By Harry Mottram: with several stabbings in Bath and Bristol since the start of 2024 there is real concern about the apparent rise in knife related crime locally. Police have released this statement concerning a man who brandished a knife in a local Spar store in Bath a few days ago.
In a statement Avon and Somerset Police reported: “A 48-year-old man has been charged in connection with a robbery in Bath. Ian Gant, of no fixed address, appeared at Bath Magistrates’ Court on Monday 26 February after being charged with robbery and being in possession of a bladed article. The charges relate to an incident on Monday 19 February where a man threatened staff while holding a kitchen knife in a local Spar store in Bath. Gant was remanded and will next appear at Bristol Crown Court on 25 March 2024.”
Earlier in a separate incident residents in Dransfield way and Coronation Avenue have been shocked by another stabbing in the city – despite a crack down on knife crime by Avon and Somerset Police in recent months.
The Police have made this lengthy statement: “We were called at around 4.20pm on Monday 26 February to Dransfield Way, near Coronation Avenue, Bath, following a report that a woman had been stabbed. The woman, who is aged in her 20s, went to hospital where she remains in a critical but stable condition. Her family have been informed and are being supported. We’d like to thank members of the public who came to the woman’s aid at the time. A 28-year-old man was arrested at the scene in connection with the incident and remains in police custody. We’re treating this as an isolated incident and there is no evidence of any wider risk to the public. You can expect to see an increased police presence over the coming days and the neighbourhood team will be carrying out high-visibility reassurance patrols, so do please talk to officers if you have any concerns.”
The incident comes on the back of a number of knife related crimes and murders in the city. Last year Ben Moncrieff, 18, was attacked by a 15-year-old outside a McDonald’s in the Southgate area of Bath in the early hours of Saturday 6 May. Last year Mikey Roynon, 16, was fatally stabbed in the neck with a large “zombie knife” during a house party in Bath. Three 16-year-olds are facing trial accused of Mikey’s murder. A man was stabbed at an address in south Bath last year while in January this year two men were involved in a knife attack near Royal Crescent.
In November Police carried out a range of both enforcement and engagement activity in a bid to encourage people not to carry knives or get involved in serious violence as part of the national policing week of action, Operation Sceptre.
School visits, weapons sweeps searching undergrowth and public spaces for any discarded or hidden knives and installing new community bleed kits were just some of the actions that took place across the week, resulting in over 160 knives being recovered or seized.
Results included:
- 59 weapon sweeps recovering two knives
- 156 knives recovered from 13 weapon surrender bins
- 14 stop and searches carried out seizing two knives
- 14 knife-related arrests, seizing four knives
- 32 community engagement and awareness events
- 83 school engagements, delivering knife-crime awareness sessions
- 11 diversion visits to youths identified and linked to carrying knives
- 36 retailer visits advising of laws and safety around knife sales
- Three new community bleed kits installed
The police take knife crime seriously and they publish information about the issue on their website: https://www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/crime-prevention-advice/protect-yourself-and-others-from-knife-crime/
If you can help, please call 101 and give the call handler the reference number 5224011708, or complete our online appeals form.
You can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers 100 per cent anonymously on 0800 555 111 or via their Anonymous Online Form.
No personal details are taken, information cannot be traced or recorded and you will not go to court or have to speak to police when contacting Crimestoppers.
Bath Voice Monthly Newspaper is distributed free to thousands of homes and some supermarkets – distributed from the first of the month. Harry Mottram is the News Editor
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