Three seriously hurt in street stabbings
Date published: 27 March 2009
THREE men were rushed to hospital with serious stab wounds following a mass brawl in Yorkshire Street early today.
One was slashed in the face, another had a 4in cut to his lip, while the third suffered a deep cut to his back and will undergo surgery today.
Rush-hour traffic was thrown into chaos this morning as after police closed Yorkshire Street between Horsedge Street and Mumps to examine the scene following the incident at 2.45am. Cars and buses were diverted.
One man who works in the area told the Evening Chronicle that violent scenes were a common feature in Yorkshire Street on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, when gangs of revellers pour out of the town centre’s clubs and bars at closing time.
He said: “They all throw them out at the same time so there’s trouble regularly around here.
“It’s usually fist fights and bottles, but it’s never normally as bad as this. You are getting gangs coming in from Failsworth, Middleton and Chadderton and it’s like a competition to show who’s the toughest.
“It’s terrible and it’s getting worse. My mate’s lad was shot in a nightclub in Horsedge Street just a few years ago.”
