Two are arrested as man, 20, dies after stabbing

TWO PEOPLE have been arrested after a young man died in an incident in Batley on Sunday night.

Police were called at 10.28pm to reports of an altercation involving a group of people on Sunday.

The victim, a 20-year-old Heckmondwike man, suffered a stab injury during the incident on Park Croft in the town, after which other persons involved fled the scene.

Emergency services attended and the victim was taken to hospital but later died. He has since been named as Bradley Stuart Gledhill.

A 19-year-old man from Batley was arrested on suspicion of murder yesterday morning, while a 31-year-old man from Heckmondwike was arrested on suspicion of affray.

Detective Superintendent Jim Griffiths of Kirklees Police, said: “We fully realise the concern this incident will cause in communities in Batley and officers from Kirklees District are working today to support Homicide and Major Enquiries colleagues in investigating what took place and also speak with local residents.

“Our local neighbourhood policing teams, in conjunction with our partner agencies, are working closely with our communities to understand problems and identify areas where greater support is needed.

“This incident has taken place against a backdrop of big falls in knife crime in Kirklees over the past 12 months following multiple police operations and continued proactive patrolling by colleagues from the force’s Operation Jemlock team.

“These sort of offences are treated exceptionally seriously by Kirklees Police and we continue to deploy significant resources into combatting offending of this kind.

“Enhanced patrols will be continuing over the next few days and officers will be available within the area for local residents to liaise with directly.”

Despite the incident, West Yorkshire Police reiterated that knife crime had fallen by 27 per cent over the past 12 months and weapon possession offences were down by seven per cent.

Anyone with information on Mr Gledhill’s death is asked to contact the Homicide and Major Enquiry Team.