Warning To Women in Southampton

Police in Southampton investigating an attempted robbery where a 22-year-old woman was injured in Gordon Avenue say they believe the incident may be linked to an earlier one nearby where a handbag was snatched.

Just before 7:45pm on Sunday, October 10, the woman, a student in Southampton, was walking while talking on her mobile phone in Gordon Avenue, near the junction with Livingstone Road.

She was approached by a man who threatened her with a sharp implement and injured her in the stomach.

The woman was carrying a personal attack alarm which she activated while running to seek help at a nearby house. She has been taken to hospital with what is described as a non life threatening injury to her stomach.

Earlier in the day nearby in Tennyson Road a 24-year-old student listening to music on her mobile with headphones became the victim of a bag snatch. A man snatched the bag at about 5.25pm on Sunday and ran off towards Portswood Road.

From the detail officers have they believe the same person may be responsible for both crimes. They are appealing for witnesses to either incident. In the one in Gordon Avenue the victim shouted out to someone further up the road when it
happened and they are now asking for that person to contact them too as they may be an important witness.

Police are also taking this opportunity to remind people to be aware of their surrounding, using all their senses, when walking along later in the day as the evenings draw in.

Anyone with information about the crimes is asked to call Bitterne CID on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.