London man is 11th murder victim in the capital in 17 days

A man has become the 11th London murder victim in 17 days after dying from a serious head injury.

The Metropolitan Police today arrested a 36-year-old man on suspicion of murder after the killing in Ealing at 6pm yesterday.

It follows a string of fatal stabbings in the capital as blood continues to be split on the streets.

The force said in a statement: ‘A murder investigation has been launched following the death of a man in Ealing.

‘Police were called shortly after 18:00hrs on Monday, 20 July to reports of a disturbance outside a residential address on Elfwine Road, W7.

‘Officers attended and found a man with a serious head injury. The London Ambulance Service attended and the man was pronounced dead at the scene.

‘Next of kin have been notified. A 36-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday, 21 July on suspicion of murder. He remains in custody at a west London police station.’

Police on Friday launched two separate murder investigations after two men in their 30s were knifed to death.

Officers were called on Thursday to a McDonald’s in Kilburn following reports a man had been stabbed at 10.24pm.

The victim, believed to be in his mid-30s, was taken to a central London hospital but was pronounced dead shortly after.

Just hours later, a second murder probe was launched after a man in his 30s was stabbed in Enfield and rushed to North Middlesex Hospital where he died.

The death comes after statistics released from the Office of National Statistics last week showed knife crimes in England and Wales had risen six per cent to a new record high and homicides by ten per cent in the last year.

Hours after the first Enfield murder, officers were called back to the borough following reports four men were fighting and a man had been put into a vehicle at 4.45am.

A man in his 30s was taken to North Middlesex Hospital suffering a single stab wound, which he died from.

Figures from the ONS revealed last week police-recorded offences involving a knife or sharp instrument rose to 46,265 for the year to March.

This was 51 per cent higher than when data of this kind was first collected in 2011 and is the highest number on record, the report said.

The number of such offences rose seven per cent in London, but dropped 10 per cent in West Yorkshire and remained the same in the West Midlands – the three areas of the country with the highest rate per 100,000 population.

The report said: ‘Knife or sharp instrument offences continue to be concentrated in metropolitan areas across England and Wales, with around a third (34%) of all offences recorded by the police in London.’

The highest rate was also seen in London, with 179 offences per 100,000 population This compared with an England and Wales average of 82 offences per 100,000.

According to the latest statistics, assault with injury and assault with intent to cause serious harm offences, and robbery, each accounted for 44 per cent of all offences involving a knife or sharp instrument (20,333 and 20,159 respectively).

The ONS report added: ‘Offences involving knives or sharp instruments have been experiencing a rising trend since the year ending March 2014, although in recent years the rate of increase has slowed.’

Tributes were also paid to a ‘caring’ 18-year-old after he was fatally stabbed in last week.

Ahmed Yasin-Ali was found injured in a separate attack in Elmfield Way, Maida Vale, west London at around 12.30am, the Metropolitan Police said.

Police officers gave him first aid and land and air ambulance crews were called, but he died in hospital shortly after 1am. 

Tributes were paid to the ‘caring’ and ‘beloved’ 18-year-old who was fatally stabbed in west London.

His family said in a statement: ‘Our beloved son, brother and friend peacefully passed away on Wednesday morning. He was loved by all and will forever be missed.

‘Caring, loving, and by far the most clean-hearted of us all. He wanted nothing but good for everyone and himself, striving hard in his school work and job to make it to university in order to provide our family with a better life.’

The family added: ‘Our family wants to prevent such devastating acts from happening ever again, this means that we are fully cooperating with the police and respect the law. The last thing we need is any retaliation or revenge.

‘We as Muslims forgive those who so painfully took away our precious and beautiful son. Forever in our hearts, our neighbourhood hero.’

Detective Chief Inspector Vicky Tunstall said: ‘Ahmed’s family are devastated by the loss of their son and brother and we are working tirelessly to investigate the circumstances surrounding his murder.

‘Ahmed was only 18 years old, had his whole life ahead of him and had aspirations to attend university, so this is a particularly tragic and wasted loss of life.’