The three rival gangs battling for control of Camberwell in Khan’s ‘safe’ London after machete brawl broke out in family park during a Sunday lunchtime

Footage of a machete fight in a family park has revealed the brutal reality of life in one of south London’s gang hotspots.

Violence broke out in Camberwell’s Burgess Park at midday on Sunday, with four thugs trying to stab and slash each other in broad daylight.

In the video taken by a citizen, it can be seen that the surrounding people are trying to break up the fight.

The shocking scene again calls into question Sir Sadiq Khan’s persistent insistence that London is a ‘safe city’.

It also sheds light on the gang wars plaguing the local area; disputes over drug markets or minor personal insults that often escalate into violence.

Numerous street gangs are known to operate around Burgess Park; the most important of these are Peckham Boys in the south and Moscow17 in the west.

In recent years Moscow17 has been involved in a violent feud with Zone 2, a gang based in Peckham, which has led to a series of stabbings and murders.

Police arrested four teenagers, aged 16 and 17, over a machete fight in Burgess Park, which ended when a brave passerby stepped forward to break up the fight.

Authorities have not confirmed whether any of the attackers were affiliated with specific local gangs, but that is likely to be the subject of an investigation.

Another notorious local gang is Moscow17, which operates between Burgess Park and Kennington Park in the west. The team appeared on Tim Westwood’s YouTube show

One of the most active local gangs is the Peckham Boys, a loose, multi-generational affiliation of street thugs operating in Peckham, Walworth and Camberwell.

Founded in the 1990s, the group is heavily involved in drug dealing and armed crime.

Like other urban gangs, they regularly recruit schoolchildren to join their lives of crime with promises of fast cars, trendy clothes and ‘respect’.

The Peckham Boys are linked to one of the most notorious murders in London history: the stabbing of ten-year-old Damilola Taylor in 2000.

Two members, Danny and Ricky Preddie, used a broken beer bottle to stab a Nigerian schoolboy in the leg and left him to bleed to death in the stairwell.

Danny and Ricky Preddie were only 12 and 13 at the time and had initially tried to rob Damilola before subjecting him to a sustained attack.

They were found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to eight years in prison; Ricky was later sentenced to several more prison terms for various crimes.

Local gang wars claimed the life of another innocent in 2007, when fifteen-year-old Michael Dosunmu was murdered while he slept in his bed.

19-year-old Muhammed Sannoh and 22-year-old Abdi Noor shot the boy four times with a submachine gun after mistaking him for his brother.

They were sentenced to at least 30 years in prison by a judge at the Old Bailey in 2008.

The murder was linked to a series of infighting within the Peckham Boys as members squabbled over the proceeds of a series of armed robberies targeting vans collecting cash from shops and banks.

Drill rapper Incognito was one of the highest-profile victims of gang wars in the region

Peckham Boys members Ricky and Danny Preddie were each sentenced to eight years in prison for the premeditated murder of Damilola in 2008.

Preddie was just 13 years old when he murdered Damilola Taylor while walking home from the library with his younger brother Danny.

Another notorious local gang is Moscow17, which operates between Burgess Park and Kennington Park in the west.

The group is based out of Brandon and Crawford Estates in Walworth and is best known for producing sounding rap videos that have been viewed millions of times on YouTube.

Drill rap is a subgenre of hip hop that originated on Chicago’s South Side, and videos regularly feature masked gang members displaying weapons, rapping about recent stabbings, doing drugs, and issuing threats to rivals.

In August 2018, Moscow17 rapper Siddique Kamara, known by his stage name Incognito, was stabbed to death on Warham Street in Camberwell.

Eight months ago a jury cleared the 23-year-old of murdering 17-year-old Abdirahman Mohamed, the brother of a member of Zone 2, a rival gang from Peckham.

Another Moscow17 member, Rhyhiem Ainsworth Barton, was shot and killed on Warham Street in May 2018.

Both Kamara and Barton appeared in a special with Tim Westwood’s team on his controversial YouTube channel.

After Barton’s death, the former public schoolboy claimed he did not know Moscow17 was involved in the violence.

Peckham Boys, Moscow17 and District 2 are not the only gangs operating around Burgess Park.

An online ‘gang map’ published in 2018 identified a further eleven groups operating in the Camberwell area, although experts questioned whether the information was completely up to date.

Sir Sadiq Khan has repeatedly insisted crime is under control during his time as Mayor of London and accused critics, including Donald Trump, of spreading ‘misinformation’ about his record.

Earlier this year, he jumped on new statistics showing murder cases were at a record high to brag about his record on policing.

But a closer look at the data reveals a range of other crimes, including violent assaults, have risen significantly since he came to power in 2016.

Reports of violence against persons increased by almost a third between 2016/17 and 2025/26, reaching 242,777 in total.

Theft from a person increased by 140 percent during the same period, while sexual and drug crimes increased by 55 percent and 34 percent respectively.

Critics also point to an increase in crime on London’s public transport network.

Approximately 12,951 crimes were recorded in the metro between July and December 2025; There was a 2.7 percent increase from 12,606 crimes in the same period in 2024.

A Met spokesman said of the incident in Camberwell: ‘Police were called at around 12.30pm on Sunday 17 May to reports of a fight in Burgess Park, Camberwell.

‘Officers came to the area with the help of the police helicopter and searched. Four boys, aged 16 and 17, were arrested on suspicion of offenses including affray, causing grievous bodily harm and possession of an offensive weapon.

‘Three juveniles were arrested near the scene, while the fourth was arrested later on Sunday evening. All four children remained in police custody.

‘It was stated that two of the children taken into custody were injured in the incident, and their injuries were not life-threatening or non-life-threatening.

‘A 17-year-old boy was admitted to hospital for treatment of his injuries and discharged that afternoon, before being arrested at a property in Southwark.

‘The second boy, aged 16, was taken to hospital by police and later discharged.

‘The investigation continues. Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101, quoting CAD 3298/17MAY or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.