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A 45-year-old man has been interviewed by police under caution after a video of a confrontation at a shop in Peckham went viral and sparked protests.

Video footage of a woman hitting a man with a shopping basket as he appeared to choke her on Monday provoked anger among people in southeast London who objected to the way he had reacted.

Demonstrators gathered outside the shop on Tuesday afternoon after the video was shared on social media.

The row broke out after the woman was denied a refund and tried to take replacement items from the shop.

Officers visited the shop just after 1.15pm on Monday following reports a woman had attempted to steal items and was prevented from leaving by an employee.

A 31-year-old woman who was arrested on suspicion of assault after the confrontation on Tuesday has been released on bail.

The Metropolitan Police has not identified the man who was questioned on Wednesday but said a 45-year-old has been interviewed under caution.

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Footage shows a violent confrontation between a man, said to be of Asian heritage, and the black woman.

He then appears to grab her by the throat before restraining her by her arms, as she tries to break free from his grasp.

The man who appeared in the clip on Tuesday told ITV that he had been detaining the woman rather than choking her.

Detective Chief Superintendent Seb Adjei-Addoh, local policing commander for Southwark, said: “I would like to thank local people for their patience as we work to establish the full circumstances around the allegations made.

“We continue to examine various clips of footage that depict small sections of the wider incident and are working to establish what offences were committed and by whom.

“My officers will be patrolling Rye Lane today to provide reassurance to the community, I know that this incident will cause concern and I urge anyone who is worried to speak with their local policing team or with officers on patrol.”

London Mayor Sadiq Khan tweeted: “I know Londoners are concerned by the recent events in a shop in Peckham. I’m in touch with the Met Police and am urgently seeking further information.”

Sistah Space, a charity which supports women of African and Caribbean heritage, criticised the police for arresting the woman.

They told Sky News: “What we all saw in that video was traumatic. People do not understand how triggering this is to watch, much less to experience.

“This black woman was attacked and there is no excuse for it, to add insult to injury she was arrested and the perpetrator was left alone at the scene of the crime.

“She has been failed by the police and violently attacked by a criminal with no accountability.”

The charity also shared footage on Instagram showing women chanting “shut it down, shut it down” outside the shop during the protest.

Activist Sayce Holmes-Lewis posted footage on social media urging people to boycott the store and to assemble outside at 2pm to peacefully protest.

“We hit them in the pocket, that’s the only language they understand,” he said.

“Emotions can get the better of us sometimes so it’s important that we keep a lid on emotions and be very clear on our objective today, which is to make sure that we boycott this store and any other store that is going to treat us in a derogatory manner and disrespectful, and extract money from the community and not put anything back in.”

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Mr Holmes-Lewis told Sky News: “I went because I wanted to stand in solidarity with black women abused routinely not protected and supported in the way they should be.

“The protest was peaceful, purposeful and looking for a positive outcome that supports the lady in question.

“[The] point of the protest was to showcase people that treat women in this way, it can’t be done and we will come out in force to support them and if they continue to do this, will take our business elsewhere.”

He added: “The CCTV doesn’t make a difference, the man is 6ft 2ins and twice the size of the lady.

“If no one was there filming and no one to back the lady, who knows what was going to happen. There are levels of violence we are not going to accept, doesn’t warrant what he did.”

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Fourteen children arrested on suspicion of manslaughter over Gateshead fire released on bail

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Fourteen children arrested on suspicion of manslaughter over Gateshead fire released on bail

All 14 children arrested on suspicion of manslaughter after a boy died in a fire have been released on police bail, officers said.

Layton Carr, 14, was found dead near the site of a fire at Fairfield industrial park in the Bill Quay area of Gateshead on Friday.

Northumbria Police said on Saturday that they had arrested 11 boys and three girls in connection with the incident.

In an update on Sunday, a Northumbria Police spokesman said: “All those arrested have since been released on police bail pending further inquiries.”

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Teenager dies in industrial estate fire

Firefighters raced to the industrial site shortly after 8pm on Friday, putting out the blaze a short time later.

Police then issued an appeal for Carr, who was believed to be in the area at that time.

In a statement on Saturday, the force said that “sadly, following searches, a body believed to be that of 14-year-old Layton Carr was located deceased inside the building”.

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David Thompson, headteacher of Hebburn Comprehensive School, where Layton was a pupil, said the school community was “heartbroken”.

Mr Thompson described him as a “valued and much-loved member of Year 9” and said he would be “greatly missed by everyone”.

He added that the school’s “sincere condolences” were with Layton’s family and that the community would “rally together to support one another through this tragedy”.

A fundraising page on GoFundMe has been set up to help Layton’s mother pay for funeral costs.

Pic: Gofundme
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Pic: Gofundme

Organiser Stephanie Simpson said: “The last thing Georgia needs to stress trying to pay for a funeral for her Boy Any donations will help thank you.”

