Violent scenes saw a man slashed and another stamped on in a vicious gang fight in Glasgow. The prolonged attack unfolded on Bridge Street in the Tradeston area at 11pm on Thursday night, not far from the city's “dispersal zone”.
The shocking footage, which was shared on social media platform Snapchat, showcases extreme violence that continues to plague the city.
Attack caught on video
The video shows hooded thugs chasing down a man in the middle of the street. They catch up with their victim at a bus stop before launching a brutal attack. They savagely swing punches at the man as he falls to the ground.
The man flees but is chased down by the masked mob to a Spar store. He can be seen sprawled out on a pavement while the group stamp on his head and batter him with an orange traffic cone. The fight then spills out onto the middle of the road in front of oncoming traffic.
Knife warning and aftermath
The melee ends when a gang member shouts that the man is armed with a knife. The unknown cameraman yells: "He's got a knife. Get out of the f****** way." He adds: "Run for your life."
One of the mob, wearing a grey tracksuit, walks up to the camera and shows slash marks on his arm and chest. He also appears to have blood stains on his shirt. The group attempt to target the man again before retreating along a street. It is unknown how many people were injured in the violence.
Context of city centre safety
The violence follows claims the city centre has become a "no-go zone" and is dangerous at night. A BBC Disclosure documentary showed gangs on bikes openly dealing drugs. David Kennedy, general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, has also claimed many people are now too scared to visit at night. He said: “We are seeing so many areas that people don’t want to visit and see as no-go areas.”
However, new statistics released by Police Scotland under Freedom of Information showed the numbers of crimes being committed in the area has dropped by 15 per cent from 2726 in 2024 to 2302 last year. There was also a drop in the number of sex crimes from 46 in 2024 and 45 last year, with six so far in the first four months of 2026. Meanwhile only 578 were recorded in the first four months of this year to April. The figures are for Union Street, Jamaica Street, St Enoch Square and Argyle Street – known as the Four Corners – said to be the main areas for violence and disorder.
The stats included a range of crimes from attempted murder and serious assault to motoring offences and theft. Glasgow City Council believe the introduction of a “dispersal zone” in March, to combat anti-social behaviour, has led to the reduction in the numbers of crimes committed. The zone allows cops to order groups of two or more people to leave and ban them from returning for 24 hours. Since March they have used the powers over 1700 times.
A council spokesman said: ”The dispersal zone around the Central Station area gives the Police additional powers to address the localised antisocial behaviour caused by a very small minority of people. To support the shared effort to ensure city centre safety, we are recruiting new CCTV staff that will allow for 24/7 monitoring of the city centre from September this year. The city centre is an increasingly popular destination with 31.5m visitors welcomed into the city last year. Footfall figures show that almost 70m residents, workers and visitors in total moved through the city centre in 2025.”
Earlier this month the Record reported on three thugs setting upon a man in a vicious daytime attack at St Enoch square in front of terrified shoppers. A cop was also left with a bloodied face after being attacked by a thug in the same area just weeks before. In June, the Record obtained footage of around a dozen hooded thugs battering a man behind St Enoch shopping centre as bystanders desperately try to intervene.
We have also reported on so-called Drill gangs, inspired by ultra-violent hip-hop music, running riot in the city-centre and regularly release videos of rival mobs battling on the streets. A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 11.10pm on Thursday, 27 August, 2026, officers received a report of a disturbance on Bridge Street, Glasgow. Enquiries to establish the full circumstances are ongoing.”
