London’s murder rate now worse than New York

LONDON is now more dangerous than New York, with the city recording a higher murder rate for the first time in modern history in February.

Fifteen people were killed in London in February, compared to 14 in New York. And the trend looks set to continue, with 22 killings in London in March – one more than the US city.

The figures emerged as Scotland Yard was called to another fatal stabbing in the early hours of yesterday.

Devoy Stapleton, 20, was killed in Wandsworth. It is the 31st fatal stabbing in London this year.

The surge in killings comes as rates of rape, robbery, and violent offences in London have already eclipsed those in New York. Both cities have a population of around eight million.

The number of London murders, even excluding victims of terrorism, has risen by 38 per cent since 2014. In contrast, the number of murders in New York have fallen by 87 per cent since its 1990s peak.

David Green, of the think-tank Civitas, said: ‘There is now a higher risk of being a victim of violent crime in London than New York, which is pretty staggering. There is no way in which the police can be expected to deal with a bigger population in London and a lot of gang activity if you keep cutting budgets and reducing officer numbers.’

A Met Police spokesman said: ‘One murder is one too many, and we are working hard with our partners to understand the increase and what we can all do to prevent these tragedies from happening in the first place.’