Police are encouraging the public to ‘think twice, think life and Just Drop It’, following a number of unconnected stabbings last week.
On Wednesday (18 June), police were called to three separate knife-related incidents in Luton, all believed to be unrelated.
At around 8.30pm a man was chased near Maryport Road, Luton by a group of men, sustaining knife wound injuries during the incident. Anyone with information should contact police either online or by calling 101 quoting reference 40/34518/25.
At around 10.45pm, police were called to Bute Street to reports of two men involved in an altercation, with one sustaining stab wound injuries which were not deemed to be life-threatening. The suspect is described as Black, 5ft 6ins, slim, and wearing a black and grey tracksuit with a red cap. Anyone with information should contact police either online or 101, quoting 40/34550/25
Police were then called to Brendon Avenue, Luton at around 11.30pm to reports of a man being stabbed. Fortunately his injuries are not believed to be serious. The suspects are described as three men of south Asian heritage. One was wearing a silver hoodie, and another was dressed all in black. Anyone with information should contact police either online or by calling 101, quoting reference 40/34542/25.
Detective Chief Inspector Marios Wheeler said: “We understand the worry that knife crime causes on our community and that’s why we’re continuing to work hard day in day out to crackdown on serious organised crime and remove dangerous weapons and drugs from circulation, which are often the driving factor behind many of the knife-related incidents we see.
“Since January, we have solved 130 offences of possession of an offensive weapon and ahead of our latest week of action tackling knife crime, we had a record number of knives surrendered to our knife bins.
“In the last two days alone, four people have been arrested as part of investigations into serious organised crime, with a zombie knife and a number of bladed weapons recovered and more than 1,600 wraps of Class A drugs seized, thanks to the work of our Boson gun and gangs team and Drugs Focus Desk.
“However – we need the public’s help with continuing to clamp down on this type of criminality. I’d urge our communities to continue to be our eyes and ears and report what they know about crime in their area, no matter how insignificant it may seem at the time. Your information can be vital in helping us apprehend those people causing serious harm across Bedfordshire.
“There have been a number of knife-related incidents across the county recently that we’d particularly like the public’s support with. We have a number of high visibility patrols in place following these recent incidents, I’d also like to take this opportunity to remind people that there is never a good reason for carrying a knife. Please, for the sake of your own safety and the safety of others, think twice, think life, and just drop it.”
Report information about a crime via the website. You can also call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
