Yahoo News Children walk to school past stabbing scene after 5.30am knife attack
Residents in Litherland woke up this morning to find a police cordon on their doorstep. It comes after a man in his 40s was taken to hospital after being stabbed in the street in the early hours.
Merseyside Police is appealing for information about the 5.30am attack on Chelsea Road at its junction with Stanley Road. Officers were alerted to the incident by paramedics who were treating the victim for stab wounds.
The man was taken to hospital where he remains with injuries to his back and leg, which are described as none life threatening. Police cordoned off a large section of Chelsea Road and Stanley Road following the incident.
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People in Litherland told the ECHO this morning how they woke up to find the cordon on their doorsteps, shortly before 7.30am. The cordon affected the opening of several nearby businesses, with one shop owner saying he'd had to open later due to the police scene.
Another man who lives in the area told how he'd heard shouting around 4.30am, and when he got up to go to work around 7.30am saw police on the street. Another person, who said he regularly cycles along Stanley Road to work, said he’d had to go the “long way around" as the cordon was "huge."
As well as delaying the opening of shops three buses were inside the road closure. These vehicles were there for a few hours, but have since been removed. Diversions were also put in place by travel services and traffic started to congest as it hit rush hour.
Towards 8.30am parents were walking their children to school just metres away from the stabbing scene. After dropping his daughter at school, one dad told the ECHO: “I had to walk my daughter a different way to school, I didn’t want her to see the police. It’s not nice for them. The schools are just up from here, there are loads of kids. Something similar happened a few weeks back, people have gone crazy.”
As news of the stabbing broke residents claimed police are a common sight in the area. One person said: “I came out and saw the police, it’s not nice but you hear of it more and more these days.” Another resident said: “My daughter needed to get her kids to school. They had to walk all the way around because of the cordon.
“It’s not good. But yeah you hear about it a lot, I’ll hear exactly what’s happened through the grapevine before long.” Another man, who also lives nearby, said: “It’s normal to see police in the area. It’s gotten worse over the years. I’ve always lived around here so I’m used to it, but it’s not good. It’s getting worse.”
Detectives on scene appeared to be looking at items on the floor on the corner of Chelsea Road. An officer was seen removing a pair of sliders, propped against a council bin just outside the cordon, and placing them inside the cordon.
Forensic officers were also combing the scene for evidence, including taking pictures in the direction of where the sliders had been. Police enquiries remain ongoing and the cordon remains in place. It's unclear when the roads will be reopened.
Detective Inspector Ed Barr said “We are in the very early stages of the investigation and we are appealing to anyone who has any information or witnessed this incident to please come forward and speak to us.
“This was early in the morning but if you happened to be driving through the area and have dashcam footage, or you live there and have CCTV, please review your footage and get in touch if you captured anything.
“There is no place for knives in our communities and we will always seek to take positive action when we have information about people are storing, carrying or using weapons. I would urge anyone with information to get in touch so we can act on community intelligence or call Crimestoppers anonymously.”
Anyone with information is asked to call 101 or DM @MerPolCC quoting log number 109 of 28th Nov. You can also contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, or via their website here: https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/forms/give-information-anonymously.
