Knife crime toll
AT LEAST 43 people were stabbed in London last month. We say at least because it’s always possible there are unreported attacks.
But out of all the incidents with links to knife crime covered by the My London website, 43 people endured the horror of being knifed or slashed.
Some of those people died. Others may still be in hospital, or living with their injuries.
‘The total of 43 is also only for those who specifically suffered stab injuries – we know of stabbing incidents which involved violent fighting where other people were injured, too, just not by a knife.
So the real total, the real human impact of violent crime in our city, is higher still. That’s not to mention all the friends, family, police officers and paramedics who live with the devastating consequences.
New year stabbing
Four people were stabbed in the same street on New Year’s Day.
Bouncer Tudor Simionov, 33, was one of those found with stab injuries outside a party venue on the exclusive streets, Park Lane.
Despite the efforts of officers and paramedics, Mr Simionov – who was one of three people stabbed – was pronounced dead at 6.05am on Tuesday, January 1.
Two other men – aged 37 and 29 – and a 29-year-old woman were also found with stab injuries.
Westbourne Green
A fight in a Westbourne Green street reportedly involving a young man and a teenager ended in a double stabbing, with two people left needing hospital treatment.
Police were called to reports that a 23-year-old man and a 16-year-old boy were fighting on Great Western Road, near Westbourne Park station, at 7.20pm on January 2. Both received “minor stab injuries” and needed hospital treatment. Their injuries have been deemed not lifethreatening.
January 11 – Sutton
A woman in her 60s was reportedly stabbed ‘in the neck’ in Sutton on January 11.
Police were called to the Roundshaw Estate, in Wallington, at 6.18pm to reports of a fight breaking out and found the woman with a stab wound.
One passer-by said he was there just minutes after the stabbing and saw paramedics take the woman to hospital.
The woman is now recovering at home.
January 15 – Hanworth
Two young men were attacked in a car in Hanworth and tried to make their own way to hospital on January 15.
A 21-year-old man was stabbed and another, also 21, suffered a “facial injury” in an attack in a car park in Bear Road at 5.19pm.
Police found the pair in Osborne Close, which is barely a three-minute drive from Bear Road.
January 19 – Kensington
A “violent incident” in Kensington landed three teenagers in hospital two of them with stab wounds - on January 19.
Police were called at 6.54pm to a home on Wilsham Street, where they found two 19-year-olds with stab wounds and a third 19-year-old who had been assaulted.
All three victims were taken to hospital, where their injuries were deemed not life-threatening.
Police authorised a Section 60 order for the Kensington and Chelsea wards of Dalgarno, Golborne, St Helens, Notting Dale, Norland, Pembridge and Colville. This gave police the power to stop and search people, whether on foot or in vehicles, to prevent further violence, particularly if it is believed they are carrying weapons.
The order ended at 1.49pm the following day.
January 20 – Kew
Staff at Caffe Torelli in Kew rushed to help the victim of a stabbing after he collapsed at their door on Sunday January 20.
A man in his 50s was stabbed at just before 8am near Kew Gardens and was rushed to hospital. He is now in a stable condition, reportedly with a punctured lung.
It is thought that his attacker may have been trying to steal his car, which he had parked on Leyborne Park while he bought a coffee.
Caffe Torelli manager Marco described how the man left the shop with his coffee, only to stumble back round the corner and collapse at their door.