A wanted man arrested during a major police operation in Bradley Stoke last Friday (7th September) has appeared in court charged with a number of offences relating to a serious assault that took place at the Tesco Extra store in Eastville a week earlier.
The 34-year-old, from Easton, appeared at Bristol Magistrates Court on Saturday where he was charged with two counts of wounding with intent, one count of affray, one count of possession of an offensive weapon and one count of dangerous driving.
One eye witness account of Friday’s raid on a residential property in Manor Farm Crescent (off Brook Way) described a “huge police presence [with] undercover and armed police and loads of cars”. Other witnesses reported seeing “loads of armed police” and one said the operation looked like “an anti-terror raid [with] full tac gear”.
The man arrested in Bradley Stoke had been named as a suspect by police earlier in the week. Members of the public were advised not to approach him but to call 999 if they saw him.
He was remanded in custody to appear at Bristol Crown Court at a later date.
It was revealed on Saturday that two other people had been arrested for “assisting an offender”, but they have since been released “under investigation”.
A Bristol Post report on the Eastville incident described how horrified shoppers were forced to flee the shop via the emergency exit after what police later described as a “disorder” started inside the store and spilled out into the car park. A 43-year-old man suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries in the incident. A bladed weapon used during the assault was later recovered by officers.
The man arrested in Bradley Stoke has today been jailed for ten-and-a-half years for his role in the Tesco Eastville incident:
Two brothers jailed for ‘barbaric’ Bristol machete attack (BBC)