Witnesses described horrifying scenes as a man began attacking patients in the A&E waiting room
Police at the scene on Friday evening(Image: Michael Anderson)
A man remains detained under the Mental Health Act after three people were attacked at a Greater Manchester A&E department, according to an update from police.
Three people were attacked at Royal Bolton Hospital on Friday afternoon, January 2. Witnesses described horrifying scenes as a man began attacking patients in the A&E waiting room.
One, Michael Anderson said he and a nurse pinned the suspect down before security later arrived. He described how an elderly man was ‘punched in the face’, causing him to fall to the ground, before another man who tried to intervene had ‘part of their ear bitten off’.
The 34-year-old said: “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 threw him back down, got on top of him and restrained him. A male nurse came to help.
“It was honestly like a bomb had gone off afterwards. There were just people in disbelief. It was hard to grasp what had just happened.”
Yesterday, Saturday, police said a 22-year-old, understood to be a white British male, was arrested on suspicion of assault and racially aggravated public order and has been detained under the Mental Health Act. Today, January 4, the confirmed the man was still detained under the act.
In a statement GMP said a man in his 30s suffered serious injuries to his ear, while a woman in her 40s and a man in his 70s were treated at the scene for minor injuries.
Det Chief Insp Mike Sharples said: “We understand that an incident of this nature has caused concern for members of the public who were in hospital at the time, staff and the wider community. Officers are continuing to engage with staff and patients at the hospital to conduct a thorough investigation into the circumstances of the incident.”
Anyone with information is asked to call 101 or visit the GMP website quoting log number 2055 January 2 or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
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 in that incident, 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.