Southend Brawl: Teens Hurt, Police Deploy Extra Units

0:00On May 2nd, a massive brawl broke out in Southon's High Street Friday night around 7.50pm, pulling in about 30 young people. Two teenagers got knife wounds to their faces, nothing life-threatening but serious enough for hospital trips. Police nabbed a 15-year-old boy on suspicion of Grievous bodily harm, and he's still in custody getting grilled by detectives. To keep things calm over the bank holiday weekend, Essex Police is sending an extra officer Saturday evening, including their operational support, group and dog units for street patrols. Folks on the scene were shaken up, with witnesses left frightened by the chaos. Local policing inspector Penny McQuade called it totally unacceptable, stressing Southon stays open for fun in business, but shut down for crime and trouble makers. Those facial injuries could change lives for those kids and others got hurt too. Right now, a dispersal order covers High Street, Queensway, to Hamlet Court Road, and the seafront until 8pm Sunday, letting cops wreck up groups.

1:01There's also a search order to 8.45pm Sunday, so officers can check people and cars for weapons without needing suspicion. Detectives are pouring over CCTV and phone footage to ID more suspects, and they're thanking the community for quick calls that helped. If you've got info or clips, hit up Essex Police with Incident 1298 from May 1st to keep the town safe.