Students Warned After Knife Attack

Students have been left “shocked and appalled” following the attack of a student outside the Shell Garage on Hull Road last Friday.

The incident occurred in the early hours of the morning, following a night out. The victim remained in hospital through the weekend.

One second year Maths student was stunned to hear the news: “It’s crazy that something like this can happen so close to campus, especially in a city as safe as York.”

Another student described walking home with the victim at around 5am, and parting with him at the Barbican Centre. It is estimated that the incident took place between 5 and 5.30am.

North Yorkshire Police were unavailable for comment, but Vision has learned that an ambulance was called soon after the crime by a third party and the police were informed in due course. It is understood that police have launched an investigation, though the precise circumstances of the stabbing are yet to surface.

After being treated at York District Hospital, the man was said on Sunday to be making a steady recovery by friends.

YUSU Welfare Officer Ben Humphrys said of the incident: “I can’t stress enough the need to take care of your personal safety. Crime may be comparatively infrequent in York but it does happen, taxis, the YUSU late night minibus, the night bus and the security escort service are all there to ensure you get home safely; please use them.”

Most striking about the event is that it is the culmination of a spate of student related violence and crime over the last academic year. Earlier this month, Vision reported on the suspected assault of a student in the Duchess nightclub by a bouncer. Similarly, an article on Vision’s website reported a week later of three muggings taking place in as many days, all on or around campus. Laptop theft has also taken place throughout the year in the library and directly from students’ rooms.

Another incident involved Mickal Grabarczyk, who in the Autumn Term was on bail for assaulting a police officer and drunk and disorderly behaviour and was offered temporary accommodation by sympathetic students. He also broke into secure accommodation blocks and stole food from student kitchens on multiple occasions, claiming that this was only possible due to poor security on campus. A condition of Grabarczyk’s bail was that he didn’t enter University property.

In a similar vein, ex-Women’s Officers Amal Ali and Ellie Kuper Thomas organised a march around poorly lit areas of campus last December. The march, named “Reclaim the Night” highlighted the risks posed to students from such areas of the university. More recently, students have complained of the security threat posed by many broken front doors to campus accommodation blocks.

All of these are summed up by a Vision investigation in March that revealed that crime on campus had risen by 72%.

For many students the increase of on-campus crime has been blamed on the reduction in portering hours this year, leaving many colleges without 24-hour or weekend porters. However, the University has claimed that the security presence has increased on campus, and denied this assessment.

The victim of Friday’s attack remains in recovery, though Vision cannot provide full details of the event.