Oxford Street C-store owner fought off 12 attackers to save shop

The owner of a convenience store in Soho tackled about 12 people who had allegedly stormed his shop trying to steal.

The incident happened on Wednesday (9) when Oxford Street saw wide rampage of shops by youth reportedly after social media videos urged people to turn up and cause disruption on the street. The disorder followed recent disturbances near the seafront in Southend, Essex.

Young people gathered in groups, mixing in with tourists and shoppers, with many of them even filming the chaos. Some shops on Oxford Street and Regent Street closed their barriers as attempts were made to get inside. At those that stayed open, security guards stood at the entrances deciding who could go in.

A McDonald’s restaurant and a gift shop were briefly attacked and several fights broke out among those gathered. The owner of a convenience store in Soho had to fight off about a dozen young people after they stormed his shop allegedly trying to steal items.

There was a large police presence in Oxford Street later that afternoon, with mounted officers and police vans on the road and on side streets. Baton-wielding police clashed with dozens of people while officers on horseback dispersed crowds.

Nine people were arrested after police issued 34 people with dispersal orders. One person was arrested on suspicion of going equipped to steal, one on suspicion of assaulting a police officer, one for a public offence, four others on suspicion of breaching the dispersal order.

Meanwhile, Home Secretary Suella Braverman has said that those responsible for the disorder seen in London’s Oxford Street area should be “hunted down and locked up”.

“We cannot allow the kind of lawlessness seen in some American cities to come to the streets of the UK,” said Braverman.

“The police have my full backing to do whatever necessary to ensure public order. Those responsible must be hunted down and locked up,” Mrs Braverman said. “I expect nothing less from the Metropolitan Police and have requested a full incident report.”