A brawl broke out in a busy Leyton street last night before a man was found dead in a restaurant, witnesses have said.

Loud shouting first alerted the neighbours of La Dolce Vita restaurant in Lea Bridge Road to the disturbance at around 9.30pm last night (April 16).

Sharifa Master, 50, watched from her window as the fight escalated.

“I heard the shouting and I knew something nasty was happening.

“There were five or six men outside the shop, they were fighting. One of them looked in a very bad way, he was pushed inside the shop.

“I think he tried to come back out but I couldn’t see what happened inside because of the tinted glass.

“One of the men had a weapon in his hand, like a cricket bat or a baseball bat.

“All of a sudden two cars pulled up, they didn’t park properly. The men jumped in the cars and they were taken away.

“I didn’t know what they were saying because it was in Albanian, nobody spoke English.”

Mrs Master said there is often violence in the road.

“I always tell my family don’t go outside when it happens, don’t even move the curtains.

“There was a man beaten outside the burger shop a week before. Another time a man was taken around the corner and we heard him being hit.

“It is very scary. I hope the police sort this out – nobody deserves to die like this.”

A 50-year-old shop owner who did not want to be named said there is often violence in the area and called on police to act.

“When someone gets beaten up here or stabbed the police come three hours later, and they say, what did he look like. What good is that?

 

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Police remain on the scene of the murder in Lea Bridge Road

“They are never here and they turn up too late. There is violence here, a man was stabbed six or seven months ago and they came hours later.”

Another business owner, Abdul Hamza, 33, defended the restaurant owners.

"They are nice people. They often come by here and get change. I don’t see what happens at night because we close at seven. They are polite and they always say hello, I don’t think they cause trouble.”

The victim, in his 30s, was found in the Dolce Vita bar and restaurant 9.50pm and pronounced dead at the scene at 10.38pm.

A 43-year-old man was arrested this morning and is being held at an east London police station.

Police said they know the identitiy of the dead man and his next of kin have been informed, but formal identification is yet to take place.

Detectives say they believe the death related to an altercation earlier in the evening but are keeping an "open mind" as to the motive.

The venue, owned by Mr Mryteza Hilaj, has been the subject of a number of noise complaints in the past, but was granted a new licence late last year.