Knife man may have seven victims

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Police investigating a series of assaults in an area of Birmingham say a seventh man has been attacked.

A 40-year-old man was approached as he walked along Leonard Road in Lozells on Wednesday night. He suffered two stab wounds, but was not seriously injured.

Police said six previous incidents - in which a knife has either been used or seen by the victims - have happened in the area since June.

The offender is described as black, aged between 18 and 30, and slim.

All of the offences have been against lone adult men, aged between 19 and 56 years of age, none of whom have been seriously injured, a police spokesman said.

The motive is not known but all of the incidents have taken place very close to one another in Lozells since 9 June.

They are being linked due to the nature of the offences and the descriptions given of the offender.

Motive mystery

Det Ch Insp Steve Bimson, senior investigating officer, said: "We are concerned about the nature of these assaults and the number that we now believe to be linked to the same offender.

"Thankfully the injuries caused during these assaults have not been serious so far, but this does not affect the nature of our investigation.

"We are taking these crimes very seriously.

"We know that robbery is not a motive, as nothing has been taken by the offender in any of the incidents and we do not believe that he is specifically targeting his victims for a reason such as race or any other hate crime."

The offender has not spoken to any of his victims and the majority of incidents have taken place in the dark when there have been few people around, he added.

Police have increased their patrols in the area.

Detectives want anyone who has any information or recognises the man from the CCTV images to contact them.