Birmingham stabbings: what happened as 27-year-old male suspect arrested following city centre attack

Police forensics officers gather evidence on Hurst Walk (Getty Images)

A 27-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder and seven counts of attempted murder after a series of stabbings in Birmingham in the early hours of Sunday morning.

West Midlands police say that the man was taken into custody at 4am on Monday morning from an address in the south-west of the city.

The suspect is currently being questioned in custody.

The man was arrested after eight people were stabbed, one fatally, in the early hours of Sunday morning over a time-span of some 90 minutes.

A 23-year-old man was killed in the attacks and a man and a woman, aged 19 and 32, remain critically ill in hospital after suffering serious stab wounds.

What happened in Birmingham?

Police were first alerted to the rampage at 12.30am on Sunday morning. They were called to Constitution Hill where a man had sustained a superficial injury.

Twenty minutes later they were alerted to a second incident at Livery Street where a man had been critically injured and a woman also injured.

Police were then called to Irving Street where a 23-year-old man had suffered fatal injuries while another had been seriously injured.

Ten minutes later a further attack took place at he city's gay village where a 32-year-old woman was seriously injured and two more men sustained less serious injuries.

What was the motive and what was said after arrest?

Investigators have said the incident didn't appear to be terrorism, gang or hate crime related.

West Midlands police have said they believe the rampage was "random".

Following the arrest, Birmingham Police Commander, Chief Superintendent Steve Graham, said: “Officers worked through yesterday and into the early hours of this morning in a bid to trace the man we believe responsible for these terrible crimes.

He added: “We issued CCTV footage of the suspect and had a strong response from the public. I’d like to thank everyone who shared our appeal and who provided information to the investigation.

“One line of enquiry ultimately led us to an address in the Selly Oak area this morning where a man was arrested.

“Clearly this is a crucial development but our investigation continues.”

Reaction to emergency response

As the manhunt for the stabbing suspect took place the Prime Minister praised the efforts of the emergency services.

Tweeting on Sunday he said: "All my thoughts are with those affected by the terrible incident in Birmingham last night.

"My thanks to the emergency services who are working hard at the scene. Anyone with information should contact @WMPolice."

Labour MP and shadow minister Khalid Mahmood was one of many who claimed the emergency response was too slow.

He told The Times: "We've got to look at the fact he had two hours to run around the city centre, which has a huge amount of CCTV cameras in place.

"Where was the monitoring? Both the public and police were put at further risk."

He added: "There is a person dead. How was this man able to go on a two-hour spate?

"Potentially, had the alarm been set up early enough, the individual who is now deceased could have been saved and it's important we look at that."