Appeal to identify man after concerning incident in Gloucester

Police are trying to identify and locate a man after a concerning incident was reported to have happened in Coney Hill, Gloucester on Friday 5 September.

The man officers want to identify was described as being white, aged in his late 30s, of a medium build, bald and had a long beard and a brown moustache.

He was wearing an orange pullover waterproof and was carrying a black bag.

It has been reported that at around 7.20am today (Friday 5 September) the man appeared by the alleyway from Blake Hill Way where it meets Coney Hill Road by the roundabout with Abbeymead Avenue.

He said good morning to a woman who was walking her dog, and when she replied in the same way, the man took a knife out of his pocket.

He made a comment to the woman about wanting to seriously harm someone, and he then walked away in what was described as a calm manner. It is not known which direction he walked in.

The woman, aged in her 40s, was not physically injured but is understandably shaken by what happened.

She walked home and then reported the incident to police.

Due to the nature of the report, armed officers attended and a drone was also used to search the area. However following an extensive search, no-one matching the description was found.

Enquiries have been taking place in the area, including house to house and CCTV, and police are now keen to hear from anyone who has seen a man matching this description.

They would also like to hear from anyone who has driven or cycled in the area this morning and has footage or anyone who has CCTV showing the man who has been described.

The local neighbourhood policing team are aware of the incident and will be doing patrols in the area.

Anyone who sees a man matching this description is asked not to approach him but to instead call police on 999 if you can see him at the time of calling, or have seen him recently. Call 101 or report online for non-recent sightings.

You can provide information to police online by completing the following form and quoting incident 64 of 5 September: https://www.gloucestershire.police.uk/tua/tell-us-about/cor/tell-us-about-existing-case-report/