Emergency stop-search powers introduced in Oldham following two stabbings

A man died after being stabbed on Union Street

Greater Manchester Police introduced additional stop-and-search powers over the weekend, following two stabbings in Oldham.

A man in his forties died after being stabbed on Union Street in the early hours of Saturday morning.

In a separate incident,  a man was stabbed on Minton Street in Glodwick on Sunday afternoon. He was was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The temporary powers were introduced under section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act (1994) allowing officers to stop-search anyone in a defined area from Sunday afternoon until 7am this morning.

Detective Superintendent Kate Atton, of GMP's Oldham district, said: “We have seen such a shocking and serious act of violence this weekend that has involved the use of a knife on the streets of Oldham and this will not be tolerated.

“While an investigation continues at pace to understand the circumstances behind it – and the person responsible - we are also determined to doing whatever’s in our power to prevent any further such incidents taking place in our town.

“That is why heightened stop-and-search powers have been introduced in the Glodwick area and the town centre to allow officers to prevent anyone found carrying weapons to be free to walk our streets.”

A 31-year-old Rochdale man has been arrested in connection with the fatal stabbing on Union Street in the early hours of Saturday morning.  It's understood the suspect was known to the victim.

Detective Superintendent Simon Hurst said: “This is an extensive and complex investigation that has moved at some pace in the last 24 hours as our team of detectives continue to piece together the circumstances that has led to a man so tragically losing his life after a night out.

“We’ve spoken to some key witnesses so far who have been assisting us with our enquiries, and this has led to us arresting a local man who we believe had travelled down to the Ipswich area after this incident, before now being detained and brought back up to Greater Manchester.

“At this stage we are not looking for anybody else in connection to this fatal incident, but I do want anybody who has seen or heard anything that could be of importance to contact us so that we can ensure that all available lines of inquiry continue to be followed so that the man responsible is brought to justice.”

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