Man tries to stop knifeman as cops watch - Independent Online

This is the dramatic moment a shopper tried to trip up a knifeman fleeing after a student was stabbed at the Notting Hill Carnival.

As the youth dashed past, still clutching a bloodied blade, the brave have-a-go hero attempted to floor him in front of police who stood motionless just a few feet away.

Laden with bags and clutching his camera, the unnamed man stuck his leg out - but the suspect managed to skip past him and make his getaway.

The extraordinary image also shows victim Rio Andre, 20, staggering in the background, his face contorted in pain as blood pours through his T-shirt.

The Hertfordshire University student collapsed after being knifed in the abdomen and hand in front of horrified revellers just an hour before the festivities came to a close on Monday evening.

Seconds after the photograph was taken, two officers from Dyfed Powys Police, drafted in to help Scotland Yard during the event, gave chase. But the knifeman outran them both, dropping the blade in the process.

Last night detectives were quizzing a 16-year-old boy arrested on suspicion of carrying out the brutal assault in Ladbroke Grove, West London. Four other men, all aged 20 or 21, were bailed yesterday.

After the incident, police searching youths in the street found one had come wearing a stab vest as he expected there to be bloodshed. Officers believe the daylight stabbing followed a drunken row between rival gangs.

A witness said: "One minute there were people on floats and kids playing steel drums and the next a guy lying in a pool of blood on the floor. It was pretty horrific.

"It initially looked like a bit of a drunken brawl and everyone had pushed back in a circle to get out of the way.

"Then I saw the guy on the ground and a bloke sprint past with a knife. A friend of the victim started going crazy. He ripped off his top and belt and started swinging it around, attacking officers and screaming."

Madonna Momoh, 30, who filmed the scene, said the friend of the victim was "completely overcome" and had to be restrained by police.

Last night Mr Andre's parents, from Hornchurch, Essex, were at his hospital bedside, where he was in a serious but stable condition after undergoing surgery.

A close friend, who gave his name as Emmanuel, said: "There was no reason for him to be attacked."

Police also appealed for the heroic shopper to come forward, as officers believe he may have witnessed the stabbing. - Daily Mail