Police chief sorry to family of stab victim over blood clean mistake
Family who had to clean blood of 18-year-old stab victim off the road themselves get an ‘unreserved’ apology from police
- Police launched murder investigation after call at 11.45pm on Wednesday
- The 18-year-old was taken to hospital but tragically died in the early hours
- But by Thursday night his blood had to be cleaned up by his own family
- This morning one of Leicester’s most senior police officers said sorry
- ACC Julia Debenham said ‘I want to apologise unreservedly to the family’
A senior police chief has publicly apologised to relatives of a schoolboy murdered in Leicester – after his own family were left to clean his blood off the road.
Leicestershire Police’s Assistant Chief Constable Julia Debenham admitted it must have been ‘extremely distressing’ and launched an enquiry into what went wrong.
The force had been called out to the murder of the 18-year-old – who has not yet been named – at 11.45pm on Wednesday night.
But nearly 24 hours later on Thursday night a group of his family and friends had to clean up blood from his multiple stabbing from the street themselves.
Usually police call in specialist cleaning teams to sanitise the area, so it is not know what went wrong for this case.
ACC Debenham said: ‘I want to apologise unreservedly to the family and friends of this young man, along with other members of the community involved in cleaning up blood from the road and pavement last night. This must have been extremely distressing.
ACC Julia Debenham said ‘I want to apologise unreservedly to the family’ over the mistake
Police launched murder investigation after call at 11.45pm on Wednesday night in Leicester
This morning one of Leicester’s most senior police officers said sorry in public on Twitter
‘It is totally unacceptable that this mistake happened and I have asked for an urgent enquiry into the circumstances. The investigation into this terrible crime and bringing the offenders to justice is our top priority.
‘We have a large team of dedicated specialist officers engaged in this investigation who are working tirelessly to that end.’
Police launched a murder investigation after they were called at 11.45pm on Wednesday following a report of a serious assault.
Officers attended and an 18-year-old man was found with multiple stab wound injuries.
Officers are still hunting for who was responsible for the frenzied stabbing attack
East Midlands Ambulance Service were also in attendance and the man was taken to hospital, but he died early on Thursday morning.
Detectives are appealing to anyone who was in the area late evening or during the early hours or who has any information to make contact.
Detective Chief Inspector Joe Banfield, from the East Midlands Special Operations Unit, said: “We have a dedicated team carrying out full enquiries including speaking to witnesses, analysing CCTV and carrying out forensic enquiries. A scene remains in place in the area while these enquiries are ongoing.
“We understand there were a number of people in the area around the time of the incident and are appealing to anyone who was in the area and who has any information to make contact.
“Please think back – were you in the area of Melbourne Street, Maidstone Road, Garendon Street, Maynard Road or Kent Street? Did you see or hear anything which caused you concern? Do you have any CCTV or dashcam footage from the area which could assist our investigation? If you do, please get in touch with us.
“We understand that the incident will have caused concern in the area and our officers do remain in the area speaking to people and offering reassurance.”
Anyone with any information should contact 101 quoting incident 680 of 8 September. You can also report online at www.leics.police.uk
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