Bolton murder: Seven-year-old girl stabbed to death in park

‘This is a family’s worst nightmare,’ police say following ‘random’ attack

A seven-year-old girl was stabbed to death in a park in a “totally unprovoked and random attack” in front of her family, according to police.

The child was attacked as she enjoyed the sunshine at Queen’s Park in Bolton, Greater Manchester, on Sunday afternoon.

Members of the public detained the suspect, a 30-year-old woman, immediately after the stabbing at around 2.30pm.

Detectives said the woman was not known to the family of the girl.

She is being held for questioning by Greater Manchester Police after officers arrested her on suspicion of murder.

“Words cannot describe how awful this attack is,” said assistant chief constable, Russ Jackson.

“The family were out in the park, enjoying the spring sun when in a totally unprovoked and random attack this little girl sustained horrendous injuries and sadly died a short while later.

“This is a family’s worst nightmare. The incident is horrendous and I cannot begin to imagine what the family of this little girl are going through.

“We are determined to quickly understand how this came to happen, leaving a young family so distraught and so devastated in an instant.”

Police said in a statement that officers were called to the scene at 2.34pm after receiving emergency calls about the attack.

“Ambulance and police attended and found that a seven-year-old girl had been attacked by a woman with a knife,” the force added.

“The child sustained extremely serious injuries and, despite the best efforts of her family and medical responders, she sadly died a short while later.”

The assistant chief constable said the force was “working to understand the motive for this completely random and brutal attack”.

The girl’s family is being supported by specialist family liaison officers.