Help me, I’m dying: cry of victim ‘hacked with sword’ by hooded gang

AN aspiring businessman was hacked to death in a quiet residential street in west London after being ambushed by hooded attackers.

Gurinder Singh, 33, cried out “help me, I’m dying” to homeowners who rushed to his aid after he was attacked by three men, who fled in a car. Witnesses said a group in the vehicle first tried to run over Mr Singh at high speed in Spikes Bridge Road, Southall, shortly after 11pm on Saturday.

Three men then leapt out and stabbed him up to four times with a long curved weapon — which some witnesses said they believed was a sword — and kicked him on the ground. The “frenzied” 30-second attack ended after the men, wearing hoods, jumped back into the car and drove off down Viking Road.

Neighbours in the street rushed to help as Mr Singh lay dying on the pave- ment, giving him water and comforting him until emergency services arrived. Police tried to stem the bleeding from multiple stab wounds before he was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 6.30am yesterday morning.

One witness told the Standard: “We looked out and we saw him lying on the ground in a pool of blood. He looked in a really bad way. We rushed out to help. We asked him if he wanted any water and he said he did so we gave that to him.

“He was lying on his side and there was b l o o d e ve r y where . We were scared. My kids were trying to come outside to see what was going on, so I had to get them into the house.”

Another witness said: “I was coming down the road and I saw these guys in hoods beating this guy on the ground. It was terrifying. It was too dangerous to step in. It was all over in about 30 seconds. I ran over to him and he called out, ‘Help me, I’m dying’. He was covered in blood so I tried to comfort him and called the police and ambulance.

“He’d been stabbed in the back of his head, his calf and twice in the back. He was in a terrible state. I told police I saw the guys carrying a baseball bat but I realise now it must have been a sword or a machete or something like that, as you can’t cause those kinds of injuries wi t h a n o r ma l k n i f e . T h e y we r e definitely targeting him.”

A third resident said: “I heard the screech of tyres and looked outside and there was a dark car — I think it was a Vauxhall — going at about 60 or 70mph trying to run the guy over. I think he dived for cover or they might have just hit him, I don’t know. The next thing I know three men had jumped from the car. They were smashing at the guy, it looked l i ke they were t a ki ng gol f swings. It was a frenzied attack. They were kicking him and beating him.”

A friend said Mr Singh was originally from the Punjab in India, had worked in t he c o ns t r uc t i o n bus i nes s a nd aspired to run his own firm. He added: “He was a go o d g uy, wel l - k nown around Southall. You used to see him playing cricket in the park and he was always friendly to everyone.

“I don’t know why anyone would want to do this to him. He wasn’t mixed up in drugs or anything like that. He was just a nice guy. He liked cracking jokes and making people laugh. He didn’t deserve this.”

Detectives from the Met’s Homicide and Major Crime Command arrested a 2 4 - y e a r - o l d ma n ye s t e rd ay o n suspicion of murder and he was being questioned at a north London police station. Police appealed for anyone with information to call 020 8358 0200 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.