Leigh Park attempted murder: Police seek to reassure community as fresh details of violent attack emerge

The message comes as detectives continue to investigate the attack, which took place at the Greywell Shopping Centre’s car park on Saturday evening.

As previously reported, a ‘noisy’ argument between three women in the parking facility led to one woman being hit by a car.

Two people, a 31-year-old woman from Emsworth and a 30-year-old man from Croydon, have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

While a 31-year-old man from Havant was arrested for common assault. All have been released on conditional police bail, pending further inquiries, until May 8.

Sergeant Nicola Cory, of Havant police, has insisted there is no wider threat to the public and said: ‘We do appreciate that incidents of this nature will understandably be concerning to local residents.

‘I would like to take this opportunity to reassure people that all those involved in this incident were known to each other and we do not believe there to be a wider risk to the public at the current time.’

Her comments come as fresh details surrounding the fight today emerged, with a witness claiming they had been left stunned by the violence.

The retired engineer, who asked not to be named, lives near the car park and saw most of the violence.

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The 67-year-old told The News: ‘I was taking the dog out and all these people were getting upset. There seemed to be a problem between people sitting inside a car and people outside it.

‘This whole argument had been going on for a long time. I made a cup of tea at 7pm and they were still going at it 30 minutes later.

‘As I was coming back with the dog, I saw a girl throw something through the window of the car which then lurched off.

‘Everything was just heating up – one girl had a bloody nose. There was a lot of shouting but it doesn’t normally descend into people being run over. It was shocking.’

As previously reported, the 33-year-old woman was hit by a car as she crossed the pedestrian crossing by the public toilets. She suffered ‘bruising and cuts to her arms and legs’, police said.

The retired witness added the incident was the latest in a string of violent clashes he had witnessed in recent months. He blamed a lack of community policing for allowing the violence to fester.

‘There’s just a lack of respect from young people today – they feel they can get away with anything,’ the man added. ‘None of this ever happened when the community police patrols were here. It stopped all this violence and nipped it in the bud.’

Sgt Cory insisted local officers ‘routinely conduct patrols’ across the area.

‘We will of course target our resources and patrols where they are needed most and will continue to do this,’ she said, adding: ‘At the current time, we have not seen an increase in reports of violent crime in Leigh Park and have not identified any emerging hot spots for violence recently.’

Anyone with any information about the weekend attack is asked to call 101 quoting 44220140040/Op Release.