Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
More stabbings on streets of London
A FLURRY of attacks saw six more stabbings in London yesterday, compounding a recent violent crime spike in the capital.
More than 50 people have been killed in the city since the start of the year, more than 30 of whom were fatally knifed.
The pressure on murder detectives is now so great that Scotland Yard has enlisted the support of City of London police to help with the caseload.
In the latest spate of stabbings, six youths were attacked within a 90-minute period, including a 13-year-old boy who was seriously wounded after being set upon in Newham, east London, shortly before 7pm.
Three youths have been arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm with intent.
Around an hour earlier, two 15-yearolds were seriously hurt after being stabbed in Grove Road, Mile End, east London. A male was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and another youth, 16 — who was treated for minor injuries — was arrested for conspiracy to commit grievous bodily, harm police said. The attacks have added to the UK’s soaring rate of knife crime, with fatal stabbings in England and Wales at their highest levels since 2010/11.
The escalating violence has been especially acute in the capital, with Victor Olisa, the Met’s former head of diversity and head of policing in Tottenham, saying Scotland Yard appears to have lost control of London’s streets, adding: “The silence from senior officers i n the Met is deafening.”
The stabbings came as protesters rallied in Hackney to call for an end to gang violence, close to where 18-year-old Israel Ogunsola was stabbed to death on Wednesday.
A pair of 17-year-olds have been arrested on suspicion of murder.
Yesterday, at around 5.30pm, a 15-year-old boy was found stabbed in East India Dock Road, Poplar, east London. Across the city, a youth in his late teens was stabbed in Ealing Broadway, west London, at around 7pm.
The attacks yesterday came after a man in his twenties was stabbed in Billet Road, Walthamstow, at around 12.50pm.
Meanwhile, a man has been arrested over the murder of a 53-year-old who died outside a bookmakers in Hackney on Wednesday afternoon.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said the rising number of murders on the capital’s streets was “heartbreaking” and criticised the Government for cuts to the policing budget. He added: “I think one murder is one too many.” QUIZ ANSWERS: 1. Donald Tusk. 2. Orange. 3. Amazon. 4. 7,917 miles. 5. An ice pick. 6. Ear. Missing link: FOSSIL.