Man charged with GBH after Kirkby stabbing

Kirkby neighbours respond to the second stabbing in their estate in as many weeks (Image: Nottingham Post).

Alleged attacker, Jason Manthorpe, 20, of Vernon Road, Kirkby in Ashfield, has been charged with GBH and threatening a person with a bladed article after the incident on Thursday, August 4.

He appeared at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Saturday, August 6 and was remanded in custody until his next court date, yet to be set.

The charges follow ‘frightening’ reports of a bloody attack in broad daylight, with neighbours witnessing as one young man was chased up the street by another and stabbed in the side of the torso, according to one person.

Retiree Anthony Thorpe said the latest stabbing was 'frightening' (Image: Nick Charity).

And there are also reports that the victim, an as yet unnamed man believed to be 26 years old, was also hit over the head with a metal bar.

Police had cordoned off a section of Copeland Road in Kirkby at around 3pm as crime scene investigators combed the area for evidence, with reports of blood splatters spreading as far away as people’s driveways.

The scene was described as ‘awful’ and ‘covered in blood’ by one witness, while other neighbours told of their shock as the attack is only the latest in a string of violent assaults in Kirkby, with a woman suffering fatal stab wounds just over mere metres away two weeks ago.

The victim, believed to be a local 26-year-old, was taken to Queen’s Medical Centre and his injuries were not believed to life threatening. He is said to have returned home to his family.

Teens Ashley and Stephen Huggins said they were worried to leave the house alone since the stabbing (Image: Nick Charity).

Ryan Hoskin, 18, who lives in the Leamington Estate said he is a friend of the victim’s family.

“They hit him over the head with a bar and stabbed him in the side.

“Its something that’s happened over nothing but it got out of hand. This is what the areas turning to – there was also that (alleged) murder the other week.”

On July 16 there was a stabbing only two streets away in Gleneagles Drive, resulting in the death of 46-year-old Aleksandra Mrozic.

Police cordened off the area in Copeland Road for most of yesterday afternoon as investigators combed the crime scene (Image: Nottingham Post).

Pawel Lupa, 40, of Gleneagles Drive, Kirkby, has been charged with murder and attempted murder of another man.

Teens on the estate Ashley and Stephen Huggins, 18 and 16, said they’re worried to go out alone.

Stephen said: “It makes me feel like I’m not safe, and I shouldn’t go anywhere without someone with me.”

His sister Ashley added: “Everyone’s talking about it. I just told my mum I’m going to the shops and she said ‘don’t get stabbed’, so yeah it’s on all our minds – it’s very worrying and alarming.”

Aleksandra Mrozic, who died of stab wounds after an incident at a property in Kirkby.

A neighbour on Copeland Road, Anthony Thorpe, 65, said he found this second incident ‘frightening’.

The retired forklift driver added: “When it happens on your own door step, it’s disturbing. It makes you feel uncomfortable.”

Another neighbour who witnessed the aftermath described seeing crime scene investigators in the street.

She said: “The first I saw of it when I came home was these men in white plastic suits in my driveway.

“When someone said it was a stabbing I thought ‘not again’. It makes me a bit scared. Because not so long ago there was an incident just around the corner as well. But the police have been so fantastic – really reassuring.

“They escorted me to my house and the first thing I asked them was whether my kids were in danger and if it was safe to go on the street”

The victim is believed to be a local 26-year-old man, who was reportedly attacked after an altercation involving a car, possibly after a road traffic incident.

There are mixed reports, with some claiming the row began at a nearby convenience store, and that the attacker chased the man down Copeland Road before stabbing him in broad daylight. Another report suggested more than one attacker was involved.