Police officers hurt in alleged knife attack

AN officer was allegedly slashed and two others allegedly stabbed after police descended on a Billingham street.

Officers were called to Corfe Crescent at around 10.15pm on Friday evening following a concern for welfare report.

However, while attending, they encountered a man with a knife who became “aggressive.”

The three officers were taken to hospital, where they received stitches.

Witnesses reported seeing “20 to 30 police cars” on the road at around 12.45am, with one man describing the scene as “chaos.”

A 34-year-old man was arrested in connection with the incident. He was taken to hospital with minor injuries.

The Gazette visited the scene of the incident on Saturday morning, where a police van remained parked outside a bungalow on the street.

Shortly after the van left, crime scene investigation arrived, with officers seen entering a property with a camera.

Many residents told The Gazette of their shock after waking to wailing sirens and flashing lights – only to peer out their window and see police “everywhere.”

Reports suggest that police cars were backed up from a bungalow near St Aidan’s Church all the way up to Ashby Road.

The North East Ambulance Service also confirmed it attended the incident.

David Cooper, who has lived on the road for 20 years, said the incident left him “gobsmacked” at first, describing how there were so many police vehicles that drivers “couldn’t get a car down.”

The 68-year-old said: “We were laid in bed. Now and again you have blue lights... then another... and another. The wife got up and looked out the front and couldn’t see for the blue lights.”

He continued: “Then the ambulance came and then the dogs came, but I don’t think they got out.

“From first seeing the lights to it being clear, it was about 40 minutes.

One 75-year-old, who has lived on the street for 40 years, said the area is “spot on” and that it was a shock to see so many police vehicles as only “once in a blue moon” things happen. He said: “A neighbour told me it started at 8.45pm.

“It woke me up at about 12.45am – the blue lights were flashing in my room. I looked out the window and there were about 20 to 30 police cars – I counted 17. I would’ve said 30 officers or more.

“There were two ambulances here too, but I don’t know if anyone got in the first. It’s spot on here. Everyone knows everyone.”

A 35-year-old, who lives with his two kids and wife, said the sirens woke the family up around 12.40am.

He said: “We looked out and there were just police everywhere. It was chaos.”

Mark Thomas Fox, 34, is set to appear at Teesside Magistrates’ Court today charged with three counts of Section 18 assault, and with threatening someone with a weapon.