The Reading knife attack

The Prime Minister has expressed sympathy for the victims of yesterday’s attack in Reading.

  • The nation is appalled and sickened that people have lost their lives in this way, and our thoughts are with the families and friends of the victims.
     
  • The Prime Minister has spoken to the Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police to thank him and his officers for their bravery in tackling the suspect last night. The police have somebody in custody and must now be able to get on with their job to discover exactly what has happened.
     
  • If there are lessons that we need to learn about how we handle such cases, and the events leading up to them, the government will do so and not hesitate to take action where it is necessary. 

Comments

Gary Bullivant said…
I, for one, think there has been too quick a rush to call this out as a terrorist act. It looks rather more like a homophobic hate crime to me, but this may become clearer when the final victim is named.
2:07 pm
Chris Whiteside said…
We don't know what the attacker's motives were, or whether it is a case of mental illness, and I have changed the title of the post to reflect this.
10:36 pm
Gary Bullivant said…
This from the .gov website as at 222300hrs Jun 20:

"At approximately 19.00 on Saturday 20th June 2020, three people were killed and at least a further three people were injured in a suspected terrorist attack in Forbury Gardens, Reading, Berkshire."

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/media-advisory-notice-suspected-terrorist-attack-reading

It might well be too early for a reasonable person to say what motivated the attacker but what does the above say about the judgement of the authorities?
11:06 pm
Chris Whiteside said…
What does it say about the judgement of the authorities?

Given that they called it a "suspected" terrorist attack, that says to me that they were keeping an open mind.
2:31 pm
Anonymous said…
We have people stopped and arrested on suspicion.
5:37 pm
Chris Whiteside said…
Yes of course, and given that three people have been stabbed to death and several more stabbed and wounded, that is entirely legitimate, provided there is evidence to back up those suspicions.

Where a serious crime is being investigated - and crimes do not come much more serious than killing three innocent people - of course the police can and should stop and arrest people if they have grounds to suspect that those people may have been involved.

But in the end if charges are brought it will be for a court to decide if the case is proved.
10:00 pm
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