00:00 At approximately 8.30pm last night we were made aware that this 13 year old man was being
00:06 taken to hospital after being stabbed in Ashley Road in the St Paul's area, Bristol.
00:13 Officers attended the Bristol Royal Infirmary where a member of the public had taken the
00:16 victim, very sadly died in hospital later that night.
00:22 All our thoughts remain with the victim's family at this difficult time.
00:25 They are being supported by specialist family liaison officers and we will continue to keep
00:29 them updated.
00:30 I would like to publicly thank the medical professionals and also the member of the public
00:35 who came to the man's aid.
00:38 The Major Crime Investigation Team is now leading a murder investigation.
00:42 This work is already well underway and overnight a 43 year old man was arrested on suspicion
00:47 of murder.
00:50 He remains in police custody while enquiries continue.
00:55 We are all fully aware of the concern recent incidents in this part of the city have had
00:59 on our communities and we will work with others to make sure that appropriate support is in
01:03 place for people who need it.
01:06 Earlier today we issued more details of our operation to tackle serious violence and knife
01:10 crime and we are committed to working with our partners and communities to tackle the
01:15 root causes of these incidents.
01:19 There will be an increased police presence in the area over the coming days and I urge
01:22 local people to approach the patrolling officers and discuss any concerns with them.
01:27 I'd like to make clear that we believe the wider risks to the public from this incident
01:31 to be minimal.
01:33 We're keen to hear from anyone who was in the area at the time who may have witnessed
01:37 what happened.
01:38 If you saw the incident or have any dash cam or CCTV footage which could help the investigation
01:43 then please contact us.
01:45 If you'd like to remain anonymous information can also be reported through Crimestoppers.
01:51 Mark you mentioned the proactive campaign there.
01:54 What tangible ways do you think that's actually really going to make any difference to the
01:59 streets of Bristol?
02:00 So in relation to our policing responsibilities we need to be delivering effective and targeted
02:05 intelligence led patrols in our communities.
02:09 We need to be making people feel reassured about our presence and what difference we
02:13 can make.
02:14 We need to be delivering targeted work to deal with those people who are carrying knives
02:17 on our streets, identify them, take those knives off the street and bring those people
02:21 to justice.
02:22 Do you have any intelligence as to whether just last week you were mentioning about groups
02:30 of youths in particular in Bristol that are responding to their own child with a sensitivity.
02:35 Is this in any way linked to those, to that?
02:38 Nothing to indicate any links in relation to this incident.
02:40 If you look at the ages of the parties concerned in this, 30 and 43 years of age, we don't
02:45 believe there are any links.
02:48 We're looking at maybe 10.
02:50 I'm unable to speculate on the issues that may have existed behind the idea that that
02:56 will still be hopefully established during the investigation.
02:59 As far as you're aware there's no connection between what happened here last night and
03:02 any other recent stabbings?
03:04 As far as I'm aware absolutely not, no.
03:06 You mentioned that you're looking into groups of folks that are supporting the community
03:10 of Edinburgh.
03:11 Are you looking at a party or a member of a nice kind of instance?
03:15 Do you know any more about the three to six or six wedding at Highsbrough University?
03:21 So we believe that there were or have been links between some of the incidents that played
03:27 out over that 12 day period.
03:30 The incident in McDonald's in the horse fair and the incident in Hortley Park where
03:34 Darian tragically lost his life.
03:36 That's already been identified and has come to light in the investigations.
03:40 We're still working to identify any wider links between those incidents and also incidents
03:44 that have been part of the increase in serious violence that we've identified that played
03:48 out from 2022 into 2023.
03:51 And that's really key because we need to understand where we need to be focusing our efforts in
03:58 policing to make sure that the work that we do is targeted and effective and it doesn't
04:03 disproportionately impact on other members of the community.
04:05 I've been speaking to quite a few people here who have been told that they've now
04:10 found out it was so aggressive of them and others are walking around with knives on them
04:14 because they feel so as if to say, "Vaccine to rake us first to try and prevent people
04:20 from walking."
04:21 It's work we're doing to disrupt the supply and disrupt people's access to knives.
04:25 That's a particular concern.
04:26 We're working with our partners, the local authority and schools around education to
04:29 provide reassurance for young people particularly in other ways.
04:32 But as I said, this incident didn't involve young people, but I'm aware of the wider perspective
04:37 and context that exists in the city.
04:39 Mark, quick question for me.
04:42 Chancellor's announced his budget today of course.
04:44 In that context, would you like ideally to see the police given more funding to deal
04:48 with the root causes of this?
04:50 I'm a police officer with responsibility for policing in the city.
04:54 So of course I'd always like more police officers, more police resources.
04:58 I know it's not as simple as that, but I'm always going to want more to be able to deliver
05:02 more for the communities.
05:03 Yeah.
05:04 And what would you say to people who've seen this tonight, another stabbing on the day
05:10 the city's come together for a campaign against stabbing?
05:15 The cruel irony of this.
05:16 What would you say to people who are scared?
05:19 I would urge people to connect in the ways that we all need to.
05:23 So police, the local authority, schools, communities, families.
05:28 This is a problem that's so complex and it's creating such impact that we need to tackle
05:32 it together.
05:33 So I'd urge people to get involved in those responses so we can achieve that.
05:38 Thank you.
05:39 Thanks.
05:40 Over to you.
05:41 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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