Two dead as London hit by weekend of stabbings

Two murder investigations have been launched after a flurry of separate knife attacks in London over the weekend. It comes as Mayor of London Sadiq Khan continues renewed efforts to combat a 16% spike in knife crime in the capital over the past two years.

The most recent attack saw police called just before 8pm on Sunday (11 September) to reports of a 25-year-old man injured in Anchor and Hope Lane, Greenwich, south-east London.

Emergency crews attended the scene, near a large retail park, and the victim was taken to a south London hospital. He died of his injuries on Monday morning.

Detectives, who have not named the victim, have launched a murder investigation, with no arrests at this stage.

The stabbing was the third knife attack in Greenwich in as many days, with another man dying in a fourth knife attack in nearby Bethnal Green, east London.

Early on Friday morning, at 1.30am, police were called to John Harrison Way, Greenwich, after three men with balaclavas chased and attacked a 23-year-old man, hitting him with a baseball bat before stabbing him multiple times. He received knife wounds to his back, arms and legs.

He has been discharged from hospital, with one Scotland Yard detective saying it was "sheer good fortune" he wasn't killed. No arrests have been made.

On Friday evening, just after 6.30pm, police were called to neighbouring Heavitree Road in Plumstead where a man in his 40s was stabbed following a reported brawl with another man. His injuries are not thought to be life-threatening and no arrests have been made.

The following day, at 4.35pm on Saturday, police were called to reports of a knife attack in east London with a young man suffering stab injuries at an address in Nelson Gardens, Bethnal Green.

The 26-year-old victim was taken to hospital but died of his injuries early on Sunday morning. The Met Police has launched a murder investigation, with no arrests made so far.

The attacks come just months after the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said that he was "extremely worried" by a 16% rise in knife crime in the capital over the past two years.

In July, his office announced £400,000 in funding for projects helping young offenders turn away from crime, as well as a City Hall Knife Crime Summit to "help stop young people from making the choices that lead them into violence".

Met Police officers were called to more than 9,000 knife crime incidents in London in the year ending April 2016. The attacks resulted in 1,623 victims under the age of 25, including 866 teenagers and 12 fatalities.

The Met Police has asked any witnesses of the recent knife attacks to call the incident room on 0208 721 4805, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.