A 28-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm after a man in his 60s was knocked unconscious during a street fight on one of Dagenham’s busiest roads.
Officers were called to the scene of the Dagenham Heathway fight at 12.38am on Sunday, October 4, following reports of a fight. Emergency services attended and found the older man lying unconscious in the street.
He was rushed to hospital for treatment, where medics later confirmed his injuries were not life-threatening.
Detectives began investigating the disturbance and arrested a 28-year-old man on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm.
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said the suspect was taken to an east London police station and has since been released under investigation while enquiries continue.
It is important to stress that the man has been arrested, not charged. He remains innocent unless proven guilty, and the investigation is ongoing.
It is not the first outbreak of violence on a London high street this week — two people were hospitalised after a fight outside a Sainsbury’s in Sydenham.
Heathway: the heart of Dagenham’s high street
The incident happened on Heathway, one of Dagenham’s principal shopping streets and a focal point of daily life in the east London town.
The busy thoroughfare runs through the centre of Dagenham in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, lined with shops, takeaways, banks and bus stops. Dagenham Heathway station on the District line sits just off the main road, linking the area with central London.
By day the street hums with shoppers and commuters, but once the shops close it can take on a very different character. Town centres across the capital see extra police patrols at weekends as officers work to keep the night-time economy safe, and incidents like this one show why those patrols matter.
Dagenham itself is a large suburban town that grew rapidly around the Ford motor works in the 20th century and is today home to tens of thousands of Londoners. Heathway remains its best-known shopping parade, drawing people from across the borough, and the town has seen new housing developments spring up in recent years as east London’s population continues to grow.
It also follows a serious incident on the capital’s streets earlier this week, when a man was left seriously injured after being hit by a car outside Stoke Newington Overground station during the morning rush hour.
What happens next in the investigation
With the suspect released under investigation, detectives will now work to establish exactly what happened on Heathway in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Being released under investigation means the man has not been charged and is free to leave custody, but the case remains live. Unlike police bail, there is no set end date, and officers can continue making enquiries for as long as they need. Forensic evidence gathered at the scene may also be examined.
As part of the investigation, officers are likely to trawl CCTV footage from shops and cameras along the high street, take statements from any witnesses who saw the fight unfold, and examine medical evidence relating to the victim’s injuries.
Depending on what the evidence shows, the suspect could be re-arrested, invited back for a further voluntary interview, or have the case file passed to the Crown Prosecution Service, which decides whether there is enough evidence to bring a charge.
Grievous bodily harm is one of the most serious violent offences in English law, carrying a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. If the case reaches court and ends in a conviction, the courts can impose lengthy sentences — this week an east London predator was jailed for five years over the grooming and assault of a teenage girl.
Police enquiries are continuing.
