Night of bloodshed in London as two men are stabbed to death in separate attacks within 12 hours

A man knifed to death after being chased through a council estate asked for a blanket as he lay dying in the middle of the road. 

The man in his 20s was stabbed to death last night as youths armed with swords and machetes fought on a housing estate in the Stockwell area of Brixton. 

A mother described seeing the victim lying in the road naked and asking for a blanket before he was taken away. 

Witnesses claimed a further six people were hurt in the chaos in South London, when a car speeding away from the scene overturned.

Officers raced to the scene at 6pm on Thursday, before detectives went to a second fatal stabbing ten miles away at 6am on Friday morning in Plumstead, South East London.

The second stabbing is not yet officially being treated as a murder investigation by Scotland Yard, but it would be the 81st homicide in the capital so far.

The Plumstead victim was transported a short distance by ambulance where paramedics from the air ambulance treated him but he was declared dead at 7am. 

Parts of Plumstead High Street are closed this morning after the man was stabbed to death

A teaching assistant and mother who lives in the building where the victim was seen running through the corridors during the incident said she felt ‘shocked’ and ‘saddened’ by the young loss of life. 

Margarida Lopes, 50, said she had seen people fleeing through the corridors for years, often jumping up and over balconies on the Brixton estate in south London.

She said: ‘They really jump across the balconies here, from above and over the brick walls. They used to do that some years ago.

‘There was a man being treated here yesterday in the middle of the road.

‘The thing that shocked me was that he was completely naked and nobody was thinking about his dignity.

‘He asked for a blanket twice and nobody was doing anything.

‘I was about to say something and offer my first aid to support them but the tape was up and everyone was on the balcony looking down.

‘I don’t know why he was naked but I felt that was very wrong.

‘He was conscious and he was asking for a blanket. He was tilting his head up.

‘It took a good hour before they took him away so I don’t know if he was severely injured and they were trying to stabilise him before taking him away on the stretcher.

‘The tops of his legs were bandaged and he had a wound at the top of his chest towards his shoulder.

‘I could see he was a young lad, that shocked me, and I thought nobody is giving a damn about his dignity.

‘I was so sad to think of this young loss of life and all he had ahead of him. It is such a waste. Why would people want to be killing one another?

‘There were some people who I think thought they recognised him.

‘They were quite distressed and raising their voices. They we’re trying to get closer but the police we’re saying no.

‘It is quite scary what had happened.’

Builders working in Stockwell described a wave of police cars and officers running on foot towards the Angell Town estate where the stabbing took place.

And Pastor Lorraine Jones, whose son Dwayne Simpson, 20, was murdered on the same estate in 2014, told the London Evening Standard: ‘It’s like a war zone.

‘This car came into the estate trying to run over the lads. I hear they even got out of the car and started stabbing. Sadly we’ve had a fatality.

‘Both victims and perpetrators need in-depth intervention support. We are crying but we are not giving up. We want change, our children’s lives matter.’

Witness Tom Saunders, 34, a construction worker from Rochester, Kent, said: ‘We were just driving home along Brixton Road when we saw loads of police officers running along the road on the corner by the pub.

The stabbing in Stockwell at 6pm last night happened on the Angell Town estate (file picture)

‘There were about four police cars and officers on foot. There were quite a few of them running around everywhere. We didn’t have a clue what was going on.’

His coworker added: ‘Earlier on we also saw somebody running down the main road in the opposite direction, but I’ve got no idea if that was related.’

Scotland Yard said one man has been arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm and the incident is being treated as a gang-related killing.

Emergency services scrambled to the area last night after reports a man in his 20s suffered stab injuries at 5.55pm. He was taken to hospital but died at 8.53pm.

Another man, also in his 20s, was found suffering stab injuries and taken to hospital where he remains; his condition is not life threatening.

An overturned car was found on a nearby and is being linked to this incident. A crime scene remains in place and there have been no arrests.

A section 60 order granting police additional stop and search powers was put in place across an area including Brixton, Clapham, Kennington and Vauxhall.

The Angell Town has been blighted by serious violence in recent weeks, with two men fired at by a gunman riding a moped there last month.

And two months ago, more than 20 police officers were injured when they tried to shut down an unlicensed music event on the estate.