Brawl between orthodox Jews and traffic warden in Stamford Hill probed by police

A still from footage of the incident which has been circulating online

Police are probing an extraordinary mass brawl involving orthodox Jews and a traffic warden in Stamford Hill and are appealing for witnesses to come forward.

Footage of the incident, which happened shortly before 2pm on Monday in Leaside Road, has been circulating online, as has an unsubstantiated allegation that the traffic warden ran someone over.

Hackney Council has said the warden did nothing wrong and was subjected to “significant and unprovoked levels of intimidation, threats and harassment” in the run up to the incident.

The warden was apparently a contractor working for company APCOA, which said it would not tolerate abuse of its staff and would press for criminal charges against offenders wherever possible.

Videos published online show a group of men dressed in Hassidic Jewish attire apparently trying to undertake a citizens arrest. Parking has been a contentious issue in Stamford Hill, and the council recently brought in new controls in the area.

Scotland Yard today confirmed four men, aged in their 20s and 30s, suffered minor injuries during the incident. They did not require hospital treatment.

A 30-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm and was taken to a north London police station. He was subsequently bailed pending further enquiries to a date in mid-February.

Superintendent Jo Edwards from the Hackney branch of the Met said: “The footage circulating online at the moment only shows a snapshot of what happened, which is why it is important for people to come forward.

“We are aware of comments being made on social media and we want to make it clear that we take all allegations of crime seriously and a full investigation will be carried out to establish the full facts of the incident.”

Update: 1:10pm Friday 20 January 2017:

A spokesperson for APCOA, the parking management company, said: “APCOA takes the safety of our workers very seriously. We’re aware of an incident that occurred in Hackney on Monday 16 January.

“Some of the video footage being circulated on the internet is unrepresentative and does not cover the incident in its entirety.

“Our civil enforcement officer had a body-worn camera. That footage gives context to the incident, including the intimidation and violence our employee was subjected to. The police are investigating this incident, and APCOA are assisting in that investigation.

“We have shared our body-worn camera footage with the police to help them in their enquiries. We will not tolerate abuse of any kind against our staff, and we press for criminal charges to be brought against offenders wherever possible.”

Any witnesses or anyone with information can contact police via 101 or @MetCC. Information can also be reported anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online at crimestoppers-uk.org