BBC Midlands Today

Some people heading to work this morning in Birmingham have told the BBC the stabbings at the weekend were a concern.

A woman said: "It does play on your mind a little bit especially when you are walking to and from work on your own, it's a bit scary."

One man said he didn't have concerns for his safety: "It's a tragedy but personally I feel safe and hopefully everyone else does too."

There were also worries over going to work for another woman who said she would rather have stayed at home today.

"I didn't want to come into work when I heard the news and saw it and got up this morning I was a bit apprehensive but I have to go to work, I've got a living to earn. You can't let things like this stop what you are doing."

A woman who helped one of the victims of the stabbings in Birmingham said she wouldn't be going back to the city centre "for a while".

Nikita Denton and her friend Jay were drinking at a bar on Sunday morning when they heard a woman had been stabbed nearby.

They ran to help her and, when paramedics arrived to treat her, Nikita said she helped them as they treated the victim.

"They didn't have a torch so I used the torch on my phone so they could see the wounds."

Talking to BBC Radio WM today, Nikita said it would be some time before she went back for a night out in Birmingham again.

"I won't be going back for a while at the moment until they get a grip on what's happened but I do plan to go back eventually."

More questions are being asked about the speed of West Midlands Police's response to the stabbings in Birmingham on Sunday morning.

Image source, EPA

Labour MP for Perry Barr, Khalid Mahood, told The Times the life of the man who died could "potentially" have been saved if the force had responded faster.

"We've got to look at the fact [the suspect] had two hours to run around the city centre, which has a huge amount of CCTV cameras in place," he told the newspaper.

"Where was the monitoring? Both the public and police were put at further risk. There is a person dead. How was this man able to go on a two-hour spate?"

Image source, PA Media

The attacks happened at four different locations across the city centre over 90 minutes.

The Labour MP for Ladywood, Shabana Mahmood, told BBC Radio WM earlier she had concerns about the police response.

David Jamieson, the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner said they would be reviewing what happened.

"We've got to look at this and make an analysis of what happened and if there are lessons to be learned and new practices, then we need to actually look at that as well but that will be done in addition to the inquiry."

The Mayor of the West Midlands has said he doesn't think it fair to criticise police officers for acting too slowing during the stabbings in Birmingham.

Image source, PA Media

The Labour MP for Ladywood, Shabana Mahmood said she had concerns about the police response.

But Andy Street told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I have been speaking a lot to the chief constable over last 24 hours or so and he has reassured me that his officers were at each of the scenes very quickly."

He said there was “lots of questions as to what happened during that two-hour period but there are people making lots assumptions from things that they quite frankly don’t know."

Asked if it was right to say the police had acted too slowly, he said: "No, I don't think it is.

"It's very easy to comment on a police investigation while it's live. I don't intend to fall into that trap."

A worker has described the "chaos" in the aftermath of the stabbings in Birmingham during the early hours of Sunday.

Julia Robinson the manager of Birmingham Southside Business Improvement District said she heard screaming "and a lot of people running around," during the incident on Hurst Street.

[There were] lots of people milling around, people around the injured parties," she said.

"There was a man and a couple that had been injured, a man covered in blood, there was a girl on the ground who appeared to be bleeding quite profusely and people trying to help her.

"Police were there literally in minutes, then it was a case of standing back and we were doing our bit really to help with crowd control and to try and get everyone out of the area so the emergency services could do their job."

The West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner David Jamieson has thanked the public for their help in aiding police to make an arrest.

Speaking to BBC Radio WM he said: “Well I am pleased to say that with the aid of the public, police have now made an arrest of a potential suspect from this dreadful murder and the appalling injuries that were done to people here in Birmingham over the weekend.

“So yes I am very pleased that swift action has been taken and someone now is in custody.”

Hurst Street, Livery Street and Irving Street remain closed in Birmingham city centre, along with Edmund Street.

Buses are still being diverted away from those areas.

