London’s most dangerous parks revealed: How the capital’s beauty spots have been blighted by knife crime and violence

They were once tranquil retreats where families would gather to happily play, couples would go on a romantic walk or workers would enjoy a lunchbreak.

But London‘s parks are being gripped by a mounting crimewave that is turning the green spaces into danger zones amid fears over knife crime, theft and assaults.

Crimes recorded by the Royal Parks, which manages 5,000 acres of green space including Hyde Park and Regent’s Park, have nearly doubled in two years.

The charity recorded 101 incidents of ‘crime or criminal damage’ in its latest 2023/24 year, up from 76 in 2022/23; 55 in 2021/22; and 44 in 2020/21.

Sexual offences, phone thefts and drug dealing are among the crimes most often reported, while cyclists have been threatened and had expensive bikes stolen.

Now there are fears the situation could worsen after the dedicated Royal Parks Police team was scrapped as part of Metropolitan Police budget cuts announced in April – which will see the officers absorbed into local neighbourhood teams.

The Met recorded an astonishing 16,789 offences involving a bladed weapon in 2024 – about one every half an hour, according to the Office for National Statistics.

As recently as Monday, a shocking video showed a knife-wielding attacker pulling out a huge blade and threatening a young girl at Gladstone Park in Dollis Hill.

But this is just one example of the dangers now faced by those in London’s parks.

Hyde Park

Hyde Park is the most visited of London’s royal parks and hosts events such as Winter Wonderland and the British Summer Time concert series.

But some of the 13million annual visitors to the park, which opened to the public in 1637, have also endured witnessing terrifying crimes in recent years.

Just this week, a defiant woman fought off a man riding an e-bike as he tried to grab her handbag in the park near Hyde Park Corner Underground station.

The hoodie-wearing man was seen in a video on a path as he approached two women from behind, and tried to grab one of the pair’s handbags.

But the woman appeared to have heard him coming towards her. As he tried to snatch the bag, she managed to cling on to her possessions and he sped off.

In another horrifying incident in June 2021, onlookers watched as a man was chased through Hyde Park by a gang wielding machetes before being hacked to the ground.

Shocking footage showed a sprawling confrontation between a large group of youths and what appeared to be a single victim in a black tracksuit.

As members of the public fled, the gang pursued the victim through the park before he slipped and fell to the ground enabling them to punch and kick him in the head.

On one video that was widely shared, a hysterical woman watching on screams: ‘He got stabbed! There’s a knife, there’s a knife! Oh my God, oh s***, oh God oh God!’

Another clip, when the man is already lying prone, shows a man standing over him deliver a blow to his midriff and a shout of: ‘He bored him! Oh s*** he bored him!’

A 17-year-old boy was taken to hospital with stab wounds following the incident.

Back in April 2019, videos emerged of a gangland-style standoff as thugs smashed bottles and chased each other with huge knives across the park.

It came after thousands had descended on the park for ‘420’ – where people smoke cannabis to try to get the drug legalised – in a day that ended in bloodshed.

Police were called to the western side of the park at around 4.40pm after a man in his 20s was stabbed. He was taken to hospital in a non-life threatening condition.

Regent’s Park

The Regent’s Park, which opened in 1835, has also witnessed knife attacks and violent thefts – with cyclists particularly fearful of being targeted.

In February this year, cyclist Patrick Conneely had his £4,200 road bike robbed by hammer-wielding thugs during his morning ride through the park.

Cycle club members who gather in the North West London park each day before it opens to cars have suffered a series of violent robberies by armed ‘bike-jackers’.

Mr Conneely was doing a lap around the Outer Circle road when was passed by two men riding a moped, who inspected his bike before turning around and pursuing him.

Video showed the encounter that followed, with one of the men leaping off the moped and shouting at Mr Conneely to, as he recalled, ‘Give me the f***ing bike’.

After the 33-year-old data analyst bravely refused, the thug took a hammer from the top box and waved it at him while continuing to shout violent threats.

He then grabbed the bike and jumped on the moped carrying it above his head. Mr Conneely tried to push the moped over but the men rode off at speed.

Fearful cyclists called on the Met to increase pre-dawn patrols of the park to deter the robbers, and the force said in response that it had introduced ‘additional plain clothes and uniform patrols’ before the park officially opens.

Gladstone Park

A knife-wielding attacker threatened a young girl at Gladstone Park in Dollis Hill, North West London, on Monday evening in shocking scenes caught on camera.

The hooded perpetrator ran up to the girl and brazenly lunged the huge kitchen knife just inches away from her face – as she put her hands up and tried to back away.

She managed to flee the attacker who came lunging at her with the weapon, but they continued to square up to other people before settling with the knife by their side.

The incident took place on Monday evening at what appears to be a party – with dozens screaming in fear as a man said: ‘She backed out a shank, are you mad?’

The Met said: ‘On Monday, 30 June at 10.03pm police attended Gladstone Park, Brent having been made aware of a video on social media of a woman with a knife.

‘Officers saw no one who matched the description of the woman in the video. No one was injured, no weapons were found and no arrests were made. Enquiries continue.’

Gladstone Park became a public park in 1901 and was named after former prime minister Sir William Gladstone who used Dollis Hill House as a weekend retreat.

Pennyfields Park

Pennyfields Park in Tower Hamlets was the location of a man being subjected to a terrifying attack by a hooded gang of axe and machete thugs in March.

Footage showed the trio dressed in tracksuits and balaclavas as they surrounded their victim in broad daylight – with the male forced to the floor and attacked.

The victim pulls out his phone following the stabbing as others run towards him, with one of the men can be seen walking away carrying an axe in his right hand.

A Met statement said at the time: ‘Police attended the scene alongside the London Ambulance Service who treated a boy for stab wounds.’

The boy was taken to a nearby hospital, where his injuries were later confirmed to be non-life changing or threatening.

Fryent Country Park

Fryent Country Park in Wembley was where two sisters were murdered four years ago in a tragic case.

Nicole Smallman, 27, and Bibaa Henry, 46, were stabbed while celebrating the latter’s birthday in June 2020 as lockdown rules began to ease.

Their killer Danyal Hussein was jailed at the Old Bailey in October 2021 aged 19 for a minimum of 35 years for savagely murdering them as part of a Satanic blood pact.

They were discovered murdered by Ms Smallman’s boyfriend – but, in a sickening twist, the grieving family faced a double blow when it emerged two police officers had taken selfies with their dead bodies and shared them in two WhatsApp groups.

Metropolitan Police constables Deniz Jaffer and Jamie Lewis were then jailed for two years and nine months in December 2021 after admitting misconduct in public office.