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Safety fears as violence escalates close to London Stadium

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MacheteA 21-year-old man was shot after a group of men opened fire on a car Biggerstaff Road on the Carpenters housing estate in Stratford last night as West Ham played Shrewsbury in the London Stadium a short distance away.

The victim managed to crawl out of the car and was found a short distance away by paramedics called to the scene at around 10.15pm. Officers from the Met’s trident and area crime command are investigating the shooting and are appealing for information.

Supporters leaving the Stadium after the West Ham win last night found Carpenters road closed with armed police swarming around the area.

Although the incident is not thought to be football related it is the latest of a worrying trend of violence in Stratford close to West Ham’s new home.  Last month a Met football police patrol on duty for the West Ham v West Brom match stopped and arrested an individual acting suspiciously close to the London Stadium and recovered a large machete.

knive2On Boxing day eleven people were arrested after a brawl broke out at Westfield in Stratford between knife-wielding “rival” gangs. Dramatic footage posted on social media showed cops confronting the hooded youths as they clashed at the shopping centre close to the Stadium. Police says two knives that were recovered after the brawl.

In September last year, a 15-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm in connection to the attack which saw six people injured, including two West Ham fans, when they were sprayed with acid near the Stratford Shopping Centre on the evening of West Ham v Spurs match at the London Stadium.

While none of these incidents are said to be football related the safety concern must be that of the 57,000 fans visiting the area every fortnight who could unwittingly become caught up in local gang incidents.

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I am Season Ticket Holder in West stand lower at the London Stadium and before that, I used to stand in the Sir Trevor Brooking Lower Row R seat 159 in the Boleyn Ground and in the Eighties I stood on the terraces of the old South Bank. I am a presenter on the West Ham Podcast called MooreThanJustaPodcast.co.uk. A Blogger on WestHamTillIdie.com a member of the West Ham Supporters Advisory Board (SAB), Founder of a Youtube channel called Mr West Ham Football at http://www.youtube.com/MrWestHamFootball,

I am also the associate editor here at Claret and Hugh.

Life Long singer of bubbles! Come on you Irons!

Follow me at @Westhamfootball on twitter

0 comments

  • cas_blue says:

    That’s because everywhere in the immediate vicinity outside the park is a f**king dump. “You can’t polish a turd but you can cover it in glitter”.

  • Dave says:

    Anyone from around the area knows its always been the same. If you tracked the news when we were at Upton Park, you would have seen a weekly occurrence in East Ham or Plaistow.
    As CAS BLUE says above, its not nice but that’s the real London.

  • Essexirons says:

    Isn’t this kind of article that media outlets love trying to bash us with at every opportunity?

  • mooro66uk says:

    None of these incidents took place on the waste land around the stadium. Wish they had. Instead it was Westfield, Stratford shopping centre, Stratford high street and the Carpenters estate. Not football related.

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