A 29-year-old man from Cheltenham has been arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences in relation to an incident that happened at about 9.15pm outside a leisure centre in Tommy Taylors Lane, Cheltenham on Thursday 9 March, where a woman was stabbed. The woman sustained serious injuries and was taken to hospital for treatment, where she remains in a stable condition.

The man in custody had previously been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder immediately after the incident.

He was re-arrested later on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of terrorism contrary to Section 41 of the Terrorism Act (2000), as well as on suspicion of preparing acts of terrorism under Section 5 of the Terrorism Act (2006), and a warrant of further detention has been obtained on Saturday 11 March, allowing officers until Thursday 16 March to question him.

Due to some specific details of this incident, Counter Terrorism Policing South East is leading the investigation, working alongside Counter Terrorism Policing South West and officers from Gloucestershire Constabulary.

Assistant Chief Constable Richard Ocone of Gloucestershire Constabulary said: “I would like to reassure those living locally or visiting the county that we believe this was an isolated incident and we are not aware of any wider threat to members of the public. We are working closely with our partners in Counter Terrorism Policing.

“We appreciate that an incident of this nature may be concerning and we would encourage people to contact us via 101 with any additional information they may have about the incident.”

(Source: Stroud Times)