One tribute in a Facebook post read: “Can’t believe I’m writing this my nephew RIP Layton 💔 forever 14 you’ll be a massive miss, thinking of my sister and 2 beautiful nieces right now.”

Detective Chief Inspector Louise Jenkins, of Northumbria Police, also said: “This is an extremely tragic incident where a boy has sadly lost his life.”

She added that the force’s “thoughts are with Layton’s family as they begin to attempt to process the loss of their loved one”.

They are working to establish “the full circumstances surrounding the incident” and officers will be in the area to “offer reassurance to the public”, she added.

A cordon remains in place at the site while police carry out enquiries.

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Football bodies could be forced to pay towards brain injury care costs of ex-players

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Football bodies could be forced to pay towards brain injury care costs of ex-players

Football bodies could be forced to pay towards the care costs of ex-players who have been diagnosed with brain conditions, under proposals set to be considered by MPs.

Campaigners are drafting amendments to the Football Governance Bill, which would treat conditions caused by heading balls as an “industrial injuries issue”.

The proposals seek to require the football industry to provide the necessary financial support.

Campaigners say existing support is not fit for purpose, including the Brain Health Fund which was set up with an initial £1m by the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), supported by the Premier League.

But the Premier League said the fund has supported 121 families with at-home adaptations and care home fees.

From England‘s 1966 World Cup-winning team, both Jack and Bobby Charlton died with dementia, as did Martin Peters, Ray Wilson and Nobby Stiles.

Neil Ruddock speaks to Sky's Rob Harris outside parliament
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Neil Ruddock speaks to Sky’s Rob Harris outside parliament

Ex-players, including former Liverpool defender Neil Ruddock, went to parliament last week to lobby MPs.

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Ruddock told Sky News he had joined campaigners “for the families who’ve gone through hell”.

“A professional footballer, greatest job in the world, but no one knew the dangers, and that’s scary,” he said.

“Every time someone heads a ball it’s got to be dangerous to you. You know, I used to head 100 balls a day in training. I didn’t realise that might affect my future.”

A study co-funded by the PFA and the Football Association (FA) in 2019 found footballers were three and a half times more likely to die of a neurodegenerative disease than members of the public of the same age.

‘In denial’

Among those calling on football authorities to contribute towards the care costs of ex-players who have gone on to develop conditions such as Alzheimer’s and dementia is Labour MP Chris Evans.

Mr Evans, who represents Caerphilly in South Wales, hopes to amend the Bill to establish a care and financial support scheme for ex-footballers and told a recent event in parliament that affected ex-players “deserve to be compensated”.

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, who helped to draft the amendment, said the game was “in denial about the whole thing”.

Mr Burnham called for it to be seen as “an industrial injuries issue in the same way with mining”.

In January, David Beckham lent his support to calls for greater support for footballers affected by dementia.

One of the amendments says that “the industry rather than the public should bear the financial burden”.

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A spokesperson for the FA said it was taking a “leading role in reviewing and improving the safety of our game” and that it had “already taken many proactive steps to review and address potential risk factors”.

An English Football League spokesperson said it was “working closely with other football bodies” to ensure both professional and grassroots football are “as safe as it can be”.

The PFA and Premier League declined to comment.

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Terror arrests came in context of raised warnings about Iran, with ongoing chaos in its own backyard

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Terror arrests came in context of raised warnings about Iran, with ongoing chaos in its own backyard

These are two separate and unrelated investigations by counter-terror officers.

But the common thread is nationality – seven out of the eight people arrested are Iranian.

And that comes in the context of increased warnings from government and the security services about Iranian activity on British soil.

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Counter terror officers raid property

Last year, the director general of MI5, Ken McCallum, said his organisation and police had responded to 20 Iran-backed plots presenting potentially lethal threats to British citizens and UK residents since January 2022.

He linked that increase to the ongoing situation in Iran’s own backyard.

“As events unfold in the Middle East, we will give our fullest attention to the risk of an increase in – or a broadening of – Iranian state aggression in the UK,” he said.

The implication is that even as Iran grapples with a rapidly changing situation in its own region, having seen its proxies, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, decimated and itself coming under Israeli attack, it may seek avenues further abroad.

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The government reiterated this warning only a few weeks ago, with security minister Dan Jarvis addressing parliament.

“The threat from Iran sits in a wider context of the growing, diversifying and evolving threat that the UK faces from malign activity by a number of states,” Jarvis said.

“The threat from states has become increasingly interconnected in nature, blurring the lines between: domestic and international; online and offline; and states and their proxies.

“Turning specifically to Iran, the regime has become increasingly emboldened, asserting itself more aggressively to advance their objectives and undermine ours.”

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As part of that address, Jarvis highlighted the National Security Act 2023, which “criminalises assisting a foreign intelligence service”, among other things.

So it was notable that this was the act used in one of this weekend’s investigations.

The suspects were detained under section 27 of the same act, which allows police to arrest those suspected of being “involved in foreign power threat activity”.

Those powers are apparently being put to use.

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