A shopkeeper who says he tried to help a customer rescue her 10-month-old granddaughter, was stabbed four times and is furious at police and social services’ ‘unconcern’.
Shahzad Khadam, 37, visited a house in Cardiff Road on Friday night with his customer, who was concerned for the safety of her granddaughter.
Mr Khadam, who runs M H Supermarket in High Town, says he phoned the police on the 999 and 101 numbers before visiting the property to report concerns for the baby, but no police attended.
He claimed: “We could see people were drinking and taking drugs in the house, and the baby was in her mother’s lap, crying. We stood outside phoning the police but no-one came. All of a sudden a couple of blokes came out of the house and started making threats and racist remarks.
“One of them was armed with a big kitchen knife, he ran at me with it and I put my hands up to stop him getting my face, and then I realised my hand was bleeding. He had stabbed me four times.”
Fortunately passing paramedics and police officers on their way to another job saw the commotion and stopped to help. Two men were arrested and are on police bail.
Mr Khadam said: “We went there for the safety of the child. The police and social services need to pull their finger out and get their priorities straight. It’s disgusting that I am having to do their work for them. I phoned four times that day, they weren’t interested. It didn’t have to come to this.”
A Beds Police spokesman said: “All calls received by us have to be prioritised in light of the seriousness of the offence being committed at the time, especially during peak times, such as a Friday or Saturday night. Further calls had been received prior to the stabbing incident asking for police assistance to gain entry to a property and these had been graded as a priority. Should anyone not be happy with the service provided by Beds Police then we would encourage them to contact the force and their concerns will be fully investigated.”
A Luton Borough Council spokesman said: “Our dealings with individuals and their families are confidential.”