UK Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner, John Yates

SKY NEWS

A Manchester shopkeeper has been arrested by police on suspicion of attempted murder after a man allegedly trying to rob his shop was killed.

The 72-year-old was arrested on Tuesday night after Greater Manchester police were called to his shop in Old Trafford at about 9.40pm, reports Sky News.

Officers were called to the shop after reports that a 30-year-old man had been stabbed. He was allegedly one of a number of would-be burglars.

A spokesman for Greater Manchester police said: "A 30-year-old man with serious injuries was taken to hospital, but he died a short time later.

"A 72-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder."

The shopkeeper has been named locally as Cecil Coley.

Local resident Manmohan Singh, 57, said Mr Coley - also known by the nickname "Pops" - had only recently changed the shop from a bric-a-brac store into a florist's.

Chief Superintendent Mark Roberts added: "The investigation is in its early stages, and we are still trying to establish the circumstances of what has happened.

"I would like to reassure residents that we do not believe there is any danger to the community, and would urge anyone who may have seen something to contact us."

The incident follows a case last month in nearby Pendleton, Salford, when John Bennell, a 27-year-old burglar, was stabbed to death by homeowner Peter Flanagan.

Flanagan was confronted by a group of masked men, one of whom had a machete.

Last week, the Crown Prosecution Service said the 59-year-old would not face charges because he had used reasonable force and had acted in self defence.

At the end of last month Justice Secretary Ken Clarke indicated that a householder who knifes a burglar may not necessarily have committed a criminal offence under plans to clarify the law on self defence in England.