London stabbings 2020 – latest news on knife crime, attacks and statistics
IT didn't take long for the first fatal stabbing to happen in the capital in the new year.
Sadly it appears that knife crime is still plaguing London as we move into 2020.
How many stabbings have there been in London this year?
January 3 - The first fatal stabbing of this year happened on January 3 after Uber Eats worker Takieddine "Taki"Boudhane was knifed to death near Finsbury Park, North London
January 3 - Police launched another murder probe after the remains of William Algar, 53, were found in Barnes. A post-mortem revealed the cause of death as a stab wound to the chest
January 13 - A Bulgarian man, Krasimir Kartikov, 60, was named as a victim found dead in Croydon. A post-mortem examination revealed he died of multiple injuries
January 19 - Three men, Harinder Kumar 22, Narinder Singh, 26, and Baljit Singh, 34, who were all members of the local Sikh community, were stabbed to death in Seven Kings, Ilford
January 24 - The victim, believed to be a Polish national in his 60s, was found with stab injuries at an address on Mount Pleasant Lane, Clapton
January 27 - Louis Johnson, 16, was stabbed in front of shocked commuters during evening rush hour at East Croydon station in south east London
February 2 - Sudesh Amman, 20, was shot dead by police after stabbing two people in Streatham, South London
February 5 - A 19-year-old boy was stabbed in a knife fight on Kingsley Road in Hounslow, West London. Met Police confirmed a man, in his early 20s, and a 15-year-old boy, were arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm with intent
February 5 - The 16-year-old victim was rushed to hospital after being stabbed in broad daylight in upmarket Highgate
February 5 - A horrified dogwalker discovered 15-year-old Babacar 'Babz' Diagne stabbed to death on grassland in Coventry
How many fatal stabbings were there in London in 2019?
London's knife explosion has fuelled the capital's highest murder rate in more than a decade with 149 people killed in the capital in 2019 - 90 in stabbing attacks.
Westminster was the worst blackspot with 212 arrests. The borough is also the worst in the country for knife attacks.
Ten people on average are caught with blades EVERY DAY on the streets of London.
Why is there so much violence in the capital?
One of the reasons why violence in the capital has spread is because of the brutal “county lines trade” where urban dealers force children and other vulnerable people to take drugs to customers in more rural areas.
The National Crime Agency estimate there are more than 1,000 “county lines” in operation – a 40 per cent rise in just one year – raking in an estimated £1.8billion annual profit.
Each county lines route is making as much as £5,000 a day - £7million between them all.
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The county lines gangs regularly entice boys, largely from broken homes, into a life of crime with promises of money, kudos and a sense of belonging often lacking in their troubled home lives.
In London itself, gang warfare is increasingly being driven by a ruthless battle to control the drugs market in a move away from “postcode wars”.
Middle class cocaine users have come under fire for helping to fuel this increasingly violent battle in Lawless London.
Cressida Dick, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, said the growing demand from well-off users for the Class A drug was leading to a surge in violent gang crime.