Stabbed man sought help in newsagents
STAFF were terrified when a man ran into a Skelmersdale newsagents after being repeatedly stabbed.
The 26-year-old suffered wounds to his knee, arm and torso after being attacked with a knife on Sunday afternoon.
The shocking attack happened on The Winsters at about 4.30pm, and the man then made his way to the nearby Premier Store to get medical assistance.
He was taken to Aintree Hospital for treatment.
The shop’s manager, Gutty Singh, said that a customer called an ambulance after the man came in for help.
Mr Singh said: “He came in asking for tissues and bandages and someone rang an ambulance for him.
“There was a lot of blood so it must have been serious.
“I don’t know what kind of knife it was but it must have been bad.
“He sat on the wall outside while the ambulance came and the police were there pretty soon after.
“It was pretty terrifying for the girl working, it was a shock.”
Two men aged 54 and 47, and a 44-year-old woman, each from Skelmersdale, have been arrested on suspicion of assault.
The incident comes just a week after West Lancashire’s new chief inspector said officers would use all available powers to tackle knife crime in the town.
Last month, officers were drafted in from around the county to enforce strict stop and search powers after a man and teenager were stabbed in Birch Green.
The man suffered a punctured wound in that attack but his injuries were not life-threatening.
Ch Insp Ian Jones also called for residents to work with police to help reduce knife crime.
He said: “It’s about identifying who’s causing the issues, who are the people carrying the knives, why are they carrying the knives, how to prevent people who are connected to them from doing the same thing in the future.
“My main message to our community is that we need their help for us to help them. Help us to help you.
“We need people to be talking to us, to be telling us who’s carrying knives, why they’re carrying knives, where they’re storing them, where they’re getting them from.
“They can do this anonymously by Crimestoppers and I promise that any information we do get we’ll act upon it and we’ll feed back where we can.”
Det Con Kelly Rosenthal from Skelmersdale police said: “Knife crime is not welcome in Skelmersdale and we are determined to find who was responsible for this stabbing.
“Did you see anything? Do you have any CCTV of this incident? If you have any information you think could assist us, please get in touch.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact the force by calling 01695 566165 or emailing 2946@ lancashire.pnn.police.uk. Alternatively, call 101 and quote incident number 1009 on November 11 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.