Mystery of the ‘bloodstained’ baseball bat ‘closed’

THE CASE of a ‘bloodstained’ baseball bat on a Southwater footpath has been closed, say Horsham police.

Officers arrived at the scene in Worthing Road near the village business park at around 7am last Wednesday.

At the time a spokesman for Sussex Police said: “A member of the public had found part of a baseball bat lying on the path with some blood on and immediately around it.”

There had been no reports of an assault in the area.

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A police helicopter was launched at 9am in a bid to locate any possible victims.

“The area has been searched with the assistance of the police helicopter and nothing else has been found,” added the spokesman.

At 11am the South East Air Support Unit tweeted: “Southwater(S183) Check of park area after bloodstained item located with no apparent victim. All appeared clear.”

Sgt Chris O’Leary, of Horsham police, said the bat may be examined by forensics as ‘it has not been confirmed whether the red substance on the item is blood or not’.

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“It could have been kids using the bat to hit a can of red drink,” he said. “You could assume that it’s a little unusual that this has been found and there’s no victim.

“But people will phone in when they’ve seen some clothes or shoes because they’ve become concerned that someone’s been in a struggle.”

He continued: “There have been occasions in the past where someone has run over an animal and used something to finish the job.”

However, a week on, the sergeant has told the County Times ‘the incident is now closed’.