Incident at Thorpe Park

[Professor]

Very sad to hear and hope the injured person makes a full recovery and hope no one has any lasting trauma physically and mentally. A colleague I worked with actually killed himself due to witnessing one of the London terrorist attacks up close and it causing him lasting mental problems. Theme parks are meant to be fun places where people can relax and enjoy themselves. This is such a polar opposite incident to that to happen.

Considering London knife crime I'm surprised metal detectors haven't been in place as standard. It should probably have the best theme park security in the UK really if we also consider the demographic that Thorpe targets constantly. It isn't really the most family friendly theme park from what I've seen there (only been 3 times, all visits last year).
I'd imagine metal detectors will arrive soon enough now surely.
Even if it is only a deterrent it would possibly stop this from happening again you would have thought. As for the security guards I believe not being able to touch people to check things over due to Covid 19, a hand metal detector again could at least be useful.

Crazy to think they actually sell merch pocket knifes in Energylandia from what I saw in a vlog. Murder rate in Poland seems much lower on average than in the UK but it is much higher in the bigger cities. Really depends where you are in the world and what the risks are I guess.

The lack of required security is not the main thing that puts me off but probably will be giving Thorpe Park a miss for a while as much as I like the coasters there.

 

[Hixee]

I think one thing that has stood out to me in the article(s), and that hasn't been mentioned here, is that Thorpe seemed to have handled this really well.

There is always a risk of complacency with things like this - they, thankfully, do not happen very often (as Thorpe have said, not once in their 40 year history). The on-site medical staff appear to have done some fairly crucial first aid before the paramedics arrived. From the speed at which the police have made arrests, I also suspect the security staff (and other staff) did a good job of identifying, and possibly detaining, the suspects.

Maybe I'm trying too hard to find the good in the bad, but it speaks of a team that's handled a very tough situation really rather well. Of course, how the weapon ended up in the park in the first place is a different question altogether.

I have to admit, having been through hundreds of park entrances with metal detectors over the years, they don't bother me too much. There is sometimes a bit of faff with bag checks, but an extra 30 seconds at the start of the day to try and prevent this happening again? Yeah, alright.

 

[Smithy]

Agree with that entirely - it's a situation most involved will likely never have had to deal with or respond to and by early accounts they've handled it well.

For me, the wider issue has to be not around how he got a knife inside, but actually why he did so. That's a societal question not specific to Thorpe Park though.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

Agree with that entirely - it's a situation most involved will likely never have had to deal with or respond to and by early accounts they've handled it well.

For me, the wider issue has to be not around how he got a knife inside, but actually why he did so. That's a societal question not specific to Thorpe Park though.

That’s a very good point, could even be premeditated... I believe this happened on the bridge? Did he go there looking for his victim, knowing he was at Thorpe that day?

Wonder if we’ll ever know.

 

[Ethan]

Agree with that entirely - it's a situation most involved will likely never have had to deal with or respond to and by early accounts they've handled it well.

For me, the wider issue has to be not around how he got a knife inside, but actually why he did so. That's a societal question not specific to Thorpe Park though.

I think in the BBC article it says it stemmed from an altercation between two groups. So it sounds like two groups of guests must have had an argument and I imagine it wasn't planned or anything. As people have said already, not to sound insensitive, but the clientele at Thorpe Park aren't exactly charming, however I never really expected something like this. Hopefully the victims are stable.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

I think in the BBC article it says it stemmed from an altercation between two groups. So it sounds like two groups of guests must have had an argument and I imagine it wasn't planned or anything. As people have said already, not to sound insensitive, but the clientele at Thorpe Park aren't exactly charming, however I never really expected something like this. Hopefully the victims are stable.

Not quite... It says this...

Police said two groups of people were involved in an altercation on the bridge close to the park's exit.

I believe it’s referring to the incident itself. Obviously it’s too early for me to make assumptions like I have above, but it really wouldn’t surprise me if these 2 knew each other and this is related to something that started outside the park and before yesterday.

I mean, who takes a knife to a theme park? I can’t even envisage a plastic gangster feeling the need to carry a knife at Thorpe Park, but maybe I’m just too old school / out of touch.

 

[Ethan]

Not quite... It says this...

I don't get the difference?

You'd have to be pretty stupid, if it was premeditated, to stab someone inside private property (where you can't flee the scene) rather than wait a minute until they're out the gates, surely? But then you could argue only stupid people carry blades.

Like you, I have no idea what actually happened, but I reckon two groups of yobs (lack of a better term) got into a kerfuffle and it escalated into this. Don't many young people carry knifes for "self defence" in cities like London etc? I dunno tbh... Maybe he was just looking for a fight and took a knife with him, and the victim wasn't chosen beforehand.

Again, we literally have nothing to go on so we're all talking out of our arses at this point!

 

[Nicky Borrill]

I don't get the difference?

You'd have to be pretty stupid, if it was premeditated, to stab someone inside private property (where you can't flee the scene) rather than wait a minute until they're out the gates, surely? But then you could argue only stupid people carry blades.

Like you, I have no idea what actually happened, but I reckon two groups of yobs (lack of a better term) got into a kerfuffle and it escalated into this. Don't many young people carry knifes for "self defence" in cities like London etc? I dunno tbh... Maybe he was just looking for a fight and took a knife with him, and the victim wasn't chosen beforehand.

Again, we literally have nothing to go on so we're all talking out of our arses at this point!

Seems plausible too... What a messed up world we live in either way... And yes we are... But nothing wrong with a bit of good old fashioned speculation (as long as it isn’t presented as fact) ??

 

[spicy]

Yea the saddest thing here is this isn’t that surprising.

With the high levels of Knife crime in London it was only a matter of time before it took place at a theme park unfortunately.

 

[The Undead Creature]

I think in the BBC article it says it stemmed from an altercation between two groups. So it sounds like two groups of guests must have had an argument and I imagine it wasn't planned or anything. As people have said already, not to sound insensitive, but the clientele at Thorpe Park aren't exactly charming, however I never really expected something like this. Hopefully the victims are stable.

To be honest, I can't say I am suprised at all. When I worked there, the entrance had no security checks at all and even though I had nothing to do with the security department, I still had to do an SIA self defence course.
Bag searches and metal detectors were only brought in after a ride operator got stabbed after turning away some queue jumpers. The metal detectors were removed because there was only room for 4 in the entrance area, this lead to enormous waiting times just to get into the park.

 

[caffeine_demon]

I visited on monday, and the metal detectors were in force - only took an hour to get in the place! Legoland and chessy only had bag searches.