Update following incident at Royal Bolton Hospital

Officers are continuing their investigation following an incident at Royal Bolton Hospital yesterday afternoon (Friday 2 January 2026) which left three people with injuries.

One man in his 30s suffered serious injuries to his ear and has since been discharged from hospital.

A female in her 40s and a man in his 70s suffered minor injuries and were treated at the scene.

A 22-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of two counts of Section.47 assault, Section 18 assault, police assault and racially aggravated public order. He was taken into custody and has been detained under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act.

Detective Chief Inspector Mike Sharples of GMP’s Bolton district said: “We understand that an incident of this nature has caused concern for members of the public who were in hospital at the time, staff and the wider community.

“Officers are continuing to engage with staff and patients at the hospital to conduct a thorough investigation into the circumstances of the incident.

“We would encourage anyone with information to contact ourselves via our reporting methods either through 101 or on our website quoting log 2055 of 02.01.2026.”

Alternatively, contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, or via their website here: https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/forms/give-information-anonymously.