Creepy Clown spotted in Formby last night
THE craze of knife-wielding clowns has swept across the UK with terrifying sightings across the country. The creepy maniacs were first spotted at US university campuses but the craze has well and truly spread to Britain with incidents from Liverpool, Durham, Manchester to Eastbourne and Suffolk.
An incident was reported to us last night, Friday 7th October, when a clown was spotted looking through someone's window in a street in Formby. The incident was put up on Facebook but was later taken down. We do not know if it is true or not but, Merseyside Police have appealed to people dressing up as clowns to stop the creepy behaviour. The clowns are said to chase people and a website has been set up by creepy clowns who have thretened to visit schools in Merseyside on Monday. A sinister social media group is threatening to terrify Merseyside children by dressing up as creepy clowns outside school gates. It comes amid reports schools were placed on “lockdown” to keep pupils safe from the fancy dress pranksters.
Killer clown social media pages have sprung up on Facebook and Twitter.
Mum-of-two Mandy Owen, 45, said her 12-year-old son was left "terrified" after spotting a clown outside his Liverpool school.
In Durham at 8.40am today, a masked man carrying a knife left a group of children aged 11 and 12 upset and distressed. He jumped at them near Hermitage Academy and while they were not hurt they were "alarmed he was carrying a knife".
While in Suffolk, a boy was chased by "several people dressed as clowns" in Sudbury at 8pm yesterday, police confirmed. A clown "wearing a hockey mask and a blood-stained poncho" was caught on camera in Greater Manchester on Thursday. Graham Lowndes-Buckley was on a bus in Katherine Street, Ashton-under-Lyne, when he spotted the man, who was apparently "screaming and shouting".
Mr Lowndes-Buckley, 19, said: "At the time I found it funny, I won't lie, but I realised how many people were scared. It's sad, because the area he was in is full of flats and houses and children play on that street in the day. I've seen many videos of clowns in the US, but every day you log in to Facebook and this craze is everywhere, not just the US any more.”
Merseyside Chief Superintendent Peter Costello said: “We are aware of incidents in the United States involving people dressing up as clowns and approaching or chasing other members of the public.
“It appears that social media is being used to circulate stories about similar incidents taking place in some areas of the UK.
“Whilst we have no confirmed incidents reported to us we are aware that social media is being used to circulate allegations that incidents will take place at establishments on Merseyside.
“Merseyside Police wants to make it perfectly clear that behaviour of this type will not be treated as a joke or prank, doing this to a stranger may cause alarm or distress and could constitute a criminal offence such as harassment.
“We will not tolerate any kind of anti-social or criminal behaviour directed at any members of our communities.
We would urge people to seriously consider what impact this kind of behaviour might have as well as whether their behaviour could constitute a crime and could lead to their arrest and a potential criminal record.”
