Four men stabbed to death in a single day

Four people have been stabbed to death in just 24 hours in London.

The victims included the 20th teenager to be killed in the city this year and three other men who died in separate attacks, the first at 4am yesterday. Mayor Boris Johnson said he was "appalled" by the latest wave of killings and Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair described the deaths as "an absolute tragedy".

Met sources said officers were working around the clock following the attacks, which come in a week when the Met launched a 75-strong taskforce to stamp out knife crime in London. This week six people have died in six days through stabbings. The day of bloodshed began with a man in his forties murdered at a squat in Tottenham at 4am after being knifed in the head and stomach.

At 2.30pm a 19-year-old was stabbed in Edmonton during a fight which began in a house and spilled out into the street.

Three hours later Adnan Patel, 20, was knifed to death in a road rage attack in Leyton. At 8.30pm in Walthamstow a man was found in his flat with stab wounds and died at the scene. Another man was fighting for life after being knifed in his home in Willesden at 4am today.

WALTHAMSTOW

A MAN has died after being stabbed in his flat, police said today.

Residents in St David's Court in Walthamstow called 999 at 8.30pm yesterday after he was attacked. Paramedics fought desperately to save the victim, believed to be in his early 20s, but he was pronounced dead an hour later.

A police spokeswoman said he had stab wounds to the head and chest. No arrests have been made.

In a separate incident, a man in his late 20s was fighting for his life after being attacked in his home in the early hours of this morning.

Police were called to the house in Brenthurst Road, Willesden, at 4am and he was rushed to hospital.

A spokesman said his injuries were "life threatening". A 24-year-old woman was arrested later. She is currently being questioned by detectives.

TOTTENHAM

DETECTIVES were alerted to the murder in Tottenham when a member of the public walked into a police station to say a man had been stabbed at 4am yesterday.

The victim had suffered head injuries and knife wounds following an argument at a north London squat.

A Met spokeswoman said: "Officers and the London Ambulance Service found the man towards the rear of a disused pub." She said the victim, who is thought to be aged in his forties, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Detectives arrested two men and a woman near the scene of the killing. They were taken to police stations in north London for questioning.

A post mortem examination was being carried out on the victim today.

EDMONTON

A TEENAGER staggered outside and collapsed dying in the street after being stabbed in a fight in a squat.

The 19-year-old was the 20th teenager to be murdered in London this year.

Police were called to reports of a fight in Gloucester Road, Edmonton, at around 2.30pm yesterday.

Officers and paramedics arrived to find the man lying in the street. He was taken to North Middlesex Hospital suffering from stab wounds and later pronounced dead.

Officers arrested a 26-year-old woman and a 34-year-old man nearby in connection with the killing. They are being held at separate north London police stations today.

Witnesses told how the man staggered from the terraced house and collapsed in the street.

Kerry Gough, 22, who lives in Gloucester Road, was with her one-year-old daughter when she walked past the victim. "I saw the man just after he was stabbed and I was physically sick. He was half on the pavement and half on the road and the police were trying to resuscitate him. "There was blood everywhere and it was dripping off the pavement down into the road. He was stabbed in the head, his eyes were open and there was blood coming out of them. "He was looking straight into my eyes, but through me so I guess he was already dead. "I'm still trying to get my head around it - it's good that my daughter is only a year old or else she would remember this for the rest of her life." Local café owner Mustafa Hassan, 59, said: "My friends saw him come out of the house and fall over between some cars. "They phoned the police and the ambulance and the ambulance arrived but it was too late for him. They saw a woman and two men trying to run away but the police caught them." The death is being investigated by the Met's Homicide and Serious Crime Command. The street was cordoned off today so forensics teams could examine the house.

Residents told how the house had been bedsits but more and more people had moved in and they suspected drug dealing was going on. Neighbour Aoife Mills, 16, said: "I see a lot of people coming and going from there looking stoned. I have seen him leave before and then a woman come out shouting at him.

"I see him all the time but he looks quite rough so I don't speak to him."

Leonard Mears, 49, who cared for his grandmother who lived in the street, said crime in the area was "out of control".

He said: "The street is mostly bedsits and shortterm rents. There has been a lot of drug dealing and every time someone gets a new TV they're burgled the next day. There are a lot of gangs around here and it's getting worse and worse. I'm not surprised someone has been killed, it was only a matter of time really."

LEYTON

A MAN has been stabbed to death in an apparent road rage attack after a minor accident.

Construction worker Adnan Patel was knifed in the stomach following a dispute with a number of men in a white van.

In a desperate attempt to flee the attack in east London, the wounded 20-year-old climbed back into his Ford Focus and sped off, but lost control due to his injuries and smashed into another car a few streets away.

Residents tried to save his life as he lay whispering prayers. Mr Patel's alleged attackers were arrested after a man stood in front of a white van to try to make it stop then passed its registration to police.

Mr Patel died at 5.30pm yesterday. Today witnesses told how he stumbled from his crashed car, bleeding heavily, and collapsed in Downsell Road, Leyton, clutching his stomach.

David White, 18, and his friend, NHS worker Leaanne Mitchell, 26, tried to help him. Mr White said: "I just thought it was a car crash but then he got out and I could see him bleeding. He was very weak and on the floor. I ran over - there was a lot of blood. Leaanne came out with sheets and towels - anything to stop the bleeding.

"He had been stabbed in another street. His brother was in the car as well, but he was driving, trying to get away, trying to get to hospital. He was losing consciousness and then he was gone. It was pretty bad. I felt sick. I tried to save his life. I was not just going to stand there and let him die."

Mr White said there had been an argument moments earlier involving the occupants of a Ford Transit van.

"It was something to do with road rage involving a Ford Transit. My twin brother, Sammy, later saw a white van driving around near the scene. He stood in front of it and said: 'You can't come down here, someone's been attacked'.

"The guy just nodded at him then he heard other people in the van say: 'Go, go, let's go'. He got the licence plate number and told the police."

Police said four people had been arrested in connection with the killing.