkup’ with a caption reading: ‘How we feel knowing it’s gonna be live at Clapham Courts on Tuesday.’

Footage showed Saturday’s large gathering initially meeting up at Clapham Common netball and basketball courts before spilling out onto the streets as the atmosphere became increasingly chaotic.

A clip of the incident has since gone viral on social media, with viewers branding the ordeal yet another example of lawless London.

A Met Police spokesperson said of Saturday’s mob incident: ‘Tackling shoplifting and anti-social behaviour continues to be a priority for the Met, and we’re doing more to take action against offenders and support local businesses.

‘This proactive approach saw a 44 per cent increase in arrests last year, while shoplifting across London fell by four per cent.

‘At around 16:45hrs on Saturday, 28 March, police responded to reports of a group of around 100 young people causing anti-social behaviour and stealing from a number of businesses on Clapham High Street.

‘Officers imposed a dispersal order and made three arrests. Three girls, two aged 16 and one 15-year-old girl, were arrested for shoplifting and assault. They have since been bailed.’

This is just disregard for law and order, and it has gotten to the point where far more police is required. The police must take back control of our streets by all means necessary; if they don’t, things will get far worse. Forget about monitoring social media posts.

The UK is well and truly broken, and our police force is an embarrassment, and our Labour government has lost control of everything – we actually have no real leaders!

Mark my words, this is just the beginning, but then this is what happens when you take discipline out of the classroom, and away from parents who have now become lazy because our government has taken a generation of children and made them loyal to our government. Is it only an ordinary person like me who can only see everything that is wrong, while our government just buries its head in the sand?

Spineless government, spineless police, spineless judges – this is the end of the UK as we knew it, and this is the first step toward complete civil unrest! But this is all part of Starmer’s Britain, and of course, he will blame others for it, but of course, this all began well before this government got in, and austerity didn’t help or the complacency of the Tories.