Special knife crackdown - police swoop

Ten extra police officers wearing stab-proof vests and with special stop and search powers to look for knives, were drafted into the town that night.

They were summoned following two incidents on Thursday involving knives in the town.

The powers, allowing them to stop and search people without the usual "reasonable grounds", were granted by Chief Superintendent Lance Gray under laws covering an "anticipation of violence".

Just four days earlier, a policeman in Luton was stabbed to death while out on patrol at 7am.

The trouble in Littlehampton that led to the beach vigil started at around 7.40pm on Thursday when police were called to the Harvester pub on Littlehampton seafront after reports of three men carrying knives.

When they arrived, officers found two men carrying kitchen knives with 10-inch blades.

One of them was swiftly arrested but the other lashed out at officers and despite their best efforts to subdue him with pepper spray and their batons, he broke free and ran fully-clothed into the sea.

Swimming out to up to 200 metres at times, the man stayed in the water for nearly two hours while the police waited on the beach.

Hundreds of people gathered to watch the unfolding drama from the shoreline as Littlehampton's inshore lifeboat Spirit of Juniper waited just off-shore in case it was needed.

An ambulance was also called in case the man needed treatment for hypothermia after being in the cold water for so long.

When he eventually emerged, the man, aged 41, was arrested and charged with possession of an offensive weapon, assault on a police officer and resisting arrest.

The knife was not recovered and is believed to still be in the sea.

He was remanded in custody to prison and will appear in court again tomorrow (Friday).

Shortly after his arrest, an other incident involving about 15 people, some carrying sticks, started in nearby St Catherine's Road.

Police at first believed the two incidents were linked with racist overtones, but it later emerged that the fight was between two youths over a girl.

One witness reported hearing someone shout "put the knife down" but no weapon was recovered. Two people were arrested.

Chief Insp Brian Bracher told the Gazette that police had sent out the extra officers on Friday as they were concerned that there could be further incidents in the town.

He said: "We didn't know at the time that the two incidents weren't linked so extra officers were brought in as a precaution, but there were no incidents or issues at all on the Friday night of any concern."