Weapon and GBH charge over attack

Police increased stop and search powers in aftermath of incident

A Slough man has been charged in connection with an assault in Cippenham on Tuesday.

The victim, in his thirties, was attacked with a weapon in Station Road at 1pm on Tuesday, September 20, suffering injuries to his hand.

A Section 60 order – giving police increased stop-andsearch powers – was imposed after the attack.

This covered Huntercombe Lane North, Priory Road, Burnham Lane, Bath Road, Cippenham Lane, Mercian Way and St Andrews Way.

Police put out a notice

warning people of a ‘visible increase in police officers’, with the aim to ‘quickly identify and disrupt those carrying weapons’.

The Section 60 expired at 7am on Wednesday morning.

Yesterday (Thursday), Ryan Hodge, 29, of Kendal Drive, Slough, was charged with one count each of GBH, possession of an offensive weapon and criminal damage, and two counts of assault by beating of an emergency worker

Hodge was remanded in custody to appear at Reading Magistrates’ Court yesterday (Thursday).

Officers have also made another arrest in connection with this incident.

A 32-year-old man from Slough has been arrested on suspicion of GBH. He remains in police custody.

In a statement on Tuesday, Local Policing Area Commander for Slough, Superintendent Lee Barnham said: “This incident has occurred early in the afternoon so it is possible that there were witnesses.

“We would urge anybody who witnessed the incident to please get in touch with Thames Valley Police, either by reporting online or by calling 101, quoting reference number 43220422834.”

He added: “While I appreciate that orders such as this could cause concern, these powers provide us with another tactic to quickly identify and disrupt those carrying weapons.”