Male arrested following incident in Huyton

We have arrested a 14 year old male following an incident in Huyton yesterday, Sunday 16 January. 

At around 5.15 we received a report that youths on bikes and scooters were threatening staff at a restaurant on Derby Road in Huyton. 

It was reported that the youths directed a racial slur towards staff and one of the youths threatened them with a small knife, described as a Swiss army knife. 

The youths were reported to have made off on their bikes. 

Officers attended and, following a pursuit, detained and arrested a male.

A 14-year-old male, from Huyton, was arrested on suspicion of affray, a racially aggravated Section 4a public order offence, possession of a bladed article in public, dangerous cycling, harassment and failure to stop for police. 

He was taken into custody for questioning and has since been bailed with conditions not to go within 100 metres of Derby Road. 

Knowsley Community Policing Superintendent Karl Baldwin: “Local officers are working tirelessly to keep Huyton Village free of anti-social behaviour. This latest arrest is just one example of a range of tactics Merseyside Police, and partners, are using to make that happen. The arrest yesterday show that we will not stand by and allow people to carry knives and threaten the safety of themselves and others.

“As part of Operation Target, between 1st April and 31st December 2020, we made 508 arrests for knife possession,  over 430 knife related crime arrests, recovered over 1300 knives and offensive weapons, carried out over 170 open land searches and stop searched over 4,400 people.

“Our collaborative #BladeFree campaign is specifically designed to help young people steer clear of knife crime and other serious violence by providing support and opportunities through activities and initiatives such as sport, music and theatre to build confidence, aspiration and improve practical skills and employability.

“Our message to those who might think about carrying a knife is clear: It is just not worth the risk. Every day we are out on patrols, conducting stop searches, executing warrants, putting every effort into arresting offenders and putting them before the courts. 

Supt Baldwin added: “The arrests further show we will simply will not tolerate hate crime against our communities in Merseyside. 

“I would like to take this opportunity to say we want victims of hate crime to come forward and report it – we will thoroughly investigate all reports of hate crime and take every incident extremely seriously. 

“We have dedicated hate crime coordinators who will work with victims to get the right resolution and it is only through people telling us about incidents we can understand the extent, find those responsible and target our resources into those areas and at those times people tell us hate crimes are happening.”

Anyone with information on this incident is asked to contact Merseyside Police social media desk via Twitter @MerPolCC or Facebook Merseyside Police CC with reference 22000036574. You can also call 101 or contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously, on 0800 555 111 or via their online form at: https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/give-information.
If, for any reason, you do not wish to report a hate crime to the police, the independent charity Stop Hate UK to run a 24/7 confidential helpline for all victims of hate crime on 0800 138 1625 or www.stophateuk.org. You can also download the Stop Hate UK reporting app on Google Play or the Apple App Store.

Across Merseyside, we also have a number of third party reporting centres including fire stations, citizens advice bureaus and hospitals. A list of locations can be viewed here: merseyside-third-party-hate-crime-reporting-centres.pdf