20/01/23

Man, 27, arrested by terrorism police after Leeds maternity unit evacuated

A man has been arrested by counter-terrorism police after a potentially suspicious package was found outside a hospital maternity unit in Leeds.

St James’s university hospital declared a critical incident and evacuated patients from the Gledhow wing after the alert on Friday morning.

Counter-terrorism police said they had launched an investigation and that a 27-year-old man from Leeds had been arrested. They did not say what offences the suspect had allegedly committed.

West Yorkshire police said counter-terrorism policing north-east had “deployed resources with access to specialist capabilities” to help establish the full circumstances behind the incident.

A large police cordon was in place at the Gledhow wing, about a mile from Leeds city centre, while bomb disposal experts from the army’s Royal Logistical Corps investigated the potentially suspicious package.

The Leeds teaching hospitals trust, which oversees St James’s, said it had declared a critical incident “so that we can keep staff and patients safe” while emergency services investigated.

West Yorkshire police urged people to avoid the entrance to the Gledhow wing and said it had erected the cordon as a precautionary measure.

The NHS trust said: “Emergency services are currently dealing with a suspicious package incident outside the Gledhow wing at St James’s hospital.

“A cordon has been put in place as a precautionary measure to ensure public safety and we have been working with the police to evacuate some ward areas to keep our patients and staff safe.

“Patients are being asked to attend hospital as normal for appointments, unless they are contacted otherwise. Visiting for patients who are currently in Gledhow wing and Lincoln wing at St James’s hospital is suspended until we have more information. Accident and emergency at St James’s is still open.”

West Yorkshire police added: “Officers are liaising with army specialists who are at the scene to make an assessment in line with normal procedures.”

Penny Virdee, who was visiting the hospital with family, said they became separated when some relatives were told they could not leave, while others were evacuated.

“It was really frightening, it really, really was,” she said. “They were stuck inside in a different part of the hospital, while we were told to leave. We were wondering what was going on, whether it was just one person or multiple people, we didn’t know whether it was an organised thing.”

A fire engine and a bomb squad van remained in place at lunchtime on Friday, inside the police cordon. Police were directing vehicles around the building.

Footage taken by a hospital worker on Friday morning shows a bomb squad officer wearing protective clothing inspecting a dark blue car, which is parked in a row of cars next to the hospital building.

In a video shared with the Guardian, all doors of the vehicle are open as the officer looks inside using a heavy duty torch.

The Gledhow wing, about a mile from Leeds city centre, houses the majority of maternity services at St James’s hospital, including its antenatal clinic, maternity assessment centre and the delivery suite. It also includes wards for respiratory and bereavement services.


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