Man and boy, 14, hurt in two stabbings in city suburb

Merseyside Police believe the two stabbings are "related and targeted"

A man and a 14-year-old boy have been hurt in two stabbings in Liverpool which police believe are linked.

The "related and targeted" attacks both happened in the Walton area of the city, Merseyside Police said.

A man in his 40s was stabbed by three men in the first stabbing at about 23:30 BST on Wednesday, and the teenager was found wounded about an hour later.

Both victims are in hospital.

The man was hurt on Weaver Street before three men ran off towards Maria Street and drove off in a white Volkswagen Polo.

The victim is in hospital with several wounds which are not believed to be life-threatening.

The teenager was found at about 00:35 with stab wounds to his chest and arm in a house on City Road.

Three men ran off to the back of the property and into the alley behind, the force said.

The boy is in a stable condition.

'Acting suspicious'

Det Insp Darren Taylor said the community would be "rightly shocked by both attacks".

He said "extensive enquiries into both incidents" were continuing and officers believed they were "both related and were targeted".

“We are determined to find the people responsible, and I am appealing for anyone who was in the vicinity of Weaver Street and City Road who may have seen three men in the area acting suspicious to contact us."

He said some people were attending a party when the City Road stabbing happened.

Anyone with information or footage is urged to come forward.