Friday, September 13, 2013

Kent Street and Wood Hill press conference statement Statement read at Leicestershire Police press conference by ACC Roger Bannister

Kent Street and Wood Hill press conference statement

Statement read at Leicestershire Police press conference by ACC Roger Bannister

Good afternoon. I am Roger Bannister, Assistant Chief Constable Crime for Leicestershire Police.

We are investigating the murder of a young man in Leicester who has not been formally identified but we believe is a man in his twenties who lives locally.

Officers attended Kent Street at around 5.30pm last night and found a man who had been assaulted.

He was taken to the Leicester Royal Infirmary for treatment where he has since sadly died. At this stage we are unable to confirm how he died – a post mortem is due to take place later today.

The immediate area and surrounding roads continue to be cordoned off whilst officers deal with the incident and to allow for a full forensic examination of the scene.

In addition to this incident, police received a call from the fire service at around 12.35am this morning following a report of a fire at a house on Wood Hill in Leicester.

On attendance it was reported that occupants were still inside the property and four people were unfortunately found deceased in the house.

The fire, which caused extensive damage to the property, has been extinguished and the property has been cordoned off.

The circumstances and cause of the fire are currently under investigation and we can confirm we are treating this as suspicious and a murder investigation has begun.

These are both very serious incidents and investigations are in their very early stages to establish if there are any links between the two.

We have extra patrols in the area to reassure local residents and we are continuing to liaise with community leaders.

Importantly I am here today to appeal to anyone who may have any information to please contact us. We are particularly keen to speak to anyone who was in the Kent Street area around 5.30pm yesterday evening or the Wood Hill area around 12.30am this morning. If there is anyone who may have witnessed this assault or saw any suspicious activity in relation to the fire, we would urge them to get in touch with us as soon as possible by calling us on 101.

I have every confidence in the ability in of Leicestershire Police and our colleagues at EMSOU to fully investigate these terrible crimes and bring those responsible to justice.