“It was honestly like a bomb had gone off afterwards. There were just people in disbelief”
19:22, 02 Jan 2026Updated 19:22, 02 Jan 2026
Emergency services were called to the attack at Bolton A&E(Image: Michael Anderson)
A man who pinned down an attacker who unleashed violence on patients in an A&E waiting room has told of the ordeal. Police raced to the scene of the incident at Bolton Hospital on Friday afternoon (January 2).
Officers were called at around 4.15pm after reports of a man attacking other patients inside. A man in his 20s has since been arrested on suspicion of a number of offences including S18 assault and assault of a police officer, and was taken into custody.
One witness, Michael Anderson, who was waiting with his pregnant partner, said he and a nurse were forced to heroically pin the suspect down to the ground to prevent further attacks before security later arrived. He said the suspect had ‘punched a frail man in the face’, causing him to fall to the ground, before then ‘biting off part of somebody’s ear’ when they tried to intervene.
Describing the scenes of chaos inside the waiting room, the 34-year-old told the Manchester Evening News: “I had gone to A&E with my partner, who is pregnant, and we were waiting at the desk to be checked in. Two police officers had come in escorting this other lad who was behind us.
Police outside Bolton A&E(Image: Michael Anderson)
“We were seen to and sat down, and he was getting irate in his chair. After about ten minutes he stood up and went near to the entrance and began to count out every person in the waiting room. He then went into the corridor and it was quiet for a minute or so before he started screaming.
“There was this man, who was quite frail, walking out and this guy swung for him. Another person then saw this and tried to grab him and stop him, when he latched onto his ear and has bitten part of it off.
“My pregnant girlfriend was panicking by this point, so I went in and tried to put him on the floor. I pulled him up off the man he was latching on to and throw him back down, got on top of him and restrained him. A male nurse came to help.”
Michael described that it was a number of minutes before security officers came to assist, who took over as the police also arrived. He said one girl was curled up in a ball on the floor in terror.
“There were people around on the floor, us restraining him and pinning him down, and I had kept asking for security,” Michael added. “There was a girl sitting on the floor with her knees to her chest having a panic attack.
“It was honestly like a bomb had gone off afterwards. There were just people in disbelief. Some had backed into one side of the room. It was hard to grasp what had just happened.
“After this, the police officer came back in to tell us and reassure us there was no further threat and that he was in the back of a van. But patients should have the right to feel safe when they’re already feeling vulnerable. It shouldn’t be up to the public to have to get involved.”
Pictures taken on Friday showed a number of police vehicles outside the A&E entrance. A man, in his 20s, was later arrested at the scene to be taken into custody.
A Greater Manchester Police spokesperson said: “Officers called to the incident at around 4:15pm today, one man in his 20s was arrested on suspicion of s18 and s47 assault, police assault and racially aggravated public order.”
The force did not provide any details on the nature of injuries sustained by the victims. Bolton NHS Foundation Trust has also been approached for a comment.
The incident came just days after six people were injured in a separate attack involving a crowbar at Newton Community Hospital in Newton-le-Willows on December 30. The suspect, a 20-year-old man originally from Afghanistan, was said to have damaged a counter before assaulting people inside. He was arrested and later detained under the Mental Health Act.