Charge as pair in intensive care
Jul 7 2008 by Sam Wood, The Journal
A MAN was charged yesterday with attempted murder after two people were stabbed in Newcastle city centre.
The incident outside Central Station just before 4am on Saturday happened on a weekend of violence in North streets.
The two injured outside the station were a 25-year-old woman, knifed in the throat, and a man, 26, stabbed five times in the neck and chest.
Both were critical but stable last night in Newcastle General Hospital.
Graham Mitchell, 39, of Walker, Newcastle, has been charged with two counts of attempted murder. He will appear before Newcastle magistrates today
An ambulance service spokesman said: “We had two crews at the scene. They were serious injuries.”
Neville Street was cordoned off and traffic diverted down Grainger Street for several hours as police investigated.
A police spokesman said: “The male had worse injuries than the female – they are not believed to be life threatening.”
Speaking at the scene after the incident, taxi driver Donald Cook, 58, said: “I would say there’s been a lot more violence the last five to 10 years. It used to be just fisticuffs.
“I do the day shift and I wouldn’t go back to nights.”
And after another stabbing in the North East at the weekend, three men will appear before magistrates in Sunderland today.
It follows the repeated stabbing of a man at Castletown Workingmen’s Club early on Saturday.
Officers were called to the premises, in Castle View, at 1.15am after a report of a man having been stabbed.
The 20-year-old victim had suffered several wounds.
He was taken to Sunderland Royal Hospital, where he was in stable condition last night.
Alan Appleby, 61, of Brandling Street, Roker, Sunderland; his son, also Alan Appleby, 18, of The Villas, Castletown, and a 16-year-old male, are all accused of wounding with intent.
And in yet another incident involving a bladed weapon, a 34-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of wounding after an assault in Silksworth, Sunderland.
Police were called to Somerset Street at about 6.45pm on Saturday after reports of a man in the street with an axe.
Officers found a 29-year-old with head injuries who had been assaulted. He was taken to hospital and was last night in a stable condition.
Anyone with information about any of the incidents is asked to contact police on 03456 043043.
Nationally, there were 13 stabbings over the weekend, including that of a man in his 20s who was attacked with a knife in Putney Heath, south London at about 5am yesterday.
