The man has been arrested 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).This arrest is 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. She sustained serious injuries and was taken to hospital for treatment, where she remains in a stable condition.
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.
The man in custody had previously been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder immediately after the incident. He was re-arrested last night under the Terrorism Act, and today (11/3), a warrant of further detention has been obtained, allowing officers until Thursday, 16 March to question him.
Assistant Chief Constable Richard Ocone of Gloucestershire Constabulary, said: “I’d like to reassure the community that we believe this was an isolated incident and we’re not aware of any wider threat to members of the public at this time.
“We appreciate it may be concerning to hear some of these details and we would encourage people to contact us via 101 with any additional information they have about the incident.”
