Armed police have descended on an address in north-west London after reports a man has barricaded himself inside a home and is surrounded by “hazardous items”. Roads around Wood End Lane, Northolt, were placed on lockdown shortly before 1am as dozens of police vans and trucks were sent to the scene.
Police say they believe a man may have “dangerous” items inside the address which they have made no attempt to access following fears for his safety.
Police negotiators remain at the scene.
Eighty people have been moved as homes were evacuated and a 200-metre radius has been set up as part of the operation.
A police spokesman said: “Due to concerns for safety of the man at the address and the responding officers, police did not attempt to access the property.
“Police cordons are in place, at a 200-metre radius, to facilitate the ongoing policing operation.
“Armed officers and negotiators are present.
“For safety reasons approximately 80 people have been temporarily re-housed from the immediate area of the address.
“At this stage police believe there is one man inside the address.
“Whilst it is not known what the man has inside the property, police are treating seriously reports that the items could be dangerous and that attempts have been made by the man to prevent access to the address.
“Police are working with the London Ambulance Service; London Fire Brigade and the Local Authority.”
Police said the incident was not terror-related.
Residents in Northolt said they were stunned as they awoke to roads placed on lockdown amid a sea of emergency vehicles.
Steve Carroll, 42, from Hayes, told Get West London armed police had taken over the leisure centre car park after an “emergency” was declared.
He said: “We got there around 8.20am for kids swimming lessons.
“When we arrived there was one car outside with lights on.
By the time we parked in the leisure centre car park and walked round to the entrance there was 3 cars and 3 vans.
“When we were coming out about 9:45am the car park was blocked off by police and there was police cars and vans everywhere. Armed police there too.”
Dr Rekha Elaswarapu told the Standard: “I was driving to the leisure centre at around 7.45am and I just saw police vans everywhere.
“When I eventually got there, five vans were parked at the leisure centre.
We don’t know what is happening.
“I have never seen anything like this on such a mass scale in Northolt.”
lA woman in her 60s was left with broken bones after being dragged along the pavement in a violent robbery in east London.
In the brutal attack in Havering the victim was pulled to the ground by a man in the street and robbed, leaving her with a broken shoulder and fingers.
The suspect, described as “dangerous” by police, stole cash and personal possessions from the woman before fleeing.
Police believe the man, described as white and aged in his mid-20s, was picked up by a waiting black Toyota Yaris which drove him away from the crime scene.
A second man also suspected to be involved in the robbery on Ardleigh Green Road escaped the same way, fleeing to nearby Helen Road before being picked up.
The victim was taken to an east London hospital.
Police have released CCTV of two men wanted in connection with the attack, which took place just before 6.45am on Monday morning.
Detective constable Phil Stokes from Havering CID, said: “This was a brutal robbery that left the woman seriously injured.
“I would hope that anyone who has information about the man in the CCTV would call police.
“This man is dangerous and needs to be caught.”
The footage shows one suspect, believed to be the one to carry out the robbery, wearing a burgundy hooded top and baseball cap.
The second suspect is wearing a green hooded top.
No arrests have been made at this time.
lA man has been charged with murder after an inmate at Pentonville prison was stabbed to death.
Jamal Mahmoud, 21, who had just become a father, died in the attack on October 18 and two others were critically injured.
Basana Kimbembi, 34, was today charged with murder and will be produced from prison to appear at court at a later date.
A second man was also arrested on suspicion of murder but has now been released from police custody and returned to prison.
Enquiries by the Homicide and Major Crime Command continue while the two other injured men – aged 21 and 30 – remain in hospital.
Their injuries are not life-threatening.
A post-mortem examination at Whittington Hospital yesterday revealed the cause of death as a stab wound.
Mahmoud was jailed for six years and six months in July for hiding a loaded Skorpion machine gun and ammunition in a garden in Enfield.
He was already serving five-and-a-half years in prison for a separate robbery.
His family have hit out at the north London prison for “neglecting him”.Speaking on behalf of her mother Hawa, his sister Souzan said: “For her to get a phone call that her son had died in prison is just devastating.
“I blame the prison more than the actual person that done it.
They owed him a duty of care and they just neglected him.
The Prison Governors Association (PGA) claimed Government cuts to staff and resources meant the “tragedy” at the north London prison was “no massive surprise”.It follows a slew of warnings about safety behind bars, while Pentonville was last year singled out by former justice secretary Michael Gove as “the most dramatic example of failure” within the estate.