Channel 4 star terrified after masked man pulls out gun and machete while filming documentary
THE moment documentary maker Ed Stafford was left fleeing after having a gun and machete pulled out on him has finally aired.
The Sun’s TV Mag exclusively revealed the scary moment earlier this month where Ed opened up on the incident.
Although panicked, the situation was very calm and part of an honest and gripping chat between Ed and the individual he spoke to as part of the filming for Channel 4′s 60 Days on the Estates.
However, Ed quickly fled from the situation – something he has since admitted to being ’embarrassed’ about.
As part of the programme, the filmmaker delved deep into London as he spoke to an unidentified individual about what life was like on some of its most troubled estates.
Ed managed to make contact with someone whom he said had ‘connections’ to the underworld.
They decided to meet in a private setting and the individual was unidentified after he did not want to be featured on camera.
Ed told the camera: “Through some people that I’ve met, I’ve been put into contact with a guy who is, I guess he’s got underworld connections.”
Adding of his hopes for the conversation, Ed added: “He might be able to explain a bit more about the gun crime specifically that’s going on at the moment.
“The man I’m seeing is nervous about appearing on camera, so he’s chosen an isolated location to meet up.”
The conversation remained calm and informative throughout as Ed greeted him with a friendly hand-shake.
Wearing a large black coat with a huge hood, Ed asked him: “People have told me that, at the moment, there’s a bit of a war going on. Are tensions high right now?”
He responded honestly: “All of London’s under siege.
“Everywhere’s f***ed so, it is what it is.
“You’ve gotta make money whatever way you can, sometimes, that’s robbing, man, that’s how it is.”
Ed then asked him how he would defend himself if he was to get caught up in an unpleasent situation.
Choosing to show him, he pulled out a machete from under his coat.
He added that he had a “couple of options” when it came to weapons.
The man declined to comment on whether he had ever actively used the machete.
He then pulled out the gun as he showed Ed how he also had that option for if there were “two or three” of them.
The man added: “It’s dangerous out here, bruv.”
The conversation appeared to end soon after as Ed and his crew headed back to their car.
Ed admitted he was left ‘uncomfortable’ after realising the reality of such situations.
He said: “It’s not just people making it up, it’s something that everyone around here has to navigate in some respect.”
In an interview with The Sun’s TV Mag, former British Army Captain Ed reveals that he actually regrets leaving the scene.
He says: “I’m a bit embarrassed about that.
“I’m a bit annoyed that it got into the final edit but then again, I’ve been in Afghanistan and all sorts of things.
“We were up a dead end, a quite dark alley. The guy was showing me a knife and gun.
“We were having a conversation and suddenly there’s a machete.
“Things just felt like they were escalating a little bit so I decided I needed the space to assess.
“Sometimes you actually find it quite difficult to think because you’re right in the middle of a situation.
“I beat myself up a bit about that, but then again it hammers it home – you hear about the shootings and stabbings but actually seeing the gun first hand it’s like: ‘Well, okay, that’s what he’s carrying in order to protect himself because he’s mixing in certain circles’.”