Video loading
The video will start in 8s Cancel
Click to play Tap to play
The Live Event you are trying to watch is either unavailable or has not started Please refresh this page in your browser to reload this live event video
A man is fighting for his life after being repeatedly stabbed during a mass brawl outside a pub in Middleton .
Police were called to Cheapside just after 11.30pm on Friday night to reports of a group of men and women fighting outside The Friendship Inn.
A 27-year-old had been stabbed multiple times and was taken to hospital where he is in a critical condition.
GMP say a 23 year-old man also suffered a minor injury to his hand.
Police have described it as a “brutal attack” and have launched an investigation.
Door-to-door enquiries are being carried out and detectives are keen to speak to a man who left the scene before police arrived.
He is around 21, white, of medium build and was believed to have been wearing a grey t-shirt and shorts.
Police have said the victim was attacked in a “brutal way” and have appealed for help to catch the culprit.
We’ll bring you the latest updates here.
Alex Hibbert
Search under cars
Alex Hibbert
Searching high and low
Alex Hibbert
More crime scene images
Our photographer Eddie Garvey was in Cheapside earlier and has sent these shots.
Police outside the Friendship Inn in Middleton
Police outside the Friendship Inn in Middleton
Police outside the Friendship Inn in MiddletonAlex Hibbert
Search under way
Officers are now carrying out an extensive search of the area surrounding the Friendship Inn.
Tactical Aid Unit officers search ground near the Friendship Inn, MiddletonAlex Hibbert
Video shows TAU moving in
This new video shows the forensic tent being removed and the Tactical Aid Unit officers moving in to the scene.
Video loading
Click to play Tap to play
The Live Event you are trying to watch is either unavailable or has not started Please refresh this page in your browser to reload this live event video
Alex Hibbert
TAU to comb the streets for evidence
Alex Hibbert
Senior officers now on scene
Two senior officers have just arrived at the scene and are talking to the officers already here.
Police outside the Friendship Inn in Middleton
Police outside the Friendship Inn in MiddletonAlex Hibbert
‘Quite a commotion’
I’ve just spoken to John O’Connor, who lives opposite the Friendship Inn.
He said:
“I came out just after it happened. I saw the guy who had his hand cut being looked after by friends. There was 20 to 30 people in the street and police and ambulances here.
“There was quite a commotion but I didn’t see the man who was severely injured. The guy with the cut hand was then taken to hospital.
“It doesn’t surprise me, I have lived here for 25 years and in the last 10 there’s been a number of incidents.”
Alex Hibbert
Cordon still strictly enforced
One man has just come and asked police if he can get his car from behind the cordon, but has been refused.
Alex Hibbert
Video update
Alex Hibbert has just sent this video update from Middleton:
Video loading
Click to play Tap to play
The Live Event you are trying to watch is either unavailable or has not started Please refresh this page in your browser to reload this live event video
Alex Hibbert
Tactical aid unit on way
A tactical aid unit on the way for officers to carry out a full search of the area, I have just heard.
But it’s understood that the police tent which has been set up opposite the Friendship Inn is about to come down
Alex Hibbert
Scene video
Alex Hibbert
Hunt for any type of clues
One officer has just spotted a shoe on the roof of a property opposite the Friendship Inn, which he is questioning could be evidence.
Alex Hibbert
Pub remains closed
The Friendship Inn is currently closed as police continue to work in the area.
Alex Hibbert
CCTV collected
I’ve just seen a woman from the police come and collect CCTV from a local resident, but she said it ‘shows nothing’ of the street
Alex Hibbert
More images from scene
Police are still here working the scene:
Police outside the Friendship Inn in Middleton
Police outside the Friendship Inn in MiddletonAlex Hibbert
Resident ‘not shocked’ by incident
I’ve just spoken to a resident who lives next to the cordon, who didn’t want to be identified as he said ‘dangerous’ people live around here. He said he wasn’t shocked by what’s happened as it’s the third incident like this in less than ten years.
He said:
“We didn’t hear anything last night until about 1am when there was about 20 police outside the house. And a few police vans and cars around.
“Officers were searching the area, I assume looking for evidence. It is quite a rough estate and there’s two pubs here which doesn’t help.”
Alex Hibbert
Cordon stretches beyond Cheapside
Alex says it’s a very large cordon touching several streets:
Alex Hibbert
‘Knife found in garden’
I have just overheard one resident of the street who lives behind the cordon tell police that she has found a knife in her back garden.
She said:
“I don’t know how it got there, I haven’t touched it.”
Police have just entered her home.
Alex Hibbert
Video from scene
Reporter Alex Hibbert has sent back this video showing the operation at Cheapside:
Video loading
Click to play Tap to play
The Live Event you are trying to watch is either unavailable or has not started Please refresh this page in your browser to reload this live event video
Alex Hibbert
Strict cordon in place
People are being stopped from going behind the cordon unless they live directly opposite the Friendship Inn. One woman has just had to climb over a friend’s garden fence to get to a property on the street.
Police outside the Friendship Inn in MiddletonAlex Hibbert
Police on ‘brutal’ attack
Inspector Caroline Ward, from GMP’s Rochdale borough, said:
“We are still trying to understand exactly what happened and why this man was attacked in such a brutal way.
“From enquiries already carried out, this appears to be an isolated incident and I would like to reassure the public we are doing everything we can to find the person responsible.
“If you saw anything, or have any information to do with this incident then please call us. If you recognise the description of the man we want to speak then please also contact us immediately.”
Information can be passed on by contacting police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Alex Hibbert
Large police cordon at scene of stabbing
We’re in Cheapside in Middleton at the scene of a mass brawl which has left a 27-year-old fighting for life.
Police outside the Friendship Inn in Middleton
Spread the love & Comment on Social Media !