KNIFED IN STREET
Hammersmith stabbing victim chased by ‘house party’ gang after shop row as cops arrest THIRTY-NINE people
The victim was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries after cops were called to Fulham Palace Road at 1am
POLICE have arrested 39 people at a house party in London after a man was chased and stabbed by a gang following a row in a shop early this morning.
The victim, believed to be in his mid thirties, was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries after cops were called to Fulham Palace Road, Hammersmith, at 1am.
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Officers say the man had been chased by a number of suspects - both men and women - following an altercation in a shop.
Scotland Yard - who have recovered two knives from the scene - say the group were then seen entering a nearby house, which was hosting a party.
Police attended the address in an attempt to speak with a number of people inside but were met with resistance.
A Met Police spokesperson said: "As the occupants failed to co-operate with police, a total of 39 people were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.
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"They have all been taken into custody at various police stations."
Superintendent Mark Lawrence said: "What appears to have been a minor argument has resulted in a man sustaining life-threatening injuries.
"Officers were quickly on the scene and provided him with first aid prior to the arrival of our colleagues in the LAS.
"He has been taken to hospital where he continues to receive treatment for his injuries.
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"Whilst it is unusual for so many people to be arrested in the early stages of an investigation such as this, due to a lack of co-operation and the necessity of securing essential evidence following a serious assault, this action was appropriate."
The victim's condition was described as serious but stable.
Neighbours of the flat above a phone repair shop in Greyhound Road, where the arrests are believed to have been made, said a group of people were standing outside at about 11pm on Sunday, while others could be seen in a first floor window.
One woman said they were in their late teens or early 20s and the atmosphere appeared to be "quite relaxed and chilled".
"We just heard normal talking. It sounded like squealing girls like you get on a night out," she said.
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Her friend, who is visiting London for New Year's Eve, saw police in the street after the stabbing.
"It was a bit mad," he said. "I woke up about 3am and there was about 25 police officers down here and about 30 or so people - some handcuffed, some weren't handcuffed.
"More people came out of there (the flat) and more police went in there.
"At about 5am, the forensics turned up.";
Dahlia Adling, 45, says she heard “aggressive” shouting in the street and saw a man sprinting as the victim was chased and stabbed.
She was in her friend’s flat overlooking the scene when the noisy row woke her about 1am.
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She said: “There was an argument, it was very noisy.
“It could hear people shouting. It sounded very aggressive.
“People were running. I looked out and saw one man running up the road."
A neighbour on the side street heard “screaming and shouting” before cops turned up.
Another resident saw some of the 39 occupants being handcuffed and bundled into a police van.
The neighbour, who asked not to be named, said: “I was woken about 3am by people shouting int the street.
“There were 30 or so people outside and about 25 cops. More officers turned up and went up the stairs to the flat.
“One guy in handcuffs was shouting out as he was put in police van.
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“The people from the flat all had their hoods up so I couldn’t see them but I think they were in their 20s.
“About 5am the forensics people came and went into the house.
“The police were going in the basement as well as upstairs where the party was."
Another local said: “At about 11pm I could see there was some kind of party but it was quite chilled, no music or anything like that.
“There were some men and women around outside and some hanging out the window.
“But there was nothing to suggest it would turn nasty.”
A witness, who did not want to be identified, said she saw a group of "kids" running back and forth up and down the street immediately before the stabbing and heard someone shouting: "Get him."
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She said: "I heard, 'leave him, leave him'. The person who must have done the stabbing was shouting, 'come on then, come on then'.
"I heard, 'oh no, don't do it' and it was a girl's voice.
"Whoever that girl was, she's probably the only one with sense there.
"All of a sudden, all of them in a rush together ran in that door (to the flat) together."
The woman, who talked to reporters with her face covered, said she called the police shortly before 1am.
"I told the lady, 'they have got a knife. Someone's going to get stabbed'. At that moment that's when that guy got stabbed," she said.
"They must have stabbed the guy outside Sainsbury's then ran back into that flat."
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The woman said she then saw the victim as he was worked on by paramedics.
"As I got to the corner I saw a guy on the floor. He was stabbed here (in the chest)," she said.
"He was in his boxers, he was breathing. I could see he was skinny".
The 39 arrested were lined up along a wall and “interrogated” by 50 riot cops, a witness said.
Mason El Hage, 23, a graphic designer, said: “At about 1.30an I heard the police dogs barking and some voices in the road.
"Three riot vans rocked up and 50 police officers marched down the road and went into the house next door.
“They brought out about 30 to 40 people. They had them lined up against the wall and were interrogating them for around an hour.
“There was a mixture of young males and females, there were other friends there as well and they were shouting at each other and laughing and joking about stuff.
"There must have been about 60 kids in the street in total.
“It was very extreme in terms of numbers of people involved.
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“We heard the music blasted from the flat for hours before the police arrived.
"We always see different people coming and going from that flat at all hours of the day.”
On Monday morning, a pool of blood could be seen on the pavement outside a branch of Sainsbury's around the corner in Fulham Palace Road.
The supermarket and the off-licence remained behind a police cordon today.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police via 101 quoting reference 302/31Dec.
Alternatively, they can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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Last night's stabbing is just the latest example of a terrifying knife crime epidemic which has blighted the capital this year.
Figures from London's Metropolitan police showed that knife crime has surged by 16 per cent in the capital.
The total number of offences involving a knife or bladed instrument that have been recorded by cops in the year to March 2018 rose to 40,147, a seven-year-high.
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