Teen, 17, seriously injured after stabbing inside busy Primark store

A 16-year-old boy has been arrested after a teenager was stabbed in front of shoppers at a Primark store in Nottingham today. The 17-year-old victim was left with serious injuries to his chest after being slashed in the city centre around 11.30am on Sunday.

Police believe it followed an altercation on the historic shopping street of Long Row, which then spilled into the retail chain. A suspect had reportedly fled towards Old Market Square. The victim was taken to hospital after being treated on the scene. His injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

The Primary store remained closed and sealed off by police tape all day while forensics officers investigated. A nearby store manager told Nottingham Post: ‘I’ve been trying to find out what’s happened. I’ve got my area manager on the phone terrified and I’m just trying to fill them in. Why is it even happening?’.

Detective Inspector Paul Shortt said: ‘This was a shocking incident that will have caused considerable alarm to anyone who witnessed it. ‘A team of detectives has been working throughout the day to investigate this incident and we have now identified a suspect.’.

Earlier, he had said: ‘This was an appalling act of violence carried out in full view of members of the public. ‘A team of detectives is now working to understand exactly what happened in the moments before, during and after this incident. ‘To this end they want to hear from anyone who saw or heard any part of what happened.

‘No matter how significant you think your information may be, we want to hear from you without delay.’. In a statement, Primark said: ‘Our Nottingham store is currently closed until further notice following an incident that took place earlier today.

‘Our thoughts are with the victim and we are focused on supporting our colleagues who were in store at the time. ‘We are assisting the police with their investigation and are unable to comment further.’. A number of teenagers have been killed or injured in knife attacks in recent weeks.

In another attack this month, 15-year-old Harvey Willgoose was stabbed to death at his school in Sheffield on February 3. Another 15-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has been charged with murder possession of a bladed article and affray.

Last month, 14-year-old Kelyan Bokassa died after he was stabbed on a bus in Woolwich, London, on January 7. Two teenagers, aged 15 and 16, have been charged with murder. Kelyan’s mum Mary told Metro her son was ‘very kind and caring’ and dreamed of becoming a chef after being inspired by Jamie Oliver.

Nottingham-based activist Dr Marcellus Baz, who works to deter young people from crime and violence, said: ‘It’s becoming more prevalent and people are becoming desensitised – “it’s just another knife attack”. We’ve got to look at things differently.’.

He added: ‘As a society we do the same thing over and over and expect a different result. ‘We need to look at this radically as a public health issue. This is a systemic issue that is going to continue to happen – if people don’t take this seriously we’re going to continue to see more of this.’.

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