Bedfordshire Police’s guns and gangs team charges man over serious stabbing

On Monday 6 January police were called to reports of a stabbing in Bloomfield Avenue, Luton at around 11pm. A 16-year-old boy was taken to hospital with serious injuries. On Wednesday (8 January) an 18-year-old man was charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent in relation to the incident.

Meanwhile since the start of the year, Bedfordshire Police has been continuing to carry out patrols under Operation Sparkler, its targeted approach to serious youth violence, drug activity and anti-social behaviour in the area.

The Operation Sparkler team regularly deploy in towns across Bedfordshire, carrying out stop searches and proactively targeting people believed to be involved in this type of criminality.

On Thursday 2 January the team carried out their first operation of the year, focusing on the Houghton Regis and Lewsey Farm areas.

The team made four arrests.

A 21-year-old man from Dunstable was arrested on suspicion of burglary and possession of an offensive weapon after the car he was travelling in was stopped. He has been bailed.

A 28-year-old man from Dunstable and a 25 year old from Luton were arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply and were bailed.

An 18 year old from Luton was arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply but was released under investigation.

An axe, money and numerous wraps of what are believed to be both Class A and Class B drugs were also seized as part of the operation.

Detective Inspector Mark Pugh said:

“We will not tolerate knife crime and serious youth violence in Bedfordshire and are doing all we can to see a reduction and protect our young people.

“We had great success with our Operation Sparkler patrols in 2019, with several significant arrests being made and multiple dangerous weapons removed from circulation, and we will continue the work this year.

“We’re determined to continue this work in 2020, disrupting those who seek to bring harm to our communities by carrying out our targeted proactive patrols, and I’m really pleased that we are already achieving positive results.”

Anyone with information can contact us on 101 or via our reporting centre.

Crimestoppers can be contacted anonymously on 0800 555 111, while anyone can report information through Fearless, the young people’s crime charity.