Police deploy emergency powers amid fears of spiralling violence after man left in critical condition

A male victim in his 20s sustained multiple puncture wounds and was taken to hospital where police said he remains in a critical condition. Three men aged 18, 19 and 21 from Southampton have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and are in police custody following the incident in Coleman Street, Southampton, at around 1.10pm on Friday.

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Police issued a Section 60 – an emergency power which allows officers to stop and search anyone in a certain location without the restrictions of normal stop and search. They are implemented in order to prevent serious violence or in response to an incident of serious violence and will be in place across Southampton until 7pm on Saturday.

Southampton-based Police Sergeant Geoff Cole, said: ‘This level of violence and use of weapons in Southampton will not be tolerated. We are able to implement a Section 60 order at any time and we will use further powers if we need to in order to prevent this kind of disorder from happening.‘These are not measures that we put in place lightly, but we have done so on this occasion to minimise the risk to residents of Southampton and ensure that there are no further incidents of this nature in our communities. You will likely continue to see an increased police presence across multiple areas of Southampton why our officers continue their enquiries and establish the circumstances that led to serious assault yesterday afternoon in broad daylight.’