Suspect held over killing of woman who tried to fight off attacker
A WOMAN was stabbed to death in an apparent attack by a mugger trying to steal her purse at a bus stop in north London.
Police and emergency crews arrived at the scene in Burnt Oak Broadway, Edgware shortly before noon yesterday, but within two minutes she was pronounced dead. Passers-by heard her shout, “Help me, help me” and then described seeing “a lot of blood”. Video on social media showed the victim in her sixties being treated by paramedics near the junction of Limesdale Gardens.
Jess Bloom, working at a hair salon opposite, saw the woman stabbed three times by a suspect as he attempted to take her handbag. Ms Bloom, 24, told The Times: “It happened at the bus stop and the woman ended up in the middle of the road. The guy was trying to get her handbag but she said ‘no’ and fought back. I saw her pull the handbag twice. He pulled her into the road and stabbed her three times.
“He let go of her and she dropped to the ground. She was covered in blood. He ran off and everyone ran to the woman to help her. I heard the scream.”
A 22-year-old man arrested in the Colindale area yesterday remains in custody. Local resident Salah Ahmed, 35, said he was in a clothes shop nearby when he heard the woman shouting for help. He then went outside and chased the attacker, who ran away. The woman’s murder was the capital’s fifth fatal stabbing in 10 days. Schoolboy Daniel Anjorin, 14, died in a sword rampage in Hainault on April 30. Jack Hague, 38, was one of three men killed in separate attacks across north and east London during the bank holiday weekend.