A 62-year-old woman was found dead at a home in London last night as police launched their 121th murder probe of the year.
Officers were called to the property in Balham, South West London, at about 11.40pm yesterday and found the victim had been fatally assaulted.
Her death brings the number of homicides being investigated by Scotland Yard this year to 121, more than there were in the whole of 2017.
A police car has been parked outside the home in Balham, South West London, this morning
A forensics officer is seen leaving the house where the alleged crime took place overnight
A 66-year-old man, known to the victim, was arrested on suspicion of murder and remained in custody today. The woman’s family were told of her death.
The incident happened on a road next to Wandsworth Common and Balham train station, where properties are worth an average of £1.4million, and up to £4.3million.
The value of the property where the incident happened is not available, but the adjoining home – which is similar and part of the same building – is worth £1.3million.
Police attended with paramedics from the London Ambulance Service, and the woman was pronounced dead at the scene. A post-mortem will be scheduled.
Today, two police cars were parked outside but there was no cordon around the semi-detached Victorian home, where officers and detectives spoke on the street.
An officer stands by the door of the home in Balham today after a murder probe was launched
A forensics officer leaves the property today after the murder investigation was launched
The blinds were up on the top floor of the two-storey townhouse but curtains had been drawn in the large bay window downstairs.
The property appears to be split into two flats that are owned by a housing association. The woman’s next-door neighbour said: “It’s a shock.
‘The first I heard of it was in the press this morning. She was a very kind woman. She brought food round when my wife died. I think her husband died some years ago.
‘She has lived here quite a while. We have helped her out with her garden before, clearing it out, trimming the hedges and so forth.”
Officers said enquiries continue today by detectives from the Metropolitan Police’s homicide and major crime command.
Police walk outside the property in Balham where a woman’s body was discovered last night
The incident in Balham prompted the second murder probe to be launched by police yesterday
It was the second murder investigation launched by police yesterday, following the death of 35-year-old Devi Unmathallegadoo in Ilford, East London.
The Metropolitan Police has seen a sharp rise in alleged domestic homicides in the past year, although 2017 was a record low, and the force’s murder squad is looking at why the number may have risen.
In London, there have been 26 so far this year not including the two deaths yesterday, compared to a record low of nine last year. There were 16 in 2016, 27 in 2015, 16 in 2014 and 31 in 2013.
Among the 119 homicides in 2018, there have been 68 stabbings, 12 shootings and two deaths involving a knife and a gun.
A third of the cases (42) involved victims aged 16 to 24, while 20 were teenagers.
Police at the home in Balham today after a man aged 66 was arrested on suspicion of murder
Among the victims aged 16 to 24, 30 were stabbed, nine were shot, two died in attacks involving a knife and a gun, and one died in a fall.
For the teenagers aged 15 to 19, six were shot and 14 were stabbed.
Levels of violent crime in the capital have remained a concern throughout the year, with monthly highs in February and March, when 18 homicides were recorded each month.
These were the second highest monthly totals recorded since April 2010.
The only higher peak was in June 2017 when there were 20, a figure that includes eight people killed in the London Bridge terror atrocity.
If this is excluded, the previous monthly peak was in April 2010 when there were 16.
In total, 111 homicides were recorded in 2016 and 122 in 2015 in the capital, according to Home Office data.
The murders across the capital so far this year are shown in this graphic (CLICK TO EXPAND)
Before this the number of police-recorded homicides in London had been falling, from 164 in 2007 to 91 in 2014.
Looking at official figures for financial years, there was a peak in 2003/4 when there were 212, and then, bar one rise in 2010/11, the total gradually decreased until 2017/18 when it rose by 36% to 146.
In response to the bloodshed this year, the Metropolitan Police Violent Crime Task Force was set up, seizing 340 knives, 40 guns and 258 other offensive weapons in its first six months of operation, and making more than 1,350 arrests.
Mayor Sadiq Khan also announced plans for a violence reduction unit that would adopt the public health approach to tackle violent crime that was successfully used in Glasgow.
Police have pointed to links between violence and so-called county lines drug networks, where urban dealers force children and other vulnerable people to courier illegal substances to customers in more rural areas.
They are also known to take over innocent people’s homes to use as a base for crime.
Middle class cocaine users have come under fire from a number of public figures, including the country’s most senior police officer Scotland Yard Commissioner Cressida Dick, who pointed to the misery caused by the drugs trade.
Drill music, where rappers taunt rivals with lyrics laced with violence and threats, and the role of social media in escalating disputes have also come under the microscope, as have cuts to youth services and the police.
Yesterday, Home Secretary Sajid Javid admitted that police officer numbers were “an important part” of the fight against violent crime.
Anyone with information is asked to call Scotland Yard on 101 and quote CAD 8110/12 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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