Mother stabbed to death in the street ‘in front of her children’
able to buy knives on the high street and we need councils and retailers to work together to stop this.
“Violent crime destroys lives, devastates families, and diverts doctors’ time from other essential patient care.
“Changes to NHS trauma services have saved an extra 1,600 lives in recent years, but hospital visits linked to knife crime and other violence is a major cause for concern and puts extra pressure on our expert staff.”
Martin Griffiths, lead for THE murder of a young woman stabbed to death in the street in front of her children was at the centre of a major police investigation last night.
The victim, aged in her 30s, was airlifted to hospital after the incident which was initially believed to have been a traffic accident.
However paramedics battled in vain as the mother died while being flown to hospital by air ambulance.
Witnesses on social media said the murder may have been witnessed by the victim’s children.
Police and paramedics rushed to London Road in Ewell, Surrey, shortly after 3pm.
Police said two men, one of whom trauma surgery at The Royal London Hospital, said: “We see on average two stabbings every day. But a stabbing has relentless repercussions that stretch far beyond the victim.
“You never forget the sound a mother makes when given the devastating news that her child has died.”
NHS England said there were 4,986 hospital admissions for knife wounds last year, up from 3,849 in 2012. Teenagers accounted for 1,012 of them, up from 656 in 2012/13. Home Office figures show 103 people knew the victim, were subsequently arrested in connection with the “tragic and shocking” incident.
One suspect was held on suspicion of murder while a second man was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender.
Chief Inspector Michael Hodder, of Surrey Police, said: “This was a tragic and shocking incident in which a woman has lost her life after being attacked in broad daylight.
“At this stage, we believe the victim and suspect are known to each other.”
He added: “We realise there will be a number of questions about what has happened which we will try to answer when we can and would ask the public not to speculate.
“We have a number of officers in the area to both investigate and support the community following this attack which we believe would have been witnessed by a number of people.
Victim
“If you did witness what happened and haven’t already spoken to officers, or may have dash cam footage I would urge you to do so immediately.”
The woman was murdered just yards from two primary schools – the Meadow Primary School Nonsuch Primary School.
One theory being considered is that the victim may have been collecting her children from school at the time of the attack.
The horrific stabbing took place directly outside the Nonsuch Park Hotel. A member of staff said: “One minute the road was clear and normal, the next there were ambulances outside and everything.
“It’s a crime scene – but the person involved died and we know she was stabbed. No one can drive up to the hotel at the moment, but no one knows anything more.”
A spokesman for Surrey Police said that the incident was being and investigated by the Surrey and Sussex Police Major Crime Team.
Social media users said that two men were arrested at gunpoint by firearms officers outside the Cheam Leisure Centre at around 5.15pm – just one mile away and a five-minute drive from the murder scene.
Armed
One neighbour described the moment armed police stormed towards a white van and drew their guns on the vehicle. “The arrest was outside Cheam baths at around 5.15pm. Armed police in attendance pointing guns at a white van,” he wrote on social media.