Nottingham attack: police reveal further information about suspect as third victim is identified

He did not have a criminal record

Around 4am on Tuesday morning, officers were called to Ilkeston Road where two students were found fatally injured in the street.

After 5am, the body of a man was found with knife wounds in Magdala Road, just under two miles from the scene of the first killings.

Police believe the victims van was stolen and then used by the suspect to try to run over three people on Milton Street. These three people are being treated in hospital. One, a man is in critical condition, while two others are believed to have suffered minor injuries.

The stabbing victims have since been identified as students Grace Kumar and Barnaby Webber, both 19, and Ian Coates, a school caretaker in his 60s.

Speaking to the BBC, official sources confirmed that the suspect being held is a resident in the UK, but was not a British citizen.

Originally from West Africa, he had been in the UK for many years and had settled status.

The man does not have a criminal record and was not known to security services prior to the attack, although it is understood he has a history of mental health issues.

On Tuesday afternoon, the University of Nottingham confirmed that two of its students had been killed in the attack.

Both lived in the same halls of residence and were just minutes away from arriving home after a night out.

An eyewitness told of hearing “blood-curdling screams” and seeing the attacker stab two people outside his window.

Coates was identified as the third victim on Wednesday morning.

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