CCTV released by police after two assaults in Stourbridge

Police said they think the people in the CCTV stills could be 'key to finding those responsible' for the attacks, which left two men injured.

A man was assaulted in the town centre and stabbed three times, before a taxi driver suffered a hand injury after an assault from passengers.

The first incident took place at around 3.30am on Saturday (March 4).

A taxi driver picked up a group of two women and two men on Hagley Road in Stourbridge, and they asked to be dropped off on the Wrens Nest Estate in Dudley.

The group said they had no money so asked the taxi driver to stop at the BP petrol station on Pedmore Road so they could get some cash.

However, when they got back in the cab they said they still had no money to pay the fare, so the driver said he would be taking them back into Stourbridge town centre.

However, the group then began to lash out at the inside of the taxi and the driver.

His left arm was grabbed through the small plastic window inside the cab, resulting in an injury to his left hand.

As the driver tried to fend off the attackers, he lost control of his vehicle and crashed into another stationary vehicle.

The two women then ran off and the two men opened the front doors of the taxi and demanded cash from the driver, before punching him and running away along Pedmore Road.

The driver was left extremely shaken.

All members of the group were white and aged between 20 and 22.

Police said the men were around 6ft tall and one was wearing a black top, with yellow and white on the front.

The other man was wearing a black top. Both were of medium build.

Officers were called out for the second time at around 4.10am to reports of an injured 31-year-old man in an alleyway off St John’s Road in the town centre.

He had left a nightclub at around 3.20am and was walking along Hagley Road to get a taxi home when he has saw a group of two women and several men, slightly ahead of him, on the same side of the road.

As the man began to walk past the group he was punched in the head and fell to the floor.

While still on the floor, he received repeated blows to his ribs and back before he managed to get up and run off.

He then fell over again and was subjected to another assault by the group.

He eventually ran off into a nearby alleyway, where he managed to call emergency services.

During the sustained attack the man received two wounds to his head and three stab wounds to his body.

The victim has since been discharged from hospital but remains extremely shaken by the incident.

He described the group as being white and aged in their 20s.

DC Simon Cooper, who is investigating, said: “These were two really nasty attacks and we are currently investigating the possibility they were carried out by the same group.

"We have good CCTV images of a number of people we want to speak to in connection with the assaults and we are urging members of the public to get in touch if they recognise any of them or if they have any information at all about what happened.”

Anyone with information should call DC Simon Cooper on 101 quoting crime number 20DY/45311X/17 for the taxi driver assault or 20DY/45315K/17 for the second incident.