Man held on suspicion of murder after four people stabbed to death in London
A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after four people died from stab wounds in the early hours of Monday morning in Southwark, south London.
A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after four people died from stab wounds in the early hours of Monday morning in Southwark, south London.
The Metropolitan police are investigating the deaths after police were called to a residential address on Delaford Road in Bermondsey at about 1.40am after reports of a disturbance.
After forcing entry, they found four people inside – three women and a man – with stab injuries. The four people were attended to by emergency services but all died from their wounds at the scene. Officers are contacting next of kin and postmortem examinations will be arranged shortly.
It is thought all five people were known to each other. Pictures from the scene showed part of the road closed off with metal hoarding, and a number of forensic tents had been put up.
The arrested man has been taken to a south London police station where he remains in custody while detectives investigate.
Anne Birkett, 60, whose back bedroom looks on to the property where the victims were found, said she was woken by police sirens and a circling helicopter just before 2am.
Birkett said: “It’s devastating – you hear all of this but you never assume it’s going to be right on your own doorstep. I’m a foster carer and I’ve got children in my care, and now I’ve got to protect them now because of what’s happened.”
A resident of the adjacent road, Bramcote Grove, who did not want to be named, said he was woken at around 2am by police sirens and a helicopter and was kept up until 6am by the commotion. “When I saw four ambulances – not one, not two, but four – I knew it was serious,” he said.
Part of the residential street was closed off with metal hoarding and a number of forensic tents had been put up as police carried out their investigations.
The London mayor, Sadiq Khan, said: “I am heartbroken that three women and a man were killed last night in a devastating incident at an address in Southwark.
“My thoughts are with the family and friends of those who have lost loved ones in this awful crime. I am in contact with the leadership of the Metropolitan police. A spokesperson for London ambulance service said: “We were called at 02.07am today to reports of an incident on Delaford Road, Bermondsey.
“We sent three ambulance crews, two fast response units, two incident response officers, two advanced paramedics and a team leader to the scene. Our team worked closely with colleagues from other emergency services. Sadly, despite the best efforts of our medics, four patients died at the scene.”