Three teenage boys due in court over Walsall stabbing murder

Three teenage boys are due in court charged with the murder of a man who was fatally stabbed in the West Midlands last weekend.

The trio – one 15-year-old and two aged 16 – are accused over the death of 20-year-old Bailey Atkinson.

Mr Atkinson was attacked on the High Street in Walsall in the early hours of January 28.

The trio, who cannot be named due to their ages, are due to appear at Wolverhampton Magistrates’ Court on Saturday.

The suspects were arrested at a hotel in Rhyl in North Wales, on Tuesday and West Midlands Police confirmed they had been charged on Friday night.

Mr Atkinson was taken to hospital after the stabbing, but died of his injuries.

A post-mortem revealed the victim, from Bloxwich, had died of multiple stab wounds.

Detective Inspector Jim Mahon said: “Our investigation has been fast paced but has not stopped with these arrests.”

He said police believe “there were others involved in the tragic events” of last weekend, adding that officers “are determined to find everyone involved to get justice for Bailey’s family”.

He said: “We urge anyone with information that they may be withholding, possibly through misguided loyalty, to come forward now.”

Mr Atkinson’s family have previously paid tribute to him as their “beloved boy Bailey, our kindhearted and much-loved son, brother and grandson”.

They added: “Bailey was so loved, by so many and will be missed so much.”

A Section 60 dispersal order was due to remain in place until Saturday morning in the areas of St Matthews, Bloxwich West and East, Blakenall, Birchills and Leamore,

The order, which police said is used when there is a risk of violence, allows officers to stop and search people suspected of being involved in violence, without the need to have reasonable grounds.