People attacked after man seen 'using weapons' in Prittlewell

A man has been arrested after a number of people were assaulted in Prittlewell, Southend. Police are also working with mental health services to support the man arrested after they attacked several people, including a member of emergency services during the episode. A 40-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of GBH and assaulting an emergency worker.

Essex Police received several calls last night, Tuesday October 1, reporting a man who had been using a number of items as weapons who had assaulted eight people in the Earls Hall Parade and Victoria Avenue areas.

A spokesperson said: “Some of those who were assaulted sustained cuts and bruising but thankfully no injuries are life-threatening or life-changing. The victims are, however, understandably shaken from the incident and they’re being supported by specialist officers.”

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Officers were on the scene within minutes and after a coordinated search of the area, a man was identified and arrested. He was taken into custody and was assessed by the mental health services to consider the man’s current situation.

Detective Inspector Steve Franklin, of Southend CID, said: “This incident will have been extremely unpleasant to have been involved in and witnessed and we thank the numerous members of the public who alerted us to it.

“Thankfully, we were able to get a significant number of officers to the scene extremely quickly and a man was arrested. Whilst we’re clearly progressing a criminal investigation, we are also remaining in very close liaison with mental health services at this time. At this stage, we’re satisfied any threat posed yesterday has been dealt with.”

DI Franklin added: “As a result of numerous members of the public coming forward, our investigation is progressing at pace today but I would continue to appeal to anyone who has information on the incident to please come forward and speak to us. Anyone with information should contact us as soon as possible.”

You can contact Essex Police by submitting a report on their website or by using their online Live Chat service which is available 24 hours-a-day, seven days-a-week. Alternatively, you can call us on 101. Please cite incident 1064 of October 1.