“It’s a nightmare, as families we try to protect our kids but how can you do that when this is going on?” One worried mother’s words as police patrol a cordon at the centre of her estate - just metres away from the entrance to the primary school many of the local children attend.
Only days before the pupils go back to their uniforms and classes following the Easter holidays, the Dean Court estate in Dukinfield was ‘swarming with police’, according to its residents. Emergency services rushed to the scene at around 7.45pm on Sunday evening (April 16), finding a man had been injured before taking him to hospital where he remains.
Neighbours emerged from their homes as they heard ‘shouting and screaming’, finding a man with a bloodied head lying on the ground. Next to him, a loose concrete paving slab, prompting reports he had been attacked.
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Police officers remained at Dean Court overnight and well into today. A blue forensics tent was established and white-suited crime scene investigators descended.
After hours of photographing and sweeping the taped off road, one CSI officer emerged from the tent with a long rectangular package of evidence, covered by a brown bag.
But the grim scene is nothing new to Dean Court, say residents. “Having police at the end of your road is an everyday occurrence here,” one mother, who did not wish to be named, told the Manchester Evening News.
“I’ve lived here for 15 years and it's not safe, I’ve had to get cameras because the ones in the street don’t work anymore. The police are just called out here so much and they’re so stretched, they’re doing their best.”
Pointing at Lyndhurst Primary School, its gates opening up onto the estate, the mum said: “And the kids are seeing it every day, this place is a forgotten corner.”
Another family on Hill Street, leading to Dean Court, explained that they had not always been used to seeing the police so often. “In the summer, we always used to let the children play out,” they said.
“We’d have paddling pools and number mats for them in the street connecting our houses. We’d have food and barbecues outside our doors - we daren’t do that anymore.”
Greater Manchester Police has yet to confirm the exact nature of the incident and the severity of the man’s condition. A spokesperson for the force said: “Last night (Sunday, 16 April, 2023) at around 7.45pm, emergency services were called to an incident in Dean Court, Dukinfield.
"One man was injured and remains in hospital. "A investigation is underway as police work to establish the circumstances."
“Some parts of this place are really family friendly but then there’s areas of the estate where it’s constantly kicking off,” one concerned dad added.
“We can’t take our children on the stairs in our flat building. It’s always covered in needles, bags of drugs, human p*** and s***.
“It’s up and down all the time here, everyone I know is trying to move.”
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