Surrey Police have issued the following advisory notice following the terrorist attack in Stanwell on 16th March.

You will now be aware of an incident that took place in Stanwell on Saturday night (16 March) which was declared as terror-related and is being led by our colleagues at Counter Terrorism Policing South East with our support as required.

The incident

A 50-year-old man was arrested on Saturday evening by Surrey Police officers after they were called to Viola Avenue, Stanwell, to reports of a man acting aggressively and shouting racist comments whilst carrying a baseball bat and a knife. Several nearby vehicles were also damaged.

A further call was received by Surrey Police on Saturday evening reporting that a man had been stabbed. It was believed that the suspect was the same man who was reported as acting aggressively.

Officers, including armed officers, were quickly on scene to search for the suspect and once they located the man, who is from Stanwell, arrested him on suspicion of attempted murder and racially aggravated public order offences.

The 19-year-old victim sustained non-life threatening injuries, and was taken to hospital.

Patrols have been stepped up across Stanwell in order to provide assurances to those in the area specifically around mosques and increasing engagement with communities of all faiths, giving advice on how people and places can protect themselves.

Our ongoing response

This is a shocking and worrying incident and we are working to support our colleagues at Counter Terrorism Police South East with their enquiries and will continue to liaise with the local community raising awareness

Places of worship can use the online training package ‘ACT Awareness eLearning’ for advice on Protective Security and how to react should the worst happen. It can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/act-awareness-elearning

We continue to raise awareness of the national Run, Hide, Tell advice and will be distributing the attached UK Protect document with specific advice for the Faith Community.

We stand together with all communities in Surrey and we will take action against any criminal behaviour which seeks to undermine society, especially where crimes are motivated by hate. There can never be any excuse for this type of incident in any shape or form and this criminality will not be tolerated.

We thank you for your continued support.

In the absence of Inspector McDermott this week, I would like to reassure you that this appears to be an isolated incident and there are no other outstanding suspects.

A comprehensive Community Engagement Plan is being put in place to visit and reassure those who attend our vulnerable places of worship on the borough, to both gather intelligence and put out an enhanced Police presence in these areas.

Initial patrols will be around our two Synagogues in Weybridge and Long Ditton, and also the Islamic Cultural centre in East Molesey with the scope of locations set to grow in the coming days to include churches and other faiths if deemed necessary.

I would like to take this opportunity to ask you to promote to your residents and staff the importance of remaining vigilant around these issues and reporting anything suspicious to Police as soon as possible.

Rob Thomas
Police Sergeant 4643
West Elmbridge Neighbourhood Team ( Walton and Weybridge)
Surrey Police
Esher Civic Centre, PO BOX 101
Guildford, Surrey GU1 9PE
Tel.  01483637461  or  07720042904