Arrests made after girl assaulted in Bridgwater

Shortly after 8pm last night we received a report a teenage girl had been assaulted by a man with a knife on the canal path behind Morrisons in Bridgwater.

The victim was taken to hospital by ambulance with a small cut to her neck. Her injury is not life threatening or life changing.

A 26-year-old man was arrested from an address in the town within 20 minutes of the incident on suspicion of causing GBH wounding with intent.

The man was also later arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence following an incident in police custody in which an officer was verbally abused.

Two other men, aged 31 and 37, were also arrested from the same Bridgwater property on suspicion of assisting an offender.

All three men currently remain in custody.

Neighbourhood Inspector Michael Griffiths said: “This was a shocking attack on a young girl and I fully understand the community will be concerned.

“Thankfully, she will make a full recovery from her injures but that doesn’t take away from the fact she was attacked with a knife by a man.

“Officers were on the scene within minutes and as a result quickly made a number of arrests, one of which we believe is the attacker.

“We’d like to reassure people we will carry out a thorough investigation into this incident, which we believe to be an isolated one.

“CCTV has already been reviewed and we have identified a number of witnesses who we will be taking statements from in due course.

“The neighbourhood policing team will be carrying out high visibility patrols in the area and people are encouraged to approach them if they have any specific concerns.”