Shocked Braintree residents have described how they heard screaming and were told to stay in their homes by police.

As many eight police cars were called to the scene in Cressing Road and the police helicopter also hovered above following the stabbing of Michael Haastrup last Wednesday night.

One woman, who refused to be named, recalled: “I was in bed and I heard girls screaming, then somebody shouted ‘He’s been stabbed, he’s been stabbed’.

“I came out of the house and my immediate reaction was to go out and help him, but I didn’t because I was worried what might happen.”

Maxine Chidgey, who has lived in Cressing Road for 14 years, said: “I was watching telly in the front room at about 11 o’clock when I saw the blue lights.

“When I looked out of the window, someone was lying outside a house opposite.

“He was there for a long while with the medic before he went off in an ambulance.”

See the Times for the full story and reaction