Approximately 20 people took part in a fight at the junction of Broad Street and Magdalen Street this morning for reasons which remain unknown. A man in his thirties was taken to hospital with serious injuries after the fight occurred, and part of Broad Street was closed during the following hours of this morning.
The man told the police he had been attacked by a younger man with dark skin and a beard, but there has since been no sign of the police finding this individual. This incident, reported as a crime, escalated into a large brawl around 3am. The seriously injured man was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital immediately afterwards, although his injuries were not life-threatening according to the police.
The section of Broad Street where the events took place had to be kept closed until 11.30am, when staff were able to open the shops in the area. Among these shops were Boswell’s department store, the Varsity Shop, Fudge Kitchen and Cath Kidston. Michael Penfold, working on Boswell’s web team, told Cherwell, “We didn’t get a good look really – a good portion of Broad Street was sectioned off with police tape, and there was what I assume was someone from the forensics team pottering around taking photos of the crime scene itself.
“The street itself looked completely normal with the exception of course of a lack of people, and a few of those yellow crime scene markers outside the store next door to the Fudge store or Cath Kidston. Boswell’s then opened around about 11:00 / 11:30am this morning.”
The manager of the Varsity Shop, Laura Greenaway, described the scene in the same terms, highlighting the fact that curiosity was the main reaction to the events. “Broad Street was basically cornered off,” she said. “We were allowed in at half eleven and opened after that. My friend had told me about the incident before I arrived at the shop, and I just wondered what exactly had happened.”
After being made accessible to the public again, Broad Street remained almost empty for the rest of this Good Friday. One Trinity College porter told Cherwell, “Not one person has mentioned it all day, it’s been very quiet” despite being very close to the location in which the brawl took place.
