Did the students bring dangerous weapons into City law firm?
The London office of international law firm Pinsent Masons has undertaken a “thorough review” of its security procedures after six of the firm’s CV workshop students started a huge knife fight that put part of the Square Mile on police lockdown.
The incident — which took place during a busy lunchtime back in February 2014 — resulted in six arrests and three men requiring hospital treatment. Rocks, clubs and knives are all reported to have been used.
But it only emerged today, via report on Court News, that those involved had been attending a course at Pinsent Masons. When asked this afternoon by Legal Cheek if the students had brought weapons into the firm, it declined to respond in full but did admit that “a thorough review of arrangements for engagements of this type” has since taken place.
The fight apparently began when Almahda Ali, 22, Raheem Simon, 20, and Perry Jessep, 20, fell out with three other Pinsents CV clinic attendees, Aaron Taylor, Ridwan Ibrahim and Khalid Youssef, all 19.
Run in conjunction with charity Tomorrow’s People, the workshop — that aims to get disadvantaged people back into employment — soon spilled into an all out royal rumble after a disagreement between the young men in the area near the firm’s City of London premises.
After leaving the Crown Place offices of the corporate law giant — presumably with impeccable CVs in hand — it appears that pleasantries were exchanged, resulting in a brawl that left lawyers and bankers fleeing for their lives.
The melee — which saw, among other things, Simon reportedly deliver a kung-fu inspired kick to someone’s head, before being stabbed himself — brought the Bishopsgate area of the City to a standstill for over four hours while forensic examiners (pictured below) carried out a search of the scene.
With weapons including clubs, knives and rocks being used in the attack, it would raise questions as to whether the youths involved were tooled up inside Pinsent Masons’ office while attending the CV event.
A spokesman for Pinsent Masons told Legal Cheek:
We treat the safety and security of our people with the utmost seriousness and, while we cannot comment upon the exact circumstances surrounding this event, we have undertaken a thorough review of arrangements for engagements of this type.
He continued, underlining the firm’s commitment to continuing to promote diversity:
We are proud of the work we have done with Tomorrow’s People over several years to help and support some of the most disadvantaged young people in the UK. This matter highlights both the scale of the challenge faced, and importance of the work that Tomorrow’s People and similar organisations undertake to meet it.