KNIFE TERROR ON STREETS

‘PEOPLE SCARED TO GO OUT' AFTER SPATE OF BLADE ATTACKS

- THOMAS GEORGE

PEOPLE ARE SCARED OF GOING OUT. VETERAN BOXING TRAINER LEADS CALLS FOR CRACKDOWN OVER KNIFE CRIME

A BOXING trainer who counts world champions among the fighters to his name has told of his horror at a surge in knife attacks in his home town.

Mick Jelley, a coach at Bury Amateur Boxing Club since the early 1960s, lists former world champions Amir Khan and Scott Quigg amongst his proteges.

Still going strong at the age of 78, Mick has dedicated his entire life to working with tough young men. Yet even he has been left shocked by the spate of violence that has hit his town in recent months.

Just last Sunday, a 24-year-old man was seriously injured after being knifed in Bolton Street in the town centre following an altercation. Eyewitnesses reported a huge 'scuffle in the area before a seeing a man 'drop to the floor.

A fight is believed to have broken out near the Venue cocktail bar, on Silver Street, at about 4.55 am before continuing onto Bolton Street. Three men were later arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm.

The attack happened a short distance from where a teenager was killed earlier this year.

Last month, there were also reports of several knife-point robberies in the town centre, while a taxi driver was stabbed on The Rock back in January. The wave of violent crime has sent shockwaves through a town where such incidents are usually rare.