Knife crime crisis: Teenager dies after West Kensington stabbing
The male, who is believed to be in his late teens, was taken to hospital but died a short time later, police say.
Thursday 7 March 2019 23:29, UK
A teenager has died after being stabbed in the chest in west London.
Police were called to reports of a stabbing in West Kensington at about 2.15pm. The teenager was taken to hospital but died a short time later.
No arrests have been made.
Officers have been seen pulling what appears to be a knife from a drain on North End Road, West Kensington, near to where the teenager was stabbed.
A group of three young men were seen leaving flowers as tributes in the area.
Metropolitan Police said: "A male, aged in his late teens, was found with stab injuries to the chest. The injured male was taken to a central London hospital where he sadly died a short time later.
"Next of kin have been informed. At this early stage there have been no arrests."
The teenager has become the sixth person to be fatally stabbed across the UK in the space of a week.
It comes after a 37-year-old man found with serious stab injuries in Soho in central London over the weekend died in hospital on Wednesday evening.
Before the Soho victim's death, a 34-year-old man had been charged with attempted murder over the incident and another stabbing of a teenager but police say prosecutors will review the charge.
Meanwhile, Spanish national David Martinez, 26, was named as the victim of a fatal stabbing in Leyton, east London, on Wednesday afternoon.
Formal identification has not yet taken place but police say they are confident of the victim's identity.
Police, paramedics and an air ambulance were called to North Birkbeck Road at around 4.30pm, but Mr Martinez died 40 minutes later.
It is thought he collapsed in the street after being attacked at a nearby property, said detectives, who also believe Mr Martinez knew his attacker.
The killing is not being treated as gang-related.
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It follows the murders of two 17-year-olds on Friday and Saturday; Jodie Chesney in east London, and Yousef Makki in Greater Manchester.
A 50-year-old woman was also found stabbed to death at the weekend in Hendon, northwest London.
A 22-year-old man, who was run over by a vehicle before being stabbed several times in Oxford on 27 February, also died on Wednesday.
The killings follow a series of knife attacks in Birmingham last month, where three teenagers died in 12 days.
Speaking on Thursday, Jodie Chesney's father said his daughter was the "nicest person ever" and "wouldn't have done anything to deserve this".
The home secretary has vowed to treat knife crime "like a disease" following an outcry over the number of young knife victims.
At least 39 people have been stabbed to death in the UK this year.
Police numbers have fallen by 20,000 in the past decade in England and Wales but the prime minister has denied a direct link to knife crime - a claim disputed by a number of senior figures in policing.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has also urged Theresa May to take a tougher stance on knife crime.
He told Sky News on Thursday that she must "take ownership" of a link between school exclusions and rising levels of violence.
:: Anyone with information on the Leyton incident is urged to call police on 101 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously via 0800 555 111.