Armed anti-terror police use chainsaw to break into east London home during raid on hideouts of suspected plotters – as four men are arrested in joint operation in capital and Leicestershire
- Man, 27, was arrested at an address in east London with help of armed officers
- Two men, 31 and 17, were arrested at a nearby property also with armed officers
- A 32-year-old was arrested by counter terrorism police in Leicestershire
Armed police have stormed an east London property with a chainsaw – as four men were arrested for plotting a terror attack.
Dramatic video shows a squad of gun-toting officers bursting into a house on Ilfracombe Gardens in Goodmayes, Redbridge, shortly before a man is dragged out and handcuffed.
The man is led away by two officers wearing armoured vests, while another is seen watching the house through the scope of what appears to be a mounted sniper.
Separate video from a neighbouring property near Green Lane by Goodmayes Park also shows armed police descending on a block of flats.
Scotland Yard said the heavy police operation in Goodmayes related to an ongoing anti-terror investigation which today saw four people arrested in both the capital and Leicestershire.
Witnesses described hearing gunshots, but the Metropolitan Police said no shots were fired during today’s raids.
Dramatic video shows a squad of rifle-wielding officers bursting in on a house in Goodmayes, Redbridge, before a man is dragged from the house
Scotland Yard said the heavy police operation related to an ongoing anti-terror investigation which today saw four people arrested
The man is led away in handcuffs by officers, while another officer appears to watch the house through the lense of a mounted sniper
Constables arrested a 27-year-old at an address in east London, a 31-year-old and a 17-year-old at a nearby property, and a 32-year-old in Leicestershire, Scotland Yard said in a statement.
The 27-year-old was bitten on the foot by a police dog and has been taken to hospital with minor injuries
Armed officers were involved in the two raids in the capital but the Metropolitan Police said no shots were fired.
Police are currently combing through the three addresses, and a search is also underway at a fourth address in East London as part of the investigation.
The Met said: ‘All four men were arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism under section 41 of the Terrorism Act.’
They are being held in police custody while detectives continue their ‘proactive investigation’.
Separate video showed armed police descending on a block of flats, also near Goodmayes Park
Uniformed police officers stand by at the property in Goodmayes where armed officers descened upon today
The raid on the property on Ilfracombe Gardens left residents ‘a little bit shaken’.
One said he did not know the people living there very well ‘as they don’t speak very good English’.
He added: ‘Quite a lot of people come in and out (of the house). They are a bit of a loud family, really. We don’t speak to them that much compared to our other neighbours.
‘There are a lot of people coming and going, to know who actually lives in the house is a bit of a mystery.’
The neighbour, who asked not to be named, said he was doing shopping for his grandmother, who was at home and had been left ‘a bit shaken’ by the incident.
The showed armed police descending on a block of flats, also near Goodmayes Park.
Eoin Moylan, 22, said: ‘I heard glass breaking and a woman screaming then a loud bang. I thought fireworks had gone wrong. I saw police in uniform.’
‘The noises could have been flash bangs because there was smoke as well,’ he told the Barking and Dagenham Post.
An ambulance swooped on the home near Green Lane at 1.28pm and one person was taken to hospital.