Police chief speaks out after four stabbings in Sheffield in two days

Assistant Chief Constable Tim Forber said he wanted to ‘reassure the public’ after four knife attacks in Sheffield since Wednesday.

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Last night, a 32-year-old man was stabbed in King Street – opposite the Angel Street branch of Argos in the city centre – at around 10pm.

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A 26-year-old man was arrested over the incident.

That night an 18-year-old man was found also stabbed on the Shiregreen estate.

Officers were called to Bellhouse Road, close to the junction with Nether Shire Lane, at 7.50pm and the injured man was taken to hospital.

Earlier that day, a 35-year-old man was stabbed in Spital Street, Burngreave, amid claims that he was attacked in a turf war over drugs.

His attacker remains at large.

On Wednesday, a 17-year-old boy was found injured in Chancet Wood Drive after being stabbed in his back.

Two 16-year-old boys arrested over the incident have been released while enquiries continue.

ACC Forber said: “Firstly, I would like to reassure the public who may be reading reports about these incidents in Sheffield over the last few days, that we are taking robust and swift action when it comes to our investigations.

“We have already made arrests in connection to two of the incidents and our teams are working hard to identify outstanding offenders.”He added: “Tackling and reducing knife-enabled crime across South Yorkshire is an absolute priority for us and I am confident that we have the tools in place to make progress.“Our Serious Violent Crime Taskforce, who started work in June, have already had some fantastic results. They are now routinely deployed to areas where we know there to be issues around serious organised crime and violent crime, carrying out searches and making arrests, ultimately disrupting criminals who are causing problems in our communities.“They only strengthen our day to day activity, with officers across South Yorkshire committed to tackling violent and knife enabled crime.

“Part of this is our ongoing work with local schools. Over 40,000 children have been involved in our ‘Guns and Knives Take Lives’ programme since it started in 2017 and this number is growing. We want our young people to know the consequences of carrying a weapon and the long-term impact.“Next week will see Operation Sceptre return to South Yorkshire, which is a targeted operation tackling knife-enabled crime.

“As part of this, you will see some significant enforcement activity taking place, which I hope will be reassuring for local people, but also act as a deterrent and a warning for those who are, or are thinking about, carrying knives.”