Bolton knife swoop finds two lethal blades

9:54am Tuesday 22nd July 2008

Two knives were confiscated from town centre clubbers during a two-day operation by police.

The lethal blades were found on two men who went through a police metal detector at Bolton Train Station at the weekend.

Police searched almost 2,700 people as part of the operation, which was launched following the fatal stabbing of Bolton dad Paul Gilligan, aged 31.

Supt David Flitcroft, of Bolton Police, said: “It is significant that out of 2,700 people passing through the search arches over the weekend, just two people were found to be in possession of a knife.

“One of the aims of this operation was to gauge to what extent people are arming themselves with these weapons.

“I hope that the operation reassures people that the carrying of such weapons in Bolton is not a common occurrence and that the two people we found to be doing so, were arrested and have been charged.”

The portable airport-style arch was set up at the train station on Friday night before being moved to Nelson Square in the town centre.

On Saturday, it was taken to the Ikon nightclub, where clubbers were asked to walk through it. Officers also had portable metal detectors which they used to search weekend party-goers.

In addition to the two knives, police seized a canister of pepper spray and drugs off a number of people.

Police were joined on the operation by British Transport Police, Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive and local authority licensing officers.

Supt Flitcroft said: “We received overwhelming positive feedback from members of the community in the town and plan to work more closely with the licensing trade to continue to deter people from carrying knives.”

The weekend operation was launched as new figures revealed there have been 114 incidents involving knives in Bolton over the last year.

Police say this figure equates to just 0.3 per cent of overall crime in the area.

Knife crime is high on the Government’s agenda and one of the measures being considered is an automatic jail term for those caught with a blade.

On the weekend Mr Gilligan was killed, four other people in Bolton were stabbed.

l Leon Ramsden, aged 19, of Chorley New Road, Bolton, has been charged with the murder of Mr Gilligan and is due to appear at Manchester Crown Court tomorrow.

A 23-year-old man, arrested on suspicion of murder and assisting an offender, and a 20-year-old man, arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender, have been bailed until October 15, pending further inquiries.