The unusually concentrated spate of violence
will add to growing concerns about knife crime in the British capital,
which is at its highest level for five years.
At least 80 people were killed in stabbings in London in 2017, more than half of them under the age of 25.
Detectives
launched four separate murder investigations into the overnight
attacks, which took place away from the city centre, where more than
100,000 people had gathered to watch the New Year's Eve fireworks.
An
18-year-old man was stabbed in Enfield, north London, late on Sunday
evening, and later died in hospital. Five men have been arrested, police
said.
Earlier, at around 7.30 pm (1930
GMT), a 20-year-old man was stabbed in West Ham in east London, while in
Tulse Hill, in the south, a 17-year-old boy was killed at around 10:40
pm.
In the early hours of Monday morning,
a 20-year-old man was fatally stabbed in Old Street, a busy area filled
with bars and clubs east of the city centre.
A second man in his 20s was hurt in the same incident, and was taken to hospital suffering critical stab injuries.
"It
is heart-breaking that, at a time when so many of us are contemplating
what lies ahead in 2018, four families are dealing with the grief of
losing a loved one to senseless violence and the callous use of knives
as lethal weapons," said police commander Neil Jerome.
Police
registered almost 12,100 knife attacks in London in the year to March
2017, which left more than 4,400 people injured -- the highest figures
in five years.
A spokeswoman for the
Metropolitan Police said Monday that 77 people died from knife crime in
the city between January 1, 2017, and December 22.
In November, Mayor Sadiq Khan's office revealed that 40 of those killed since the start of the year were under the age of 25.
Khan
has launched a major campaign to reduce knife crime, including giving
some high-risk schools metal detectors, while the government is also
looking into tougher measures for people carrying knives.
No comments:
Post a Comment