British police probe pepper spray assault at Heathrow Airport carpark

An assault involving pepper spray at a Heathrow Airport carpark disrupted travel and left multiple people needing treatment. Photo / Getty Images

British police were today probing an assault involving pepper spray at a Heathrow Airport carpark that disrupted travel and left 21 people, including a 3-year-old girl, needing medical treatment.

In a departure from an earlier account of the incident at Terminal 3’s multi-storey carpark, London’s Metropolitan Police said it now appeared to have stemmed from a suitcase robbery by people known to each other.

Commander Peter Stevens, who had previously characterised it as an argument that escalated into a fight, said investigators had pieced together the chaotic chain of events after reviewing CCTV and interviewing witnesses.

“At this stage, it’s understood that a woman was robbed of her suitcase by a group of four men, who sprayed a substance believed to be pepper spray in her direction,” he added.

“This occurred within a carpark lift, with those in the lift and surrounding area affected by the spray.

“Our officers are working to determine the full circumstances around what happened but we do believe this to be an isolated incident with those directly involved known to each other.”

Armed officers arrested a 31-year-old man on suspicion of assault after responding to the scene.

“He remains in custody and inquiries remain ongoing to locate further suspects,” police said in an update.

Emergency responders treated 21 patients, with five taken to hospital, the London Ambulance Service said.

The 3-year-old received treatment at the scene, with all the injuries “not believed to be life-changing or life-threatening”, according to police.

Firefighters provided “specialist assistance” at the scene, London’s Fire Brigade said.

Terminal 3 at Europe’s busiest airport remained open throughout, but the incident prompted severe traffic and public transport disruption in the area, according to officials and reports.

Passengers complained about having missed flights due to its impact.

“We were literally stuck for an hour-and-a-half,” Jayesh Patel, whose family were headed to the airport for a flight to India, told AFP.

“We ran to the gate, and we missed the check-in by three minutes, and we were turned away.

“So we’re gonna have to drive 100 miles [160km] back home.”

-Agence France-Presse