Have-a-go hero wrestled knifeman to the ground

Witnesses have told of their horror as they watched the man, who is believed to have mental illness issues, attack people at random in the street as they were enjoying an evening out in Keighley.

Several people helped victims who had received serious knife wounds before paramedics arrived.

A have-a-go hero last night told how he bravely struggled to pin down a man who had already stabbed seven people, including three women and another man, in a frenzied attack.

Majid Hussain was stabbed in the neck and shoulder as he wrestled with the 19-year-old knifeman in Albert Street, Keighley, next to Wetherspoons-owned The Livery Rooms, in the early hours of Friday.

He was returning from Airedale General Hospital at Steeton after visiting his brother-in-law who was the knifeman’s first victim.

The 24-year-old was stabbed in Victoria Road, Keighley, at about 10.30pm on Thursday and was last night described as being in a “stable” condition at Airedale General Hospital.

The attacker is believed to have walked into Keighley after the first stabbing incident.

About two hours later, he turned up outside The Livery Rooms where he attacked seven people, including the three women.

Mr Hussain, 24, of Malsis Road, Keighley, said he was passing the pub when he saw a commotion.

By then the 19-year-old had left seven others viciously stabbed and being cared for by Wetherspoon staff and customers including Samantha Jones and her mother Julie Peace, who had witnessed the carnage.

Mr Hussain, who was helped by his other brother-in-law, told the Telegraph & Argus how he stopped his car and the teenager started swinging the knife at him.

He said: “We got the knife off him then we kept him on the floor until the police arrived. By this time there was a huge crowd of people forming outside Wetherspoons.

“I’m OK. I have two superficial stab wounds to my neck and shoulder and one quite deep one on my back but other than that I am fine.

“I feel a lot better now I know he has been caught and will hopefully be locked up.”

As the attacker was being pinned down, 18-year-old Miss Jones and her mum were trying to help the victims in the pub after the doors had been locked to prevent the man getting in. She said: “I was terrified. I was literally shaking. But my mum seemed quite calm.

“She was helping one of the women – she was called Fiona – who had been stabbed three times,” said Miss Jones, of Shed Street, Keighley.

“She was going in and out of consciousness and my mum was trying to keep her awake.

“There was another woman very badly injured and there was blood everywhere.

“I didn’t see them stabbed but I saw the puncture wounds. It was awful.

“I think two of the people were mother and daughter. I had only met Fiona that night and she told me she was a chef.

“Wetherspoons staff had locked the door to stop him getting in and I think he flipped and went mad.

“I looked out of the window and saw these other men jump on him and start to beat him up.”

Her mum said: “I was about to go out for a cig and I saw this man waving his arm about – I didn’t know he had a knife.

“A girl from the bar said ‘Oh my God, he’s stabbed someone’ and she told everybody to get inside and locked the door.”

Mrs Peace, also of Shed Street, Keighley, said she saw a young woman who looked critically-ill with a stab wound in the stomach and another woman, whom she believed was her mother, with a slash to the arm.

Their friend had a cut to the abdomen and three cuts to the breast.

“I was helping the young woman by trying to make her focus on me, holding her hand and trying to make her stay awake,” she said.

“Everybody seemed very calm. There was no screaming. And the paramedics arrived very quickly. I was shocked but I had no time to be scared because people were running around trying to help each other. I didn’t have time to think of anything else.”

Her friend Darren Anderson, 42, of Coronation Way, Keighley, said: “The woman who Julie was helping was gripping my hand very hard she was in so much pain.”

e-mail: clive.white@telegraphandargus.co.uk

Three left in hospital with serious injuries

Three people – two women and a man – last night remained in hospital after the attack.

One of the women has suffered serious injuries, said police.

They were among a crowd of people attacked by the 19-year-old at about 12.30am yesterday outside the Wetherspoons-owned Livery Rooms pub in North Street, Keighley.

His first victim, stabbed two hours earlier in Victoria Road, was last night in a “stable” condition in Airedale General Hospital, Steeton, said police.

A 44-year-old woman, attacked outside the Livery Rooms, who suffered the most serious injuries, was also described as being stable in Airedale Hospital.

A 26-year-old woman, who suffered non-life threatening injuries, was also being detained at the same hospital.

Airedale and North Bradford Police say the attacker, who is local but has not been named, was yesterday being assessed for mental health issues.

Officers were not yet in a position to charge him.

It is believed he had been a patient at Lynfield Mount psychiatric hospital in Bradford.

Detectives in West Yorkshire Police’s Homicide and Major Crime Team (HMET) are investigating the incident and are understood to be scrutinising CCTV footage at both scenes. The police helicopter was also scrambled.

Bradford Councillor Zafar Ali said the incident had shocked the community.

He said he understood the attacker had mental health problems and had been receiving treatment.

Coun Ali (Con, Keighley Central) said: “If that is the case, I’m concerned that he was out in public.

“This is a horrific incident – I have seen nothing like it in the 45 years I have lived in Keighley. It is very distressing.

“My heart goes out to the innocent victims and to their families and I hope they have a speedy recovery.”

He believed it was a one-off incident and not crime or race-related.

A spokesman for Bradford District Care Trust, which manages Lynfield Mount hospital, said it was unable to comment because of patient confidentiality.

Detective Superintendent Steve Payne, of HMET, has appealed for witnesses.

Anyone with information should contact Airedale and North Bradford Police on 0845 6060606.