A person who witnessed the Tenby railway station stabbings and assisted with first aid in its aftermath, has given a damning verdict on the way the incident was handled by police, claiming that officers that were in attendance showed ‘no control or leadership’ at the scene to take command.

The disorder that occurred on the evening of Tuesday, April 7 resulted in four youths, believed to be from the Pembroke area, sustaining stab wounds.

Following the incident, British Transport Police, who are taking the lead in the investigation, confirmed that five teenagers were arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm and violent disorder.

Reports on social media suggested that the anti-social atmosphere had been building in Tenby throughout the day, with a large volume of youths, said to be almost 100, meeting up on North Beach for a party in what was the middle of the Easter holidays.

Pembrokeshire County Council had also reported that public toilets had been vandalised that afternoon by a ‘gang of youths’.

Dyfed-Powys Police received three calls were reporting anti-social behaviour prior to the incident, while there were six additional calls logged under different call types relating to young persons, damage, a medical issue regarding a young person, and a potential theft.

There has been widespread criticism for the way the police force reacted to these examples of anti-social behaviour, which climaxed in the shocking stabbings that took place at the seaside town’s train station platform, shortly after 9.30pm.

Now, one member of the public who was on the scene, and was able to treat the wounded at the station, has given their account of what they witnessed - and it doesn’t hold the police force up in a particularly good light.

In their own words, they detailed to the Observer: “On Tuesday, April 7 at approximately 21:35hrs I was in attendance at Tenby railway station when a large fight took place involving large group of youths.

“I was on platform 2 when I looked over to platform 1 and calls for help by a young girl to say someone has been stabbed. I immediately gathered my first aid kit and ran over to platform 1 to assist. On arrival I could see a male approximately 16 years old, shirtless, wearing black boxer shorts and white trainers.

“I could see a stab wound to his upper left leg with a lot of blood coming from the wound. I immediately applied pressure with assistance from a young girl at scene and applied a thick dressing pad to stop blood.

“Whilst a colleague was contacting 999 I continued to provide first aid to the male whilst my colleague gave details of the incident.

“However, my complaint is in relation to the police response on the evening.

“It is very difficult to be critical having served in the police service myself for over 12 years, however the points of concern are listed as follows...

“Officers' arrival onto the platform was very delayed with us having to summon a member of public to tell police to come forward to the scene. A single crewed paramedic made the decision to move forward to the scene without police presence despite police in attendance at the front of the station

“I had to instruct two male officers to get hands out of their pockets and help at the scene with myself and paramedic who were stood talking.

“A large presence of officers arrived with officers standing around and no direction from two female sergeants at scene. No senior officer to take command or a senior constable to take initial charge of the scene. Officers appeared to be dazed by the incident.

“I located a knife at scene. A male officer was informed, however this was not passed to the sergeant until I spoke to her some 10 minutes later.

“A crime scene had been identified by officers on scene as I located a knife. Officers then started a scene whilst colleagues led members of the public through the active scene interfering with myself, paramedic and victim. The scene was exposed to member of the public entering and exiting on numerous occasions.

“Police were slow to take control with the crowd as friends of the victim were interfering with our assistance of first aid and were verbal and threatening due to their exposure to the incident.

“No details were obtained from me being a key witness.

“The 999 operator had instructed my colleague, the reporting person, to attend to the scene to assist despite paramedic and local response officers adopting stay safe principles, standing back until firearms units arrived at scene,” the writer continued, stating that there are a lot of issues from this incident which need addressing.

“My summary was that officers had no control or leadership at the scene to take command. Whilst it was chaotic and multiple injuries, officers with no tasks should have given direct orders to maintain the crowd and help with first aid. I didn't see a first aid kit in use by any officers at scene.

“Whilst this was a very challenging incident there was a serious lack of control and assistance!” they added.

Following the incident, Dyfed-Powys Police vowed to increase its visible police presence across the seaside town, to act as a reassuring presence as well as a deterring factor for potential offenders.

County councillor for the town’s North ward, Cllr Michael Williams said at the time that Tenby had been ‘let down’.

“I am very aware of the constraints on the police service, but Tenby has been let down, despite an ever increasing precept being imposed upon us. We have a right to feel safe in our community, and I know many that no longer do so,” he remarked.

A Dyfed-Powys Police spokesperson said: “Individuals that are unhappy with the service provided by Dyfed-Powys Police can make a complaint to the Professional Standards Department (PSD). PSD assess all complaints and ensure that they are responded to in accordance with the statutory framework.

“To ensure compliance with the statutory requirements of the complaints process, we are unable to comment or respond to third party queries on individual cases without the express written consent of the named complainant in that case.

“Furthermore, whilst a complaint case is live/ongoing, it would not be appropriate for the force to comment on that case as this could serve to have a prejudicial or negative impact on the outcome and/ or any subsequent independent review process.”

A spokesperson for Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC), Dafydd Llywelyn commented: “The PCC is directly responsible for considering and investigating formal complaints made against the Chief Constable of Dyfed Powys Police Force only.

“Complaints involving any other ranking officer or the general service of the police force is the responsibility of the Chief Constable of Dyfed Powys Police Force, who delegates the responsibility to the Professional Standards Department within Dyfed Powys Police

“The PCC is responsible for holding the Chief Constable to account for handling complaints, ensuring a local, efficient, and effective policing service with additional responsibility of conducting reviews of some police complaints.

“Furthermore, whilst a complaint case is live/ongoing, it would not be appropriate for the PCC to comment on that case as this could serve to have a prejudicial or negative impact on the outcome and/ or any subsequent independent review process.”