These are the affected services:

Birmingham Live

Here's how the arrest is being reported on the Birmingham Live website:

• Police arrest man, 27, after manhunt following rampage which left one dead, external
• Knifeman's vile boast to terrified witnesses after attack on girl, external
• Full West Midlands Police statement as man, 27, arrested over Birmingham stabbings, external

Here's a reminder of the timeline as to how one man was killed and seven others injured during an attack in the early hours of Sunday.

Police were first called to the attacks just after 00:30 on Sunday at Constitution Hill, where a man sustained a superficial injury.

Some 20 minutes later they were called to Livery Street, near to Snow Hill railway station, where a 19-year-old man was critically injured and a woman was also hurt.

At 01:50, police were sent to Irving Street, where a 23-year-old man suffered fatal injuries and another was seriously injured.

At 02:00 they were called to Hurst Street, in the city's Gay Village, where a 32-year-old woman was critically injured and two men suffered lesser injuries.

West Midlands Mayor Andy Street said it had been an "incredibly difficult 24 hours" in Birmingham.

And Labour MP for Ladywood, Shabana Mahmood, told BBC Radio WM she had concerns about the police response.

"There were two worries yesterday, firstly how did it go on for such a long period of time over an area of ground that doesn’t take two hours to cover and also the length of time it took before we had a CCTV footage out there and an appeal to the public with the face of the suspected attacker."

All the attacks took place in the Ladywood constiuency with the first attack reported at 00.30 Sunday at Constitution Hill, followed by incidents in Livery Street, Irving Street and finally Hurst Street at 02.00 BST.

The arrest made during the early hours was down to the "tireless" work of detectives, West Midlands Police Chief Constable said.

He also thanked the public for their support.

Police said the suspect was being questioned in custody.

The murder suspect was detained at an address in Selly Oak at about 04:00, police said.

The 27-year-old remains in police custody for questioning.

Image source, West Midlands Police

The incident is still believed to be a random attack.

Ch Supt Steve Graham said: “Officers worked through yesterday and into the early hours of this morning in a bid to trace the man we believe responsible for these terrible crimes.

“We issued CCTV footage of the suspect and had a strong response from the public. I’d like to thank everyone who shared our appeal and who provided information to the investigation.

“One line of enquiry ultimately led us to an address in the Selly Oak area this morning where a man was arrested."

A man arrested on suspicion of murder is a "crucial development" police say, but witnesses are still being urged to come forward.

Anyone with video or images from the scenes of the stabbings are being asked to upload them to a dedicated portal set up by West Midlands Police. , external

CCTV footage of the suspect had a strong response from the public, police said.

A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder in connection with the Birmingham stabbings.

Police hunting a man suspected of killing one person and injuring seven others in stabbings across Birmingham city centre say they have had a "strong response" after releasing images of a man they'd like to speak to.

Here's a reminder of what we know so far:

• A 23-year-old man was killed in Irving Street at 01:50 BST on Sunday, while a man and a woman, aged 19 and 32, suffered critical stabbing injuries.
• Five other people, aged between 23 and 33, were injured and taken to hospital. Two have since been discharged.
• The attacks happened at four different locations, Constitution Hill, Livery Street, Irving Street and Hurst Street, during a 90-minute spell.
• Police are searching for a lone suspect as part of a murder investigation.
• No arrests have been made at this stage.
• The victims appear to have been chosen at random.
• Images of the man officers want to find were published on Sunday evening.

Vanessa Pearce
BBC News

Good morning.

We'll be bringing you all the latest news and analysis as police continue to hunt for a man suspected of killing one person and injuring seven others in stabbings across Birmingham city centre.

You can get in touch via email, Twitter, external and Facebook., external

WW2 veteran Joan Sprigg, 96, has been recalling The Blitz on its 80th anniversary.

The spate of stabbings in the city centre has sparked a massive police manhunt.

Witness Nikita Denton describes helping a woman who had been stabbed several times in Birmingham.

Police are looking for this man after an attacker killed one victim and wounded seven other people.