Read more here:

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3 August 23 - "Anger over 'traumatising' police raid at Ridley Road Market" in: Hackney Gazette

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2 August 23 - "Anger over 'traumatising' police raid at Ridley Road Market" in: Times Series

 

27 July 23 - "Ridley Road, Hackney: Mass police raid ‘traumatising’ say traders, as police say ‘cannabis and knives’ seized" - in: London World

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26 July 23 - Save Ridley Road's Press Release

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Urgent questions after massive police raid on Ridley Road Shopping Village

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At 4 p.m., Friday 21 July, police conducted a large raid of Ridley Road Shopping Village, handcuffing and searching traders and customers and confiscating large sums of money. Traders report a minimum of 50 officers were involved in the operation, making it one of the largest to take place on Ridley Road in recent memory. The search of their shops and storage spaces continued for four hours. Police confiscated small quantities of cannabis, but also traders’ phones, laptops and money, including rent money due to the Shopping Village landlord the next day. One trader had a piggy bank of small change that he used to save for holidays confiscated. Arrested traders were given no receipts for money and goods taken by police, and have been told to report back to Stoke Newington Police Station in October. They report that the attending officers stated that Hackney Council has been pushing for the raid ‘since March’.    

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Concerns about the background to the raid

The police raid comes at an important moment for the Shopping Village. Hackney Council is soon to take over the lease for the ground floor retail units. It is currently debating with traders the terms on which they will rent their shops from the Council. Local campaign groups have raised questions about the timing of the raid and the manner in which it was conducted. Save Ridley Road member Danny Hayward said,

“The suggestion that the Council has been pushing for a major police intervention in the Shopping Village is alarming. This needs to be seen in the context of its attempt to get traders who have been trading there for many years, to  give up their existing rights and accept licences with no security of tenure and 250 regulations controlling the conduct of their businesses. At best it is bad timing; at worst it is a form of harassment. The Council need to clarify their role in the raid, and Hackney police need to disclose the terms of their application for a search warrant and provide traders with receipts for all money and goods that have been confiscated.”

One of the traders described their treatment as “intimidating, disrespectful and traumatising”.