A large scale “beach party” that got out of control in Southend could spark the start of more large-scale gatherings, police have said. Essex Police have issued a warning about the potential for more trouble in the seaside town following a night of chaos.
Eight people were arrested and seven had weapons confiscated after the huge bash attracted people from London and other parts of Essex, some of which were armed.
Despite having intelligence about the event, officers were not expecting the crowd to splinter into smaller groups and engage in fights. Two of those arrested needed hospital treatment for their injuries.
Chief Superintendent Leighton Hammett said: “There is intelligence about similar gatherings taking place over the next five days and we are preparing for those.
“We will take the learning from Tuesday and make sure we have that in place to keep people safe,” reports Essex Live.
“The information we initially had was that it was a group of young people coming to Southend to enjoy themselves and have a party. We have to think about traffic management but there was no reason to suggest the violence we saw was going to play out.
“Working assumption I have now is sadly we will have other people with a criminal intent who will come and commit crime and disorder. That was something we were not expecting but has since played out.
“We will think about how we respond based on how these things could happen, which was not something we anticipated on Tuesday.”
Nigel Farage, the MP for nearby Clacton in Essex, posted on social media in the aftermath of the incidents. He said: “Machete fights in Southend tonight. Our country is being destroyed, our values trashed and the public on the point of revolt.”
Responding to the Clacton MP's comments, Chief Supt. Hammett said: “I'm a dad and I have young children. My children and many others do still have good values but there is a proportion of young people, whether through exploitation or other criminal means, are happy to carry knives. They may not come with the intent of using them, but when situations become volatile they might.
“There is a societal issue here. We are committed with our partners and some of our figures show we are doing stuff right. We need society's help. It's not just us it's education, employers, businesses, parents.
“There's a wider issue about how we need to make people realize it's not a good thing to carry a knife and what the ramifications are.”