Weekend of violence on the streets

Two men died and more were wounded during a Bank Holiday weekend of violence on streets across the West Midlands.

Police were called to six separate violent attacks in the region, many in city centres packed with shoppers or revellers. Officers today called for calm amid fears some of the attacks could be gang-related.

The weekend's violence included:

* A 21-year-old man who died with suspected stab wounds following an attack in Wolverhampton City Centre.

* A 24-year-old man shot dead near to his home in Newtown, Birmingham.

* A father-of three, aged 45, stabbed in the stomach in West Bromwich.

* A security guard, aged 28, stabbed in the leg near to the Saddlers Centre in Walsall in front of shocked shoppers.

* A security guard from Sainsbury's in Perton taken to hospital after being stabbed in the arm.

* A woman in her 20s attacked, knocked unconscious and seriously sexually assaulted as she walked home from a night out in Kidderminster town centre.

Detectives sealed off three of Wolverhampton's busiest roads to carry out forensic examinations following city murder.

It is believed the man suffered a stab wound through the heart and was taken to New Cross Hospital by friends in a taxi at around 4am yesterday. The city's Royal London pub fell within the cordon and it is believed workers on Saturday were forced to stay inside.

Police today appealed for calm amid fears of a gang war exploding on the region's streets after a 24-year-old was gunned down near to his Birmingham home. Jobless Dimitri Foskin was shot in the chest within half a mile of his home in Newtown on Saturday night. In West Bromwich, plasterer Nick Savory was stabbed in the stomach as he walked home in Oak Road just before 5pm on Saturday, while a security guard was wounded in the leg a short time later in Walsall town centre.

A woman in her 20s was seriously sexually assaulted at around 3am today as she walked home in Kidderminster.