A 38-year-old man was arrested after people were threatened with a knife on Market Lane and the High Street on Saturday afternoon. Police want to hear from witnesses.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary has arrested a man and seized a knife after people were threatened in Winchester city centre on Saturday afternoon, 24 October. The force is appealing for witnesses, and for anyone who was threatened but has not yet spoken to officers.

The force set out what it was told in a statement published on Sunday. At around 2.55pm, a man is alleged to have threatened a member of the public with a knife on Market Lane. Police were told he then walked around the High Street, where several other people were threatened.

The arrest

Officers who attended arrested a 38-year-old man on suspicion of two offences:

  • threatening a person with a blade in a public place
  • a public order offence

The force said on Sunday that he remained in custody. It has not named him, and he has not been charged. A knife was seized.

Were you there?

Police want to hear from two groups of people: anyone who was affected but has not spoken to them, and anyone who saw any part of the incident.

The force described the man as:

  • white
  • about 5ft 10in tall
  • with short, grey, curly, receding hair and stubble on his chin
  • wearing a black hoodie, a black raincoat and jeans

Call 101 and quote 44260522157, or use the force’s online form for an existing case. In an emergency, always call 999.

What it means for you

Market Lane is a short street in the city centre, a few steps from the High Street, and Saturday afternoon is one of the busiest times in town. If you were in town around 3pm and something happened to you or in front of you, the reference number above is what officers need to link your account to this case.

The force has not said anything that suggests a wider risk to the public, and it has not asked people to avoid the area.

How often weapon offences are recorded in the city centre

Knife incidents in central Winchester are rare in the published figures. Police.uk records 24 possession of weapons offences within a mile of Market Lane in the 12 months from September 2025 to August 2026, the latest month published. That category includes threatening someone with a blade.

The busiest month in that period was May 2026, with six. Three months recorded none. Police.uk places each crime at an approximate point rather than its exact address, so these are figures for the city centre and its surrounding streets, not for one road (data.police.uk street-level crime API).

For the wider picture across the district, see our report on Winchester’s August crime figures.

This story was written from the force’s own statement. An arrest is not a charge, and nobody has been charged. We will update it if the force publishes more.