A MAN accused of attempting to murder a police officer in Basingstoke will not face trial until October.

Thomas Gracey is charged with attempting to kill the officer after an altercation at Churchill Place in the town centre on Easter Sunday 2020 (April 12).

Hampshire Constabulary previously said the officer was responding to a concern for welfare he was stabbed with two knives.

It caused injuries to his head, neck and hands, and he required hospital treatment for his wounds.

He has now recovered and is back at work.

An eye-witness told the Gazette they saw as many as six police cars, plus two ambulances, at the scene during the evening of Easter Sunday last year.

Gracey, of Littlemore, Oxfordshire, was due to stand trial at Winchester Crown Court on Monday, August 16, but the court heard yesterday that this had to be delayed because of other overruning trials at the court.

The new trial date given is October 25.

The 44-year-old has denied a charge of attempted murder.