Police investigate double stabbing at popular dog club venue in Slough

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PART OF a popular dog show venue in Berkshire, which was being used by the Southern Dachshund Association, was the scene of a double stabbing on Saturday. Later on the same day, a man appeared to have been assaulted.
The club was holding its championship show at the Montem Leisure Centre in Slough on Saturday, when a section of the car park, near to the ice rink, was cordoned off by police.
Thames Valley Police say they were called by the Ambulance Service to an incident, near the ice rink, at around 1.45am on Saturday where a 22-year-old man and an 18-year-old man, both from Slough, were suffering from serious injuries. The 22-year-old man suffered puncture wounds to his back, abdomen and leg and the 18-year-old suffered a puncture wound to his leg. Both men were taken to hospital, where they are in a stable condition.
In addition to the stabbings, police were called to an incident at around 7pm on Saturday when a 34-year-old man walked into the leisure centre suffering from a bleeding head injury. It is believed he was involved in an altercation, possibly in Bath Road a short time earlier. Police have arrested a 47-year-old man in connection with this incident.

Concerned

Sue Ergis, the Southern Dachshund Association hon-secretary, said that the police investigations of the stabbing didn’t affect any part of the running of the show but exhibitors were concerned: “We arrived at the leisure centre about 7.30am to set up the show and saw police vans and a taped off section in the car park. At first, we didn’t take any notice but then another police van came past and so we started watching them.
“In the cordoned off area, there was a pile of ice, most likely from the nearby ice rink, but it was blood-stained. Officers began to wrap themselves up in forensic clothing and began to work in the taped off area.”
By the time the show had finished, around 4pm, the police had gone and the cordon had been cleared away.
The Montem Leisure Centre is one of the area’s largest leisure centres and is used by a number of canine clubs and societies who regularly use the venue to hold their general open shows.
Mrs Ergis said that they were warned about the safety of the area when they first looked into using the venue: “We were told that we should be wary of the area and the criminal problems but its our third year here now and we’ve not experienced any issues. The staff have also been, kind and helpful and in fact would bend over backwards to help us.”
Detective Chief Inspector Steve Tolmie, from Thames Valley Police, who is leading the investigation, said: “We are clearly in the early stages of the investigation. We believe that the two stabbings are related at this time.

Information

“Although this took place in the early hours of the morning I would urge anyone who was in the area at the time to contact police if they may have any information that may help our investigation.
“We are obviously aware that incidents of this nature are unsettling for the community and officers have been carrying out high visibility patrols in the vicinity over the weekend.”
Anyone with any information about these incidents should contact Slough CID via the 24 hour force enquiry centre on 101.
Alternatively, if you do not want to speak to police, or leave your name, please contact the Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111.