Boy, 13, seriously injured after being stabbed at Taco Bell in Rochdale ‘when 25 youths ran in with knives’

A 13-year-old boy suffered serious injuries after being stabbed inside a Taco Bell restaurant in Rochdale on Saturday evening, in an incident witnesses say involved around 25 youths storming the premises. The attack, which reportedly took place in the restaurant's toilet, prompted the fast-food branch to shut down while police carry out enquiries, and comes amid wider concerns over youth knife violence in the UK.

Witnesses said a group of teenagers had been fighting inside the Riverside Walk restaurant from around 5.50pm, before roughly 20 to 25 youths, some allegedly carrying knives, pushed past a staff member guarding the door and forced their way in shortly before 6pm. One diner, David Lane, said he used napkins to apply pressure to the boy's wound after the stabbing, crediting his actions with saving the teenager's life. Greater Manchester Police confirmed they were called at 6.09pm and that the boy was taken to hospital with serious injuries; two teenage boys have since been arrested on suspicion of assault and possession of a bladed article, with investigations ongoing.