New Year stabbings: Four stabbed to death in London during celebrations
FOUR people have been stabbed to death in London across the late hours of New Year's Eve and the early hours of New Year's Day.
A fifth man is fighting for his life after the spate of unrelated attacks across the capital.
Scotland Yard confirmed the male victims – a 17-year-old, 18-year-old and a 20-year-old on New Year's Eve, and a 20-year-old in the early hours of Monday – all died as a result of their injuries.
Five men have been arrested in connection with one of the deaths, the Metropolitan Police said.
Police condemned the "senseless violence" and the "small groups who chose to engage in disorder and violence" on New Year's Day.
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An 18-year-old man was stabbed in Enfield at 11.30am on December 31.
The second, at around 7.30pm last night, was a fatal stabbing of a 20-year-old man in West Ham.
Then a 17-year-old man was stabbed to death in Tulse Hill.
And at around 2.35am on 1 January, a 20-year-old was fatally stabbed in Old Street. A second male, in his 20s, was taken to hospital with critical injuries.
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Commander Neil Jerome, of the Met's Territorial Policing Command, said: "It is heart-breaking that, at a time when so many of us are contemplating what lies ahead in 2018, four families are dealing with the grief of losing a loved one to senseless violence and the callous use of knives as lethal weapons.
"I can assure Londoners - and the families and friends of the four males killed and the fifth who remains in hospital - that detectives will work tirelessly to bring to justice those responsible for such despicable acts of violence."
He urged anyone with any information to call police on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
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The trio of fatalities in the final hours of 2017 took the number of people stabbed to death in the capital last year to 80, Scotland Yard confirmed.
The latest deaths will be seen as a setback to London mayor Sadiq Khan and his aim to get a stranglehold on the year-on-year increase in knife crime in the capital, which has seen the launch of a high-profile "London needs you alive" campaign and knife crime strategy.
At his last Mayor's Question Time, Mr Khan said: "Every death on the streets of London is an utter tragedy and I'm deeply concerned about the rise in knife crime.
"I am supporting the delivery of community-led solutions and delivering interventions at critical points to offer real opportunities to exit offending behaviour as well as coming down hard on those who habitually carry knives."
