Nottingham triple murder suspect 'refuses to answer questions'
Nottingham triple murder suspect ‘refuses to answer questions’ as he’s quizzed by police over attacks – as it’s revealed he’s a West African migrant ‘with history of petty drug dealing and mental health problems’
A West African migrant accused of the murders of three people in Nottingham yesterday is said to be refusing to answer questions from police – as he was described as having a history of petty drug dealing and mental health problems.
The 31-year-old, who is believed to have arrived in the country as a teenager and is not thought to be a refugee, is being questioned over the deaths of two students and a man in his 50s – as well as the injuring of three others.
He was known to police but does not have a criminal record, according to sources. The man, who has settled status, is believed to have lived in the UK for over a decade and was described by neighbours as a ‘very quiet guy’, the Telegraph reported.
There are also unconfirmed reports that the suspect recently converted to Islam and started attending an Islamic centre close to the scene. He is also understood to have a history of mental health issues.
It has been suggested that the investigation is turning away from terror and instead focusing on the suspect’s mental state – although Nottinghamshire Police has insisted they are keeping an open mind.
Footage shows the moment the suspect was arrested by police officers after being tasered at around 5.40am
Police forensics officers work around a white van with a shattered windscreen, inside a police cordon on Bentinck Road in Nottingham on Tuesday
Barnaby Webber, 19, was horrifically knifed to death at around 4am yesterday alongside fellow 19-year-old student Grace Kumar as they walked home from an end-of-term night out.
It is believed the suspect lived for some time on Ilkeston Road, where the pair died.
Yesterday, witnesses described seeing an attacker fatally ambushing the 19-year-olds – apparently at random – before fleeing on foot and stabbing to death a van driver aged in his 50s.
READ MORE – Vigil is held for Nottingham attack victims as university offers support to undergraduates
He stole the vehicle and used it to run down a group of pedestrians in the city centre, leaving one of them critically injured.
The suspect – aged 31 – was finally stopped by officers armed with Tasers at around 5.30am. A knife was recovered.
Witnesses described suspect as black, with dreadlocks and a beard, and dressed in a hooded top.
An onlooker who saw the two University of Nottingham students being attacked told the BBC: ‘Being a hot night, I had the window open and I just heard some awful, blood-curdling screams.
‘I looked out of the window and saw a black guy dressed all in black with a hood and rucksack grappling with some people. It was a girl, and a man or boy she was with – they looked quite young.
‘She was screaming: ”Help!” I just wish I’d shouted something out of the window to unnerve the assailant. I saw him stab the lad first and then the woman. It was repeated stabbing – four or five times.
‘The lad collapsed in the middle of the road. The girl stumbled towards a house and didn’t move. The next minute she had disappeared down the side of a house, and that’s where they found her.
‘I’d say it all happened within five or six minutes. The attacker then just walked off up Ilkeston Road towards town, as calm as anything.’
It is believed the suspect lived for some time on Ilkeston Road, where the two students died. Police are seen there yesterday
Lynn Haggitt was on her way to work at a branch of B&Q when she saw a man driving a white van that was being followed by a police car.
She told Channel 4 News: ‘It was half past five and I saw a white van pull up by the side of me.
‘It was white. There was a police car behind it which came up slowly, no flashing lights.
READ MORE – How 90 minutes of panic and fear unfolded
‘The man in the driver’s seat looked in his mirror and saw the police car behind it. The white van then backed up on the corner of the street and went into two people.’
She said the man had dreadlocks and a beard and was wearing a hat.
About a mile north, on the corner of Maples Street and Bentinck Road, the van – bearing dents and a cracked windscreen from the pedestrians – was brought to a stop and armed police fired Tasers at the driver.
Dramatic video showed two officers pinning him to the pavement.
Witness Grace Mambi said officers were screaming ‘get down, get down!’
Demi Ojolow, a student who lives in the road, said: ‘They dragged him out of the car and he just fell on the floor.
‘He was still… wrestling at that point.’
Neighbour Dimitrious Lawani added: ‘He was being quite resistive – very resistive from what I could tell – and he was also making a lot of noise but I couldn’t really distinguish what he was saying.’
Grace Kumar, 19, was one of two University of Nottingham students who was stabbed to death while walking home after a night out at 4am yesterday morning
Barnaby Webber, a university student, was killed in the attacks early on Tuesday morning
Kane Brady, a University of Nottingham student, told GB News: ‘We woke up to shouts of ‘armed police’ and what sounded like some very loud noises, what sounded like gunshots – it was that loud.
‘I looked out the bedroom window and saw Tasers. I saw a man being dragged out and pinned to the floor. I saw him getting arrested, him trying to resist.
‘I then later saw when they opened the van – I saw a large knife being pulled out and then straight away that’s when police closed off both roads.’
It comes as the family of murdered student Mr Webber paid tribute to him today and told of their pain at the ‘senseless murder’ of their ‘beautiful, brilliant son’.
The keen sportsman’s family today described him as a ‘beautiful, brilliant, bright young man, with everything in life to look forward to’ in a heartbreaking tribute.
Miss Kumar’s family are yet to release a public statement, after declining to speak yesterday. England Hockey and local cricket clubs paid tribute to Grace today.
Many of those who attended the vigil were students at the universities of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent
Many of the young people at a vigil for those caught up and killed in the attacks were emotional at St Peter’s church in Nottingham
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