Witnesses have described the shocking moment a gang armed with a 'Samurai sword' began throwing gas bottles at a house in a terrifying broad daylight attack. The violence erupted on Sunday afternoon on Propps Hall Drive in Failsworth, Oldham.
CCTV footage seen by the Manchester Evening News shows a grey Range Rover pull up outside the house at 5pm as the men inside the 4x4 gesticulate towards the people inside. Around six people then come out of the semi-detached house, armed with weapons including what appears to be knives, sticks and bricks, and begin hitting the Range the Rover, which speeds off.
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Seventeen minutes later the Range Rover returns and a male brandishing what appears to be a sword gets out of the vehicle and walks into the front garden. Five or six blue gas canisters are thrown at the house, smashing the front window. Again a number of people armed with weapons come out of the house and the Range Rover drives off.
A neighbour, who asked not to be named, said police arrived shortly after. The neighbour added: "One of the lads had a Samurai sword. They came out of the house with machetes, sticks and a golf club.
"This happened on a Sunday afternoon. It's a nightmare."
The man said there had been problems with the neighbours for the last seven years. He added: "The windows are always getting smashed - they've been put through half a dozen times since Christmas. The house has been egged, it's been shot at with paintball guns.
"A car was torched on the road last year. I have been complaining for years, but nothing gets done. It's getting worse and worse."
Pictures from the scene on Sunday night show a stretch of Propps Hall Drive cordoned off by police. On Monday morning the front window of the house was boarded up and the gas bottles were still in the front garden. There have been no reports of any injuries.
A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said: "We were called shortly before 5.10pm on Sunday, May 1, to a report of men with weapons outside an address on Propps Hall Drive, Failsworth. A 46-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of violent disorder and has since been released on bail.
" Enquiries are ongoing and anyone with information should contact us online, if able, via our LiveChat facility, or by calling 101 quoting incident 2250 of 01/05/2022. D etails can be passed anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111."
