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Breaking: Man in court after stab murder
A MAN will apear in court today following the murder of Sheffield 29-year-old Damian John Taff - who was stabbed to death on a city street.
Antonio Anderson, aged 31, of Masters Crescent, Parson Cross, is due before Sheffield magistrates accused of perverting the course of justice.
He was arrested following the death of Mr Taff, who was found bleeding on Swanbourne Road, Sheffield Lane Top, in the early hours of Wednesday.
The father of three later died from his injuries in the Northern General Hospital.
Armed police stormed a Sheffield house close to where the stabbing took place.
The dramatic moment officers in heavy body armour surrounded the house in Swanbourne Road, Sheffield Lane Top, was captured in photos taken by a shocked Star reader.
Police wearing helmets and visors used their cars as shields while they trained their firearms on the property.
Residents today revealed the police ordered people inside to come out.
And when nobody emerged officers used a battering ram to smash the front door off its hinges.
A woman was escorted out and bundled into a police car before being driven away.
Forensics teams then moved into the house - and neighbours said they were there for around six hours.
Police officially named the victim as Mr Taff, from Sheffield. He was found bleeding to death in the street at 4am on Wednesday.
He is believed to have been knifed repeatedly, once through the heart, and died in the Northern General Hospital at 10.55am. A post mortem revealed he died of a stab wound.
One resident who witnessed the subsequent armed raid on Swanbourne Road told The Star: "The house was within a police cordon that nobody was allowed to enter all day.
"I saw the armed police turn up with their guns on show and then they surrounded the house.
"I saw them crouching behind a police car with their weapons trained on the house.
"There was a lot of shouting, with the police asking for the front door to be opened. This went on for a while and then they got a battering ram out and smashed their way in.
"I then saw a woman - in her late teens or early 20s - escorted out and driven away while police teams moved in."
The resident added: "A camper van type vehicle then turned up, with men in white suits who went in with forensic equipment - the van looked like a full forensics laboratory."
Residents on the street said the house has been raided by police numerous times in the past.
One man said: "Everyone close to the crime scene was banned from moving their cars because we were told police wanted to look under every single one of them.
"Anyone who wanted to enter the street had to give the police their names and addresses before they were allowed anywhere close."
Chief Superintendent Simon Torr, responsible for the policing of Sheffield, said the raided house was one of a number of "scenes" of interest to detectives investigating the murder. Another house, on nearby Follett Road, Lane Top, was also under police guard all day Wednesday and yesterday.
"We have several scenes of interest to us, such as where the victim had been, so there is quite a lot of activity in the Sheffield Lane Top area," Chf Supt Torr told The Star.
"We are trying to piece together everything that happened in the lead-up to the incident - how the victim got to Swanbourne Road, and where he was immediately prior to being found.
"As well as evidence-gathering on Swanbourne Road we have been running a number of policing operations connected to this, such as searching a number of properties.
"We take knife crime very seriously."
An inquest into the death is expected to be opened today.
Anyone with information about the attack should call 0114 220 2020.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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