Community fears in Birmingham after spate of attacks before Games

Community leaders are calling on police to take action to prevent rising gun and knife violence in Birmingham after a spate of incidents.

Two people have died and four have been injured in the past seven days.

Although arrests have been made, with two weeks to go until the Commonwealth Games start in the city, leaders say they are concerned about safety.

West Midlands Police said more armed and unarmed officers would be seen in communities across the city this week.

An extra 3,000 officers are also being brought in to help support a "safe and secure" Commonwealth Games, Assistant Chief Constable Richard Baker said.

A 16-year-old school boy died in a stabbing in Lozells on Tuesday, leading to the arrest of three people including a 12-year-old boy , and a 30-year-old man was shot in Small Heath last Thursday.

There were also shootings in Newtown and Ladywood, and gunfire in Lozells and Hockley - leaving four victims needing hospital treatment.

Mr Baker said detectives believed two shootings were linked and four people had been arrested, resulting in one being charged. Arrests had also been made over the remaining incidents, he added.

Community leader Desmond Jaddoo said safety was a huge concern for residents and visitors to the city during the Games, which start on 28 July.

"This is now playing out in broad daylight and that's the thing we have to remember," he said.

"We have to think about the safety of the residents... the visitors to Birmingham and importantly we've got to think about the lives of our children and too many of our young people have either had life-changing injuries or lost their lives.

"Clearly whatever the plan is [to tackle it], it's too reactionary, it needs to be more proactive and it needs to have everyone involved."

Mr Baker attributed the recent spike in crimes to the hot weather and said officers were working on three areas - suppression, investigation and community engagement.

In the short-term, armed and unarmed officer would be visible in local communities over the weekend and next week, he added.

Despite occasional "spikes in violence" Mr Baker said Birmingham remained a "safe" city.

"Through our investigations, through our work with communities we are responding very, very robustly making arrests, identifying suspects and we will continue to do that over the coming days," he said.

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