‘Shocked’ Southsea residents speak of ‘worry’ following ‘dreadful’ incident as Middle Street man is charged with attempted murder after victim stabbed in chest and face

A man has been charged with attempted murder after another man was stabbed in the chest and face earlier this week at a property on that road.

Neighbours in Middle Street told The News of their surprise, saying that their area is home to a ‘nice community’.

Margaret Mowle has lived in Middle Street for 55 years and says she has never heard of anything like this happening before.

She said: 'It's dreadful, not what you want on your doorstep.

'We have never had anything like this here.

'It's not a nice thing.'

Margaret's daughter Allison added: 'We were very shocked.

'This is a nice community.'

Another Middle Street resident, who asked not to be named, said: 'It's worrying, especially when you don't know. You assume you're living near to nice people.

'It started as a normal day. It was concerning, police officers, ambulances, and paramedics turning up.'

Police have charged Sherwan Ali, 27, of Middle Street, with attempted murder after a 33-year-old man from Southsea was stabbed in the chest, face and hands on Monday afternoon.

Ali appeared at Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday for an initial hearing, where he did not enter a plea. He was remanded in custody and ahead of his trial on April 4, at Portsmouth Crown Court.

Tony Quinlan is staying at his parent's house near to Middle Street.

He said: 'You get the odd children being a nuisance but it is generally quiet.

'It all looked really serious.

'It doesn't make me worried but you don’t want this happening on your doorstep.’

Many residents said that they had not seen anything happen, while several told of the multiple emergency services vehicles they witnessed pull up outside a residential property.

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Dudley and Julie Compton live near to the scene where the stabbing took place.

Julie said: ‘All we knew was that police cars were pelting by.’

Dudley added: ‘Most of the people here are super, but it’s not totally surprising.

‘It’s not an area without its history of problems.’

He explained that the area near to where the incident happened is ‘a problem corner’ which is badly lit and ‘very secluded’ with drug dealing taking place.

The stabbing victim was taken to Southampton General Hospital where he remains in a stable condition.